Your dancing around the FACT that no one breeds or keeps Mandarin Rats the SAME temp as Corns. The approach is the same but the temps etc are NOT and you know it. The reason for this is an understanding that wild mandarina do not live in areas with temps like Corn Snakes. Neither do Boelens live like Ball pythons and if your "approach" is the same you will not breed many. Your original declarations quite simply have little merit other than it's much easier with healthy c.b. snakes to begin with. The rest about learning about them in nature to be of little importance compared to the availability of good animals is simply wrong. Both factors are very important but one without the other is still not enough. It's only when you combine both factors that success is likely. Ernie you know this as you've been in this game a long time. Diamonds were kept for the last 20-30 years but until fairly recently breeding them was a hit and miss affair.
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Tom Crutchfield
www.tomcrutchfield.com

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