This little booger struck  my friend while he was out checking his trail cams.    He caught it and brought it to me and wanted to make sure it was not venomous.   After a little research we figured out it was a black rat snake.   This little guy hisses and strikes at everything.  

 My question is how long do I keep him until he is big enough to skin and put on a bow?  He is about a whole 10 inches now.

 

probably take years ,

they grow fast with lots of food but still prolly take years :0)

black rat snakes are good to have around. let him go and buy a set of skins.

Build a smaller bow. Brokenwing

Are you sure it is not a Hognose snake - has the head/nose and markings?  That's what is looks like and they "hiss", strike, and puff up when threatned.  Also, they are a relatively small snake.

I have quite few snake for pets including rat snakes and and that doesn't look like a Black Rat snake to me. Black Rat snakes are mostly black with a faint white pattern on them. That is probably a Hog Nose Snake which is considered to me mildly venomous. They are rear fanged. Hog nose snakes hiss a lot when disturbed. Black rat snakes hardly ever hiss.

  Cobra! Real cool lil' guy's with very unique little tricks.    
He looks exactlly like mine.
Around here they hardly ever get more than 24-30inches long. Kinda rare around here also.
Do a google on  Eastern Hognose Snakes.
Tim

Agree on the hognose.. upturned nose will be inconspicuous at that age but apparent.definitely doubt it is a Black Rat..but 4 years well fed, should put him at about 36 to 42 inches..

I called a local C.O that is the snake man in these parts.    He told me to look up hog nose and a black rat snake.    The pic I found on the web of a infant black rat snake  looks just like this one.     The C.O told me that the infant rat snakes will not be black but several shades of brown and tan.  This is their camoflauge while they are young.
  Im going to take it to him and he will do a positive ID of the snake.    I will probably keep him around for a while and I will release him.   I do not kill these type of snakes,  they are great rodent control.

That should wrap 1 arrow!