Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Have the chance to pick up a good looking adult pair of Royal Diadems. I currently have Kunasir Island Rats, but dont know much of the Royal Diadems. Can anybody give me some insight into their care requirements? Or their overall opinion on the species? Thanks.
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It's not how you die, it's how you live.
It's not what you gain, it's what you give.

They're really cool looking snakes in my opinion. and I hear they like it warm but thats about it.

I don't have any personal experiences with this species, but I'll tell you what I've read. First of all, Spaleorosophis diadema is not a Ratsnake. It's a Racer, and it's captive requirements are very different from the Kunashir Island Ratsnake. Spaleorosophis likes it hot and dry. It is a short tempered snake with a rather nervous disposition, so it needs a secure hide. It also has ophiophagus tendencies, so it is best kept seperately. This is what I know in a nutshell. Spaleorosophis is not a beginners snake, so to meet it's particular needs you should Google for all the caresheets you can find. The species has been kept and bred since the eighties, so by now there must be plenty of reliable and practical caresheets out there.

Good luck,

Herman.

Both the common and scientific names of this group of snakes can get confusing, so I'm not exactly sure what you mean by "Royal Diadem".

I have kept both the "cliffordi" subspecies as well as the "atriceps" subspecies. I don't know if that terminology is still up to date.

The cliffordi are the common Diadems and are small with fairly plain coloring. I just googled this picture and it's pretty close to what mine look like, although this one has more of an orange tone to it.

The atriceps might be what you're calling the Royal. I do know I have seen cliffordi being sold as Royals so I'm not sure. The atriceps are larger snakes with a lot of variation and bright pink and orange colors. They are fantastic snakes and I believe more people would keep them if there was not the confusion between the two forms.

I only found this one picture and both of the two specimens I kept looked much better than this one. I could not find a picture that did them justice. Mine were bigger, about 5' long.

Both types are very easy to keep. I never tried to breed either type but understand they are very easy to breed.
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Currently keeping a small collection of various Gonyosoma. Both G. janseni and G. oxycephala.

The atriceps were the ones I had the opportunity to acquire. Very pretty snakes. The adults I held were very calm and quite content to hang out. Didnt seem to have racer-like personalities at all.
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It's not how you die, it's how you live.
It's not what you gain, it's what you give.

Maybe they were cold? They are a snake that have had me interested for a while and I've seen some that are stunning. Speaking of where's the pics at?
Nate

>>The atriceps were the ones I had the opportunity to acquire. Very pretty snakes. The adults I held were very calm and quite content to hang out. Didnt seem to have racer-like personalities at all.
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The diadems are closely related to the racers, but they supposedly have racer and ratsnake characteristics. So, maybe some are more mild mannered than others.

- Terry

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Ratsnake Haven...researching ratsnakes since 1988

Ratsnake Haven Group...an information providing list site.

Ratsnake Foundation...ratsnake forums and galleries.

I have been keeping atriceps for a few years now, and if you look on the "other snakes" classifieds you can see pics of both available my babies, as well as my adults.

They are very easy to care for with temps between 75-85F, a dry environment, plenty of places to hide, and a water bowl. I keep them on bath towels like most of my snakes, and I use large plastic boxes of aspen for hiding, and digging. Most of my snakes are environmentally heated, so as long as your temps get into the low 80's during the day they will do fine. Females tend to eat twice what males will consume, and males can be very picky about eating sometimes skipping a meal or 2, and then picking up eating again.

Although they are akin to racers they tend to be rather heavy bodied, so feed them well and they will grow into very dense snakes. My males eat 1 jumbo mouse each, and my females eat 2 about every 10 days or so. They are most jumpy when they are hungry, so watch yourself when taking adults out to feed, and simply slip them into a feeding box and your good to go.

These snakes live very well in a colony, and have shown absolutely no cannibalistic tendencies either as babies, or adults. I presently keep 2 pairs of adults together, as well as an entire clutch of 12 babies. My adults actually have a few branches in their cage, which they do utilize for some light climbing.

Feel free to contact me if you want any further info.
Link

Great information, Freight.

I really love your Gonyosoma site. Best one I've seen.

Do you have any info on the possibility of moving new species, such as Orthriophis cantoris or O. hodgsoni, to the Gonyosoma genus? Can you say who might be proposing this?

Many thanks...

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Ratsnake Haven...researching ratsnakes since 1988

Ratsnake Haven Group...an information providing list site.

Ratsnake Foundation...ratsnake forums and galleries.

I know there have been a few other snakes moved into Gonyosoma, but I'm a bit out of the loop on the whole thing, sorry.

I can tell you that at some point I'll need to propose a good hard look at Gonyosoma janseni being 2 separate species. I have been attempting to cross the black Seleyar janseni with the black-tailes Sulawesi janseni, and so far its not going well at all. I get mostly infertile clutches, or maybe 1-2 eggs that appear good, but my last eggs went bust at the end of incubation, so I have yet to hatch a janseni cross baby. I just got one more egg, but its looking very good already.

I'm happy to hear so many people have enjoyed the site, and found it useful. We'll be revamping it a bit, and adding a commercial sales page as well, as things are starting to pick up here. I should actually have some nice Oxycephala available by the spring of 2008!

Freight

Thanks for the extra info. Look forward to any updates on your site.

Best Regards...Terry
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