Hi, John. Not much new here, but thought I'd let you know I'm thinking of parting with some or all of my Mandarins, and the reasons why.



I think Euprepiophis mandarinus is a terrific species, but as I get closer and closer to retirement I'm wondering what will work best for me in the new climate I'm going to. The Mandarins, both s. China and Sichuan, have done great for me here in n. Michigan. I've had no trouble keeping them cool in the winter and warm enough in the summer. What has bothered me a little is that they require more humidity than most other ratsnakes, and that would be hard to give them in AZ. Also, they are almost completely nocturnal, and I'd rather work with snakes I can see sometimes w/o having to take them out. The final thing is that they can get lots bigger than the smallish ratsnakes I'm trying to specialize in. In other words, I'm probably going to replace them with a smaller, more diurnal, more dry tolerant species. I'm thinking of going back to Euprepiophis conspicillatus.



Mandarins are beautiful snakes, medium sized, and are quite hardy in cool climates. They can tolerate a pretty cold brumation and fairly long active season and are good feeders when CB and under proper management. Very interesting, fossorial snakes. Here's a s. China baby we produced a few yrs. ago...



This is a Sichuan morph pic from a couple yrs. ago...



Sorry we don't have any newer pix.



I'll be trying to produce some s. China mandarinus this year if I can get them to breed. They're out of brumation, but haven't shed, yet. We'll see.



Terry

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