So after four years I've decide to get back into snakes. I've spend the last year looking around, researching and convincing the misses that snakes are not wicked murder machines plotting her death. I was looking for a snake that was calm, curious and I'm able to keep outside. I was hesitating between several Thamnophis species and Elaphe schrenckii. Eventually snagged up a pair of Russian ratsnakes.
They just settled in and I honestly can't believe this gem isn't more popular. The Russian ratsnake is also known as Amur ratsnake, Siberian rat snake, Manchurian watersnake, Schrenck's rat snake and a few more names. It's definitely a species you should refer to by its scientific name when purchasing. Besides the many common names, several other snakes inhabit it range. So sellers sometimes sell other species as 'Russian ratsnakes' as well.
The reason I've become so smitten by this species is it's personality. They observe you and even youngsters that had been placed into totally new surroundings casually came to inspect the giant pink monster that was rearranging their new home. Always visible and cruising around, lounging on branches or smelling the leaflitter.
Just like it's American 'cousin' (the cornsnake) they are incredible calm, eat like a madman and very easy to care of. Adult animals are robust, a bit more bulky then a corn and can grow between 1,5 to 2,1 meter. The species is also known for its variable appearance, young animals for example are a dark brown with darker and lighter bands across it's body. Adult's however are black, with bright yellow, silver or brown bands (and mix of them). A few morphs exist (anery/melanistic), but no designer morphs with ridiculous names.
I'e currently setup them up quite simply. The enclosure is 120x60x60cm (4x2x2 feet) with a few branches for climbing, some (outdoor) leaflitter for enrichment and some bark and a (real) fern as shelters. They do fine on room temperature with a hotter part of about 28-32 degree Celsius. The bulb in the cold end is a 2 watt LED, the one on the other side is a UV-bulb.
I know a lot of keepers claim snakes do not benefit from UV light, but this is not true. Snake do take in D3 from their prey, but research on cornsnakes however has proven that these animals also produce D3 themselves(as opposed to other carnivores like cats). A link to the paper: https://www.researchgate.net/public..._concentrations_in_corn_snakes_Elaphe_guttata) I'm not saying these animals drop dead without UV or become horribly ill. But research has shown that blood levels are significantly different when exposed to UV light. I do not know what the practical benefits are, but I prefer that the body is able to self-regulate, so I offer UV lighting. In any case, the animals will hopefully move to an outdoor enclosure as soon as possible.
Unfortunately the one of the reasons I picked this species is also its biggest downside; it does really well outside. In fact, a small population already exist in the wild near me. In the previous century someone released some of these snakes in the Netherlands. Those few snake managed to survive and reproduce and form a small population. It's debatable how much of a threat these animals pose.
Forgive me if this sounds a bit much like an commercial. But they simply are a really cool species.
They just settled in and I honestly can't believe this gem isn't more popular. The Russian ratsnake is also known as Amur ratsnake, Siberian rat snake, Manchurian watersnake, Schrenck's rat snake and a few more names. It's definitely a species you should refer to by its scientific name when purchasing. Besides the many common names, several other snakes inhabit it range. So sellers sometimes sell other species as 'Russian ratsnakes' as well.
The reason I've become so smitten by this species is it's personality. They observe you and even youngsters that had been placed into totally new surroundings casually came to inspect the giant pink monster that was rearranging their new home. Always visible and cruising around, lounging on branches or smelling the leaflitter.
Just like it's American 'cousin' (the cornsnake) they are incredible calm, eat like a madman and very easy to care of. Adult animals are robust, a bit more bulky then a corn and can grow between 1,5 to 2,1 meter. The species is also known for its variable appearance, young animals for example are a dark brown with darker and lighter bands across it's body. Adult's however are black, with bright yellow, silver or brown bands (and mix of them). A few morphs exist (anery/melanistic), but no designer morphs with ridiculous names.
I'e currently setup them up quite simply. The enclosure is 120x60x60cm (4x2x2 feet) with a few branches for climbing, some (outdoor) leaflitter for enrichment and some bark and a (real) fern as shelters. They do fine on room temperature with a hotter part of about 28-32 degree Celsius. The bulb in the cold end is a 2 watt LED, the one on the other side is a UV-bulb.
I know a lot of keepers claim snakes do not benefit from UV light, but this is not true. Snake do take in D3 from their prey, but research on cornsnakes however has proven that these animals also produce D3 themselves(as opposed to other carnivores like cats). A link to the paper: https://www.researchgate.net/public..._concentrations_in_corn_snakes_Elaphe_guttata) I'm not saying these animals drop dead without UV or become horribly ill. But research has shown that blood levels are significantly different when exposed to UV light. I do not know what the practical benefits are, but I prefer that the body is able to self-regulate, so I offer UV lighting. In any case, the animals will hopefully move to an outdoor enclosure as soon as possible.
Unfortunately the one of the reasons I picked this species is also its biggest downside; it does really well outside. In fact, a small population already exist in the wild near me. In the previous century someone released some of these snakes in the Netherlands. Those few snake managed to survive and reproduce and form a small population. It's debatable how much of a threat these animals pose.
Forgive me if this sounds a bit much like an commercial. But they simply are a really cool species.