Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I've already done a websearch, not much out there - I translated some German sites that seem pretty good.

I bought a well fed baby, affectionately called Fiesty for now, until a better name presents itself... He has a great display, and bites readily when approached from above, but calms a bit once in hand.

I'm familiar with common rats, corns, kings, milks, but I wondered if E. helena has any "quirks" that might be helpful to know... higher humidity requirements, perhaps, due to it's country of origin?

Are they easy to keep, or are their tricks I'll need to learn?

Thanx,

Lisa

Being mainly from India, they need a little higher humidity. The main thing to remember is that they're from a tropical country for the most part. They don't need brumation and that can be tricky. Otherwise keep them as a regular ratsnake and don't overheat. I'd feed them smallish meals fairly often. Also, they aren't a member of the Elaphe, but have been put into the resurrected genus, Coelognathus, along with C. radiatus, etc.

Thanks, I did read that they are now Coelognathus, I figured that since that was a relatively new designation, most info would still be Elaphe. I did find some under the new name, though.

Lisa

Lisa,

Trinkets are great - I've bred them quite a few times over the past 10 years. Overall, they are easy and as they mature they will calm down significantly especially if you handle them often. I've kept them in a rack system in the low to mid-80s on aspen bedding with a large basin for drinking, soaking and to provide humidity. They SHOULD NOT be brumated - lowering them into the 50s or even low 60s for a prolonged period can easily kill them. Like Radiated rats, breeding is triggered by an increase in food supply and fat storage in females. When they reach adult size (~3 feet) start feeding the females like crazy - I'm talking feeding like 3x a week! They will feed voraciously and at the same time become sexually receptive to males. A single breeding can yield 3-4 clutches of 4-8 eggs. In my experience and like in radiateds, clutches are heavily female biased.

If you want any other info, feel free to email. Darn, you're making me want to keep Trinkets again!

Ophidiophile Farms

I have experimented with breeding trinkets for several years now, and I get a clutch of eggs out of each of my females like clockwork every 30 days, /- a few days. I introduce each female to a male once every other week (unless they are gravid or opaque), and offer food to all breeders 3x per week. Each year, I have allowed them to produce eggs longer and longer, but always provided a rest period (without cooling, of course). I am trying some this year without a rest period, shooting for 12 clutches, and so far these females have all produced 10 clutches each, one already gravid with her eleventh. Fertility has remained at 100%, females have never shown any signs of stress, weight loss, etc, and hatchlings are always strong and healthy. I don't recommend this be done, as it is time and labor intensive and requires a steady supply of food, but was curious as to how prolific this species can be. I am still going to give them a rest after 12 months, as I am sure it is still beneficial.

I have heard that all trinkets in the country are thought to go back to Lloyd Lemke stock. Does anyone know if this is true? I never hear of any imports availabe. I also wish C. h. monticollaris was available...anyone have any leads on this beautiful subspecies?

Adam Black

Feisty's progress.

Lisa