Whats the difference between Rats and Corns?

[ColdThirst]

My what I think is a rat snake I have looks just like a corn, but I do not think it is, also dont the adult rats not have the same striping across their faces when they get older? I don't know, hopefully somone can help me figure this out.

 

[shiftylarry]

There are seemingly endless species of rat snakes. A lot of Asian species do have stripes across their faces.

Cornsnakes and rat snakes are the same thing. They both fall under the genus Elaphe.

 

[ColdThirst]

Well that would explain why I couldn't accurately identify mine. I guess I'll just call it a Rat Snake from now on, I like that name better than corn.

 

[joshandjack]

is it wild caught, if you know where its from just research online, to find out what specific type of ratsnake it is. it can be really confusing, since corn snakes are a type of ratsnake, and then you have to factor through all of the different patterns and color morphs. you should post a pic if you have time.

 

[VARNYARD]

For many years corns were called Red Rat snakes, if you do a search on them you will see that the common corn pops right up.

Corns are members of the ratsnake family.

 

[RehabRalphy]

So there isnt a difference between them? I guess there arent hybrids between crossing the two?

 

[shiftylarry]

I mean there are many different species of rat snake. Any mix of two species would be a hybrid.

Bobby's right, they were called red rat snakes for a while. Some people still call them that. But, as we all know, they're not entirely red, so the name is misleading. I know it can sound sort of pompous to use Latin names, but it eliminates a lot of the confusion that common names bring up.

Here's a recent example I noticed: There are red and yellow ackies monitors. However, there are "red" yellow ackies too. You can tell the difference by looking at the darkness of the bands across their eyes and face. I've seen yellow ackies passed off as red several times on Kingsnake. I'm sure other people can come up with several more examples.

 

[AB^]

Cornsnakes and rat snakes are the same thing. They both fall under the genus Elaphe.
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That's been changed to Pantherophis these days for american species, though I believe asiatic species are still known as Elaphe

 

[shiftylarry]

Really? That's great. Asian species are very different from Western ones.

 

[CaseyUndead]

No, they aren't the same thing.. Corns are just in the Rat family. . Some call the corn "red rat snake", as was said.. but rarely is someone going to refer to a corn as just a "rat snake". From what i understand, Corns are a *kind of* Rat Snake, though.

Corns are Elaphe(or Pantherophis, if you prefer) Guttata. I think most snakes that people usually refer to as "rat snakes"(black rats, yellow rats, etc.) are Elaphe(Pantherophis) Obsoleta. But they're still all in the Rat snake(elaphe/pantherophis) family.

 

[AB^]

a similar comparison could be made to garter and ribbon snakes.
They are all "Thamnophis" but generally the extremeley slender ones are refered too as ribbon snakes. I prefer to use latin names for most animals so the nonsense confusion of common names is avoided.

 

[ColdThirst]

Well then were kinda back to square one then aren't we hahaha.

 

[CaseyUndead]

Why don't you post some pictures, then maybe we can figure out if it's a Corn or some other type of Rat Snake

 

[ColdThirst]

Ok give me a sec.

 

[chriz]

if u post me a picture im sure i'll b able 2 help u as i had cornsnakes n other ratsnakes snakes 4 over 10 years have breed many diff colours n pattens of corns . will will say there is a lot of cross breeding going on with corns n other types of rat snakes so u may have 1 of these crosses . but a picture wud b good .

 

[Nero]

I always thought corn and rat snakes were the same too. Oh science can be so confusing sometimes.