Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello all. I am interested in getting said snake and was curious if you could send me in the right direction. I have kept Rainbow boas and a Blue beauty in the past and currently have a leucistic texas. Any information is greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance Shawn

First off do not get a WC it will die. They are very tough to keep, I have 2 and they caused me some sleepless nights. Mine do well in a large (85 gal) enclosure with a naturalistic setting, cypress mulch substrate, live plants, two tight hide areas, moist moss spread about and around 80 degress F average. a cooler side is necessary, the moss and live plants keep the humidity up, and that is essential for good shedding. They eat mice 2 times a month and seem to be ok.

Thank you very much. Anything you can tell me about there temperment. Also I figured that they might be a little bit thougher to keep, from your point of veiw was it worth it and are you happy with the breed as a whole.
Thanks again Shawn

Although I have never kept them, I have dismally tried to keep WC mandarins and understand they are similar. The WC hundred flower rats are very, very nervous and fairly viscious because of their nervousness. On top of that, handling them to tame them may only stress them out more and cause them to decline in health rapidly. I hope I am answering your question by saying I do not feel IMO that you will be getting a nice docile and easily handled snake in trade for the harder care requirements. The WCs are very specialized and fragile and for advanced keepers only. Looky but no touchy animals at BEST similar to WC emerald tree boas, WC mandarin ratsnakes, etc. If that doesn't bother you and you just want the challenge of difficult snake, then go for it!!

KevinM

First, I will say that I agree that w/c snakes are terrible to try to acclimate. Also, I'll admit that the Chinese red-headed ratsnakes are a little tricky as babies because they don't always eat right away and often have to be cooled first. And, finally, let me say that moellendorffi don't make great pets as they aren't usually docile, and they can get very large, as in the five to seven foot range, which is the reason I got out of keeping them. But as you can see in the photo they are handleable and they can be a hardy captive and extremely interesting as an exotic pet.

The large, CB male in the photo that Rex is handling was raised by me along with a CB female. The first winter was a little difficult, but it was fairly easy after that. It's easier to keep moellendorffi if you know something about their ecology and behavior in the wild. They will stay active into December and then can easily brumate four months. They have a long active season and fairly slow metabolism. Most of all they are very secretive; somewhat nervous, depending on the keeper; and they are usually active in the early morning. Mine got to be active in the morning and late afternoon and sometimes at midday after they got mature. I also raised a second CB pair that I sold when they were two yrs. old, and I kept them in separate ten gallon tanks until then with no problems.

If you are at ease with Texas ratsnakes, you should be able to handle moellendorffi. Best bet is to talk to the breeders and see how the snakes are behaving for them. Rex Knight, btw, produced at least two clutches of these snakes this summer that I know of. He can be contacted through his website.

Good luck.

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