Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Picked up one of these babies yesterday. But I can't find a care sheet online.

Any major differences from North American Ratsnakes?

Thanks in advance.
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Lloyd Heilbrunn

Palm Beach Gardens, Fl.

no idea lloyd but i wanted to say hi....

and we are planning on going again friday maybe

contact me

keith
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I'm not sure I want popular opinion on my side -- I've noticed those with the most opinions often have the fewest facts.

>>Picked up one of these babies yesterday. But I can't find a care sheet online.
>>
>>Any major differences from North American Ratsnakes?
>>
>>Thanks in advance.

I would say the temperature gradient would be most important. I only keep Chinese beauties, but it's nearly the same. These snakes do well with less heat than American rats, like guttata. My room is 70-82*F, and they don't need supplemental heat, but if you do, I would keep the high end bt. 80-85*F. They can stay active all year, but would brumate a little before breeding.

The major differences bt. Asian and N.A. ratsnakes is in temperment. Asians are more racer-like and usually hide by day. Beauty snakes are hardy, however, and easy to care for. By the time they're a year old, they'll be near 3 ft, or more, and you'll know their temperment. Taiwan's are pigs, btw, so be careful to not overfeed. Once a week, or 5-7 days for small meals, is enough. Good luck...TC.

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Ratsnake Haven: Calico and albino Chinese stripe-tailed ratsnakes, Mandarin ratsnakes, Chinese twin-spotted ratsnakes, South Korean Dione's ratsnake, Great Plains ratsnakes and corns

>Picked up one of these babies yesterday. But I can't find a care sheet online.
>>
>>Any major differences from North American Ratsnakes?
>>
>>Thanks in advance.

I would say the temperature gradient would be most important. I only keep Chinese beauties, but it's nearly the same. These snakes do well with less heat than American rats, like guttata. My room is 70-82*F, and they don't need supplemental heat, but if you do, I would keep the high end bt. 80-85*F. They can stay active all year, but would brumate a little before breeding.

The major differences bt. Asian and N.A. ratsnakes is in temperment. Asians are more racer-like and usually hide by day. Beauty snakes are hardy, however, and easy to care for. By the time they're a year old, they'll be near 3 ft, or more, and you'll know their temperment. Taiwan's are pigs, btw, so be careful to not overfeed. Once a week, or 5-7 days for small meals, is enough. Good luck...TC. >>>

Sounds like I should keep her in my cooler room where I have my Mexican pines.Without a hot spot or gradient,it should be about 80 max and 76 at night for the whole tank,is that ok?.

Re: Small meals, she looks about 2 feet long,small fuzzy once a week about what you have in mind? Thanks again.
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Lloyd Heilbrunn

Palm Beach Gardens, Fl.

The temp. sounds perfect. One fuzzy a week may work part of the time. If it looks hungry, you might try two. Two ft. is longer than I thought it would be. They grow fast. Next summer it might need larger meals. TC.

I have a blue beauty around 18 inches. By one year you can expect her to be a full 5 feet if you feed her every 5 days. Their metabolism is extremly high, therefore they need more food. I feed mine one good sized fuzzy every saturday - that is the bare minimum. If you feed only once a week, then make sure it's a decent sized prey, a little larger than the largest part of their girth. Up to 1.5 times the size of the largest part, however I never go that large.

Beauties love to climb. Blue beauties maybe not as much as taiwans, but they are still active climbers. Make sure you have the basic setup - reccomended aspen substrate, 2 hides, hot side and cool side. I keep mine at about 80/75 for the temps. She's in a 10 gallon tank.

If you haven't handled her yet, expect to get bit. Mine would bite me every time I took her out of her cage at least twice for the first week and a half. I started wearing latex gloves - they dont like the taste - and she decided she didnt like the taste so she wouldnt bite, then i stopped wearing them and shes stopped biting now. She's still a little spirit.

Also as with all snakes they're more nervous after shedding, so I let mine rest for a few days after she shed, lol.

Colubridman (Randy) and Conrad both breed blue beauties and are extremly knowledgeable and helpful - I've learned just about everything I know from them.

I'll refer you to this post on feeding.

http://forums.kingsnake.com/view.php?id=611854,611854
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-Chris

The reason mainstream thought is thought of as a stream is because it's so shallow. -George Carlin

A fool doesn't learn. A smart man learns from his mistakes. A wise man learns from the mistakes of others. Which one are you?

My Website
Rat/Corn snake care sheet I wrote

Current snakes:
0.1 Licorice Stick Black Rat (Lola)
1.0 Black Rat (Frankie)
1.1 Texas Bairds (Jose and Rosa)
0.1 Blue Beauty (Brunhilde)