Today is

By: Ikedi Ani-okoye.

Introduction to snakes

Snakes have been on this planet for millions of years, and might be the most adapted of the reptiles. We don't really know that much about how they developed throughout the years (their skeletons are very fragile, so fossil records are limited), but they probably appeared around the time of dinosaurs, and descent from lizard ancestors alike the monitor lizard. One of the oldest snake skeleton was found in the Saharan Desert, and dates back to 130 million years ago.

Black rat snakes

There are many kinds of rat snakes. One, of which is the Black Rat snake. The black Rat snake is a non-venomous snake that can grow up to eight feet in length. The adults are mostly black, with white bellies, and have white or gray showing between their scales. The young, or juvenile, usually are brown or gray with dark colored splotches on their backs.

Black Rat snakes have many predators, such as foxes, raccoons, large birds, cars, and even people. People kill black rat snakes because of their fear in snakes, especially since the black rat snake can grow extremely large. Some times they are killed for being mistaken as other, venomous snakes. It has been know to curl up in striking position, and shake its tail, much like the venomous rattlesnake.

Corn snakes

Corn snakes are the most popular pet snake there is, and for a very good reason. These are snakes with a very good temper, and they are very easy to keep in an enclosure. Their adult size will usually be between 4 to 6 feet, and they have a very slender body type.

The "original" corn snake has a black and white checkered pattern on their bellies that resembles a corn cob. I say original because corn snakes have been bred to get the most amazing colors and patterns; spotted, striped, no pattern, and all kinds of colors. Even pet shops usually have a wide variety of these "morphs".

Interesting snake fact

An interesting fact to know; to find out how many "vertabreas" the snake has, you can count the number of belly scales. Usually there will be a new scale for each vertebrea. It's jaw is evolved so that the snake can swallow prey many times its size.

The bottom part of the jaw is not locked together, as it is in most other animals, but it can be separated into two parts. This way its mouth can open up, swallow the prey, and then pull its jaw together again. When the snake does this, it looks like it's yawning, opening the mouth up wide and shutting it again.

CONCLUSION

For new snake owners, or those who may be inexperienced with snakes, choosing the right type of snake is key. Corn snakes, king snakes or ball snakes are the best choice for new owners, as they tend to be more gentle, and their needs are not as difficult as some of the other species of snake. They are also relatively smaller than other types of snake, ranging from four to five feet in length as adults.