#cave dwelling rat snake

[ramenreptiles]

Stinky

[scarletandgreyexotics]

Four cute little O.t. ridleyi hatched about a week ago! 🤗 Love these sassy wigglers!

[nepentheisms]

Eleanor's been enjoying her new bioactive setup. She likes climbing on the branches and logs and snuggling up with the Pothos plant in the corner. My cleanup crew are made up of springtails, powder blue and powder orange isopods, and dwarf white isopods.

[is-the-snake-video-cute]

Thoughts on Ridley's cave dwelling rat snakes (both generally and as pets)?

I know a store that recently started a captive breeding program for them and they're one of my dream snakes (once I have more experience, and a more permanent living arrangement than a college dorm, and enough resources to give it a nice, big setup with lots of climbing space, of course).

Oh, aren't they just gorgeous? Cave-dwelling ratsnakes (and other beauty ratsnakes) are tragically hard to find in a lot of places, but in my opinion the worst thing about them is they unfortunately tend to live up to a reputation as very defensive snakes.

The care of beauty ratsnakes is not rocket science - they tend to be a bit fragile, and they definitely need a lot of space, they tend to be best for experienced keepers because they can be a little tricky - but they are big snakes and they don't tend to tame down well at all. Most beauties I've met have not been handleable, so if you want a snake you can regularly interact with, they're unfortunately not a great choice. Ridley's seem to be a bit less defensive than some other beauty ratsnakes (blue beauties in particular are infamous for their bad attitudes), but you can still expect a very defensive snake. Only time will tell if this will improve with further generations in captivity!

They're a definite dream snake for me, too - I mean, look at them! My biggest thing is I really prefer snakes you can handle without stressing both of you out, but if I ever find an unusually calm baby I am definitely going to consider it!

[princes-and-problems-au]

Worlds worst friend group lol

just a quick doodle thing that evolved when I wasn’t looking. Meet the four horsemen of the apocalypse, none of them are men <3. They are all gender neutral! Because it’s my world and I make the rules! These are what I call their eldritch/monster forms. From left to right it’s: Famine, Pestilence, Death/Azrael, War.

They do have human forms, I just haven’t gotten around to drawing them lol, and they do have other names but I can't think of any right now. The horsemen aren’t angels, but they aren’t demons either. They’re more like the middlemen, the in between. They will end the world, but only because they are the consequences, not the cause.

They are close with one another, though heavens forbid you encounter more than one at once. Most of them are introverts/ambiverts, except for War, who is obnoxiously extroverted.

A more detailed explanation of their designs, and why I made some choices, under the cut!

We are going left to right, so first it's Famine!

Famine is obviously a very malnourished figure, with their ribs poking out and gaunt face, the reason being obvious. Their lower half is that of an olm, not a snake! A blind, cave dwelling salamander. The reason I chose an olm is because olms can survive ten years without food! That seemed very fitting. Now, onto the holes on their esophagus and stomach/rib area. Those are actually mouths! It might not be obvious in this picture, but you can sort of see the teeth on the bigger one. From the rib hole you can see the intestines and stomachs escaping. This is symbolic of famine never being full. Famine often times holds their stomach in one hand. Sometimes, they also hold a scale in the other since its the symbol they are depicted with the most.

The second is Pestilence. They are by far the least humanoid of the group. I wanted to showcase the fact that illness is a very natural thing, perhaps even the most natural of the four (Other than Death, I guess). They are mainly a chimera mix of a creature. Their neck is not inspired by anything particular, almost like a long furry giraffe neck, their upper legs are bird legs, their midsection is mammalian, but it shows signs of mange. Their lower legs are lizard-like, and they have a rat tail. The only human features Pestilence has is the face and the two hands attached to their neck. The face because I found it to be easier to showcase illness on a human face, and also because its almost like a trap. A lure to distract you from the monstrous body. The hands because the white horseman (Pestilence in this au) is often depicted with a bow. Around them are visible bacteria and viruses.

The third is Death, AKA Azrael! My main little dude. They are by far the most angelic looking, I designed them to be human, but also very obviously not. They have a human body, but not human features like a nose or mouth. Its meant to symbolize how death if prevalent in humanity, but we don't really understand it that much. Its essential in the life cycle, but also reviled and mysterious. Azrael is able to pass as an angel because they technically are in my au. They where made alongside the Princes as one of the oldest beings. Despite the other horsemen having symbols, Death is depicted without one. It does not need a weapon, it just is. (But I give them a scythe anyways because I found it cool, sue me.)

