Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Any info. on Taiwan rat snakes would be appreciated. Just recieved a male and female yesterday.

Female decided to bight me up one side and down the other, so I feed her to see if that would make a difference.

TLB

I've done a little research, as I was thinking of getting one. One of the main points of interest as far as I could tell is that they tend to be...um...pretty "active".... No personal experience with them (yet?) Duffy

I have kept and bred a pair of Taiwan Beauties for the past 12 years (and just paired them up again recently). My original pair (CB '91 ~ '92) are like giant, active, well-tamed corn snakes. They do have an extremely strong feeding response though so watch your fingers and toes!

Do you know anything about the history of these particular snakes?

Wild caughts tend to be fireballs (as with most snakes) and given their size can be hard to handle. Most CBs will tame quickly and easily with regular handling. That said, I have a female from Kathy Love ('02 @ 6 feet PLUS) that is a very nervous, sometimes nippy snake. But even she calms once in hand.
With their strong feeding response, it's all too easy for them to get into a "bite first, ask ?s later" pattern. Hold them regularly!
It's not a hard habit to break using a well worn tee shirt to line their hide boxes with, but dealing with a fast, seven +plus foot snake in full feeding response is no picnic.

-The reputation of Taiwans as active snakes is spot-on.
-Their strong feeding response is legendary and well deserved.
-Their reputation as aggressive or overly defensive snakes is IMO and IME greatly over-stated. No more or less than any other species I've worked with.

One last thing I've noticed over the years. Their saliva appears to have a stronger anti-coagulant properties than many other snakes in the hobby. On my hands anyway, even a nip from a 24" hatchling can bleed well and for a fairly prolonged time.
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Later,
Paul E. Turley

I agree with the previous posters based on my experience keeping Taiwans. My current male is close to 8' and about 12 years old (raised from a hatchling). Due to his strong feeding response, I always use a hook to get him out of the cage. Taiwans are very fast and strong, but my guy is not agressive once he knows there's no rat coming. I keep his temps at around 75 ambient with 82-85 for a hot spot, large water bowl to increase humidity in the cage.

I've really enjoyed keeping my Taiwan as he's very inquisitive/interactive and has never missed a meal. Compared to North American rat snakes, I think Taiwans have a faster metabolism. They grow quite fast for the first few years and digest small meals in a couple days. Keeping them well fed (in a attempt to reduce the feeding frenzy) can be an undertaking. I will say that handling him is a challenge due to his size and strength. With that prehensile tail, he's constantly wrapping something and having to be untangled. Feeding is an adventure, even with 18" hemostats to offer the rat to him. Before I moved him out of a top opening enclosure to a front opening enclosure, he would literally launch himself out of the top of the cage to grab the rat. Once he missed the rat and broke a couple of teeth off in my hand, but other than that S.F.A., he's never bitten me.

They're great snakes if you're looking for a large, reasonably priced, colubrid- once you get past the feeding response.

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Lora