The current state of the hobby sees a lot of colubrid species becoming a staple or phasing in and out of the hobby. One species in particular has never really had a “heyday” like we’ve seen with Mexican Black Kings, Grey-Banded Kings, or the current Croc Monitor craze. It is a species that is right here in our own backyard here in the States. That species is the Baird’s Rat Snake.
I’m amazed at the amount of messages and conversations I have with people where this species is either not known about entirely or very little is known aside from one seeing them at a show or briefly online. I like to say that Pantherophis bairdi is a “cryptic” species in the hobby. Many people see hatchlings for sale on tables at shows only to gloss over them in the mix of other species because to most hobbyists it’s just another standard, grey rat snake. What they don’t realize is that this species goes through an incredible color transformation, they have a ton of variation, and they’re incredibly easy to keep!
Years prior, I remember seeing an article at one point that highlighted the intense silver and orange adults that have become the phenotypic poster child for the species. It was after reading that piece that I kept a vigilant eye out for Baird’s on the various classifieds. By a stroke of luck an adult popped up on my local craigslist listings and I snagged it. I kept it for a while and really enjoyed how calm and inquisitive that individual was. But after a while I had a sizable collection that was getting to be too much so I sold almost everything, Baird’s included. The snakes had left but the interest in these rat snakes never did.
Fast forward to 2016. I find myself at an expo in Charleston, SC empty handed and disappointed that I didn’t find anything that was on my hit list. I made one last round and somehow missed a pair of Mexican Baird’s being sold. I tossed the idea around for a few minutes only to end up leaving with the pair.
P. bairdi are native to an oddly shaped patch of Southwest Texas, slightly across the border into Mexico and then a separated population down just south of Monterrey, Mexico. I’ve heard multiple accounts about this species being one of the rarest/hardest to find in the country however, that seems questionable. People DO find them on a regular basis cruising the rock cuts and roads that Southwest Texas is famous for.
As you can imagine, the native range of this species is dry, shrublands that see around 19 inches of rain per year. I often call them the Bredl’s Pythons of the U.S. because the conditions they experience and thrive in don’t appear to be too different. They see hot summer days and cold winter nights. This thermal flexibility is one of a few reasons this species makes for excellent captives!
Easy Keepers
Bairdi might be one of the easiest U.S. species to keep! For neonates, a 6 quart tub or something slightly larger works fine but be prepared for them to outgrow it in no time. From there I upgrade them to a 15 quart tub and once they’ve maxed that out they go into at least a 34 quart hefty tub. This is a very active species that will utilize anything you give them. Since they naturally occupy the rock cuts along highways and other rocky areas they will climb if you give them the opportunity.
For substrate I prefer a loose particulate like Care Fresh (which I’m partial to). In my experience with these snakes, keeping them on paper towel or a similar substrate is pointless because they constantly flip their water bowls and you will be cleaning out a wet cage regularly. Once I moved mine to Care Fresh that water bowl flipping stopped entirely so I firmly believe this species appreciates a loose substrate like aspen or CareFresh. Oddly enough, I don’t find them digging or burying themselves in it very often but when I do it’s usually younger neonatal individuals.
Hides can be as simple or extravagant as you want them to be. Paper towel tubes, snack boxes, plastic hides sold commercially, all of these are fine options for Baird’s and they will use them regularly.
Temps are very straight forward with this species. A hot spot of the usual 86-88F or so suits them perfectly. Most of my group has a hot end that’s closer to 90F that they will use but it’s not uncommon to see them hanging out at the cool end of the tub. While I haven’t tried it myself but I think that, like Bredl’s Pythons, if you didn’t give them heat and kept them at room temperature they would do just as well. Having said that, I still recommend giving them the option of a heat source. It’s just nice to know that in the event of a power outage they’ll be fine if temps drop into cooler zones.
Feeding Baird’s Rats is also fairly standard compared to their North American relatives. I feed neonates and juveniles an appropriately sized mouse weekly that they take aggressively. My only issue with feeding this species has been a few individuals that were shy or nervous, dropping food after they’ve grabbed it because I was moving or hovering over them. For the most part feeding is as easy as just dropping food in the tub and letting them find it.
Enrichment has been a big part of the herpetocultural conversation lately. A handful of my colubrids will get a bit of a challenge with food from time to time. I simply take a small snack box (pop tarts, fruit snacks, whatever you have on hand), cut a small hole that’s big enough for the snake to get in and out of WITH a meal in the stomach, drop a f/t mouse in and then leave it in the tub. If you watch them it really forces them to figure it out. When I think of enrichment this is the kind of practice I think is beneficial. It stimulates their brain, behaviors, and gets them a little more active.
One of the best things about these rat snakes is how calm and easy to handle they can be. Of course there will always be exceptions to the rule but a large majority of Baird’s Rats are very tolerant of human shenanigans. In my group I have several individuals that are much more nervous than the rest but even those animals rarely attempt to bite. Instead they rattle their tail and musk like crazy! It has been well documented that even wild bairdi are mostly calm and unlikely to bite in self-defense. In the rare instance that you do take a bite, it’s completely inconsequential.
There are few species native to the states that go through the color change that this species does. As I said before, a big reason they get passed over on tables and online is because neonates look very similar to other rat snake species at the same age. People see them not realizing what they can turn into as they grow! It’s this color change and the sheer variation you see the species alone that is easily my favorite thing about them. Across their range you get a large amount of variation in color with some having higher orange and some having higher silver and even some that sport an incredible combination of both. The Loma Alta / Highway 277 locality is the poster child phenotype for the silver scales with the bright orange “cracked lava” look. With this combination some specimens almost look purple! You can see a lot of this variation by looking up the species on iNaturalist.
There are two varieties of the species. One being the Texas localities and the other being the Mexican variety. Mexicans are not common in collections but are differentiated by having a silver head that stands out from the rest of the body coloration. Texans, on the other hand, have a uniform color from head to tail.
The only known morph in Baird’s is the T+ albino. The T+ and hypomelanistic labels of the morph are often interchange or mixed up but it is in fact a simple recessive T+ albino gene. This morph is interesting because it takes what would normally be the silver color and makes the scales look like they’re made out of pearl. Pictures don’t do it justice!
So next time you’re at a show and you happen to see a Baird’s Rat on a table, I hope you think of this article and decide to give them a shot. I truly believe they won’t disappoint and the species as a whole needs more people keeping them! Whether it’s one animal kept for enjoyment or a group for a cool new breeding project, this species needs more appreciation.
Bairdi for the win!