Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I like how many from this area still carry the red tipping when adults.

-----
Randy Whittington

Luckily I found the girl in the last photo with her eggs the day she layed them and before they were too dry to save since she didn't seem to want to lay in a nest box.

-----
Randy Whittington

Nice!!!! If I were to work with Asians, that this is what I would start with! I lost a clutch of possible het striped meahllies like that last year, this year she gets multiple lay boxes and a teeeeeny water bowl when the time comes, lol!
-----
Todd Hughes

Todd I had a breeder recomend to me to use a 10 gallon tank with spaghnam moss in the bottom instead of a lay box. It has worked out really well the times I have used that idea.
Tom

That sounds like a good idea Tom!
-----
Todd Hughes

...with all the red coloration? Is that a locality thing or something your trying to "Fix" Randy??

Matthew

It's a local thing. Some from other areas have red too but many that I've seen from Sichuan Province have a unique look about them often including a lot of red.
-----
Randy Whittington

OK. You going to try to enhance it?

Matthew

I'm not breeding to enhance it. I have two bloodlines from Sichuan province and they all have held red into adulthood. It's just something I like about them but then again I've yet to see a mandarin I didn't like.
-----
Randy Whittington

Well, I agree with you on that for sure! Such a unique looking ratsnake.

Matthew

>>I like how many from this area still carry the red tipping when adults.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>-----
>>Randy Whittington

You have a sweet collection Randy, always wanted a group of Mandarins maybe someday .. What do you find is the hardest rat to work with?
-----
Jason A.
"Long time Herper, first year Breeder `07."
My 2008 Care Sheet & The BRB Stats. Username: brb@kingsnake.com

Thanks Jason. I guess it depends on what you go by to call a species hard to work with.
Some of the smaller asians like mandarins, porphyracea or prasina must have a somewhat cooler and humid invironment than other species to do well. Some of the taeniura, especially blues will have skin and lung issues of not kept humid enough and given a temp range.
Others like trans-pecos can have regurge problems if fed too much or if their meal size or frequency is changed up suddenly. How likely many are to have these problems I personally think depends on bloodline, locality or how many generations away from wild stock they are.
Mandarins, prasina and taeniura will do much better when they feel secure.
Mandarins, prasina and flavirufa(when young) will often skip a meal or two now and then which freaks some people out but I don't let it bother me and they will eat the next meal. You just have to not be in a hurry to reproduce with some of them just as with some subspecies in other groups of snakes.
Once you get their requirements and quirks down I find them all to be pretty easy to keep and they do great.
I really like keeping different species with totally different requirements.

-----
Randy Whittington

These snakes are just so nice, I am also planing to obtain a few....

How do you keep them ?
Temp. ?
Humidity ?
Singel or in groups ?
Any breeding tips ?
What type of substat ?
I know that it is alot of Q, but I am almost starting to fight my self to keep my wallet in my pocket!

Regards Martin Høyem

( Sorry for my bad English, feel free to correct me )

Hey Martin, I keep my mandarins by themself except while breeding.
Their temps are low 70's on the cool side and upper 70's on the warm side. I keep them in a rack system with holes drilled in each end of their box, enough holes for air movement but not so many holes that it dries out their container. I keep moist cypress mulch in half their containers and dry aspen bedding in the other half which gives them a choice of moisture and humidity. I only keep about half of the cypress mulch in each cage moist so they can pick a range for themselves.
I keep a large water bowl and a hide on each side of their cage. I keep their bedding fairly deep so they can burrow from one side (moist) to the other (dry) without having to expose themselves if the don't wish to. After a couple days of them moving around in their cages the hides will settle down in the deep bedding and when you lift the hides they will usually have moved the bedding around so they are packed in their hides securely which they really seem to like and feel secure in. These pictures were taken right after spot cleaning and their hides are sitting on top of the bedding but they change that quickly.
I cool them for 2.5 to 3 months each winter. Once they are warmed back up I start pairing them up for breeding after they have had 3 or 4 meals. I don't wait for the females to shed first. They tend to be fairly shy breeders so I put them together for several days at a time and only seperate them a couple days at a time for feeding. Once breeding season starts I keep them together most of the time until I'm sure the female is gravid.
There are always other ways to do it sucessfully but this works for me. Let me know if I left anything out.

-----
Randy Whittington

Thanks for the info Randy

>>Hey Martin, I keep my mandarins by themself except while breeding.
>> Their temps are low 70's on the cool side and upper 70's on the warm side. I keep them in a rack system with holes drilled in each end of their box, enough holes for air movement but not so many holes that it dries out their container. I keep moist cypress mulch in half their containers and dry aspen bedding in the other half which gives them a choice of moisture and humidity. I only keep about half of the cypress mulch in each cage moist so they can pick a range for themselves.
>>I keep a large water bowl and a hide on each side of their cage. I keep their bedding fairly deep so they can burrow from one side (moist) to the other (dry) without having to expose themselves if the don't wish to. After a couple days of them moving around in their cages the hides will settle down in the deep bedding and when you lift the hides they will usually have moved the bedding around so they are packed in their hides securely which they really seem to like and feel secure in. These pictures were taken right after spot cleaning and their hides are sitting on top of the bedding but they change that quickly.
>>I cool them for 2.5 to 3 months each winter. Once they are warmed back up I start pairing them up for breeding after they have had 3 or 4 meals. I don't wait for the females to shed first. They tend to be fairly shy breeders so I put them together for several days at a time and only seperate them a couple days at a time for feeding. Once breeding season starts I keep them together most of the time until I'm sure the female is gravid.
>>There are always other ways to do it sucessfully but this works for me. Let me know if I left anything out.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>-----
>>Randy Whittington

Good information Randy thanks for taking the time to respond to our questions!
-----
Jason A.
"Long time Herper, first year Breeder `07."

Anytime Jason. Thanks.

-----
Randy Whittington