The final one is War. They kicked my ass when I tried coming up with concepts. The other horsemen are all arguably natural concepts, but war is a wholly human creation. It isn't natural. I didn't want to make War just a human person, that wouldn't fit the eldritch horror vibe I had going with the rest of them. So I decided to make War's body a puppet. The human-looking puppet, controlled by this shadowy-void being. The puppet is an empty shell that cannot do anything without the creature controlling it, its backer. War is the creature, not the puppet. I found it very symbolic. I gave the puppet a blind fold, to show it is blind to the intentions of the backer.

Thanks for reading this far! I love questions, and I hope you enjoyed learning about my ocs! Remember to drink water.

[tboykrillin]

[ID (copied from alt text): Sign on a large reptile tank labeled "future home of the cave-dwelling rat snakes". End ID]

local reptile store providing my new favorite mountain goats track title

[brokenbutunbowed]

Been so stressed out the last couple weeks I've been physically falling apart because of it (switching to 3rd shift has not helped). Our barn collapsed last week thanks to the thigh deep snow we'd gotten the week before (it warmed up to lower 30s and started to rain and that made the snow too heavy so... down went our barn). Luckily none of the chickens inside died but it's basically a total loss, and it's half the reason we bought this place. And since there's no electricity out there now, the horse and sheep have helped themselves constantly to walking through the electric fencing. Which had been a constant struggle.

And I just was doing reptile chores and found my baby cave dwelling rat snake, who I've only had a few months, at most, dead. She was my absolute dream snake I've been waiting literal years and years for, and she was the most expensive reptile I've ever bought. Always ate, never showed any signs of any problems. I've already been on the verge of throwing up all week and now I have to go to work feeling twice as worse. I don't even fucking know what to do anymore. The universe is trying to get me to get rid of all my animals this year.

[scalygems]

Estela is ready for spooky-ooky night 🔮🎃

[rainbowsnakes]

Leon has some Sne-KIA furniture too.

More info about these vivs in this post

[dantesinfurno]

gouache snakes! i was super inspired by the gorgeous snakes of @almightyshadowchan and was wanting to do a few studies. the snakes and ref pics are: saturn, parabola, and ozzie!

[collectedsnek]

Cave Dwelling Rat Snake

Othriophis Taeniurus Ridleyi

Habitat: caves and cliffs in Thailand, Chumpon, and bits of Malaysia.

Length: up to 8 feet

Diet: mainly bats and birds and the occasional rat if they're on the ground.

Venom toxicity: none

Cool Facts

They are popular in the pet industry and breeding them is considered fairly easy.

They are cathemeral which means active at random times a day

There is no information on their natural predators in the wild other than perhaps large birds and/or mammals.

[scarletandgreyexotics]

He’s almost 7 ft long, and as sweet as he is lovely! 

Saturn, 2016 Cave-Dwelling Rat snake (Orthriophis t. ridleyi)

[nepentheisms]

Eleanor the snake doing a scope

[is-the-snake-video-cute]

Hey, so if you had to choose between madagascar boas, cave dwelling rat snakes, or anthill pythons to keep as a pet what would you pick? Ive been trying to narrow down what snake i want next and i can't narrow it down anymore, so basically im asking you to help pick lol

I actually have an antill python (her name is Myndie) and especially if you've never had the pleasure of owning an Antaresia python before, I totally lean in that direction. Anthill pythons are really fun and spunky and so fun to watch! My Myndie is always on the move and doing something. Honestly can't recommend them enough, especially if you like snakes who are active and easy to handle.

Ground boas are cool, and cave dwelling ratsnakes are so beautiful, but anthill pythons hold a special place in my heart and everyone I know who owns one absolutely adores them. Ground boas are great and cave dwelling ratsnakes are beautiful, but the ground boa will eat you out of house and home (not necessarily a bad thing) and beauty ratsnakes have a lot of attitude (still awesome snakes). This post is me doing my part for the "popularizing Antaresia pythons for non-Australian keepers" gang.

[wally-franks-stan]

What snake is Grant? Norman? Allison?

Grant is an urban ball python!

Allison is a cave dwelling rat snake

Thomas is a common European adder

[hawberries]

thinking about snakes 24/7

[image is 6 drawings of snakes arranged on a grey background: a cave-dwelling rat snake with little orange sprouts growing from it, a vienamese blue beauty rat snake wearing a tiny flower hat, a white python holding an orchid and with an orange flower on its head, a green rein snake on a branch, an orange corn snake bundled into a ball with a few clovers under it, and a ball python curled in the shape of a heart with a yellow rose on its head.]