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Mandarin Ratsnake

Mandarin Ratsnake ... Euprepiophis mandarinus formerly Elaphe mandarinus

By Tom Halvorsen

The Mandarin Ratsnake, recently reclassified into the genus Euprepiophis from Elaphe along with two other species conspicillata & perlacea is unquestionably one of the world`s most beautiful species of Ratsnakes, yet they are considered extremely difficult to keep alive for any length of time and eventually breed. Captive-bred specimens are not frequently available, and when they are, it is more often than not as a result of a wild-caught, gravid female having laid her eggs shortly after being captured.

While there is no question that the Mandarin Ratsnake is a species for specialist keeper due to it`s special requirements, we strongly believe the reasons for the poor survival rate is firstly due to specimens shipped from China traditionally having been of poor quality, heavily parasited, skinny and dehydrated even before they are exported to other countries in the world. Secondly, many of the importers are not adequately prepared to meet the species special demands, important key factors to consider are cool temperatures, deep substrate to burrow and hide within, high humidity, and absolutely no handling and a stress-free surroundings. Obviously, this is not a species to be sold as a pet snake, or a snake to be kept in a pet shop!

Tom Halvorsen Ltd works closely with what we consider to be the best exporter in China, and our imports of Mandarin Ratsnakes are of top quality, freshly captured specimens that have not been starved prior to shipping, they recieve the right enviromental conditions whilst awaiting dispatch, thus not allowing a huge and unnatural parasitic load to develop.

It is generally accepted that all wild-caught Mandarin Ratsnakes will never ever feed on anything but live rodents, and even captive-bred specimens are considered difficult to get feeding on anything but live food items. We are proud to say that with a lot of hard work and persistence we have managed to get many of our specimens to feed on defrosted rodents! As we are seriously interested in seeing as many as possible of these wonderful snakes thrive in captivity, please feel free to ask us for advice on our feeding technique, even if you have not purchased your Mandarin Ratsnakes from us.

Specimens from our stock not willing to accept dead food items will be sold as such, without any guarantee of feeding. The snakes are still of top quality, and should be very easy to get feeding on natural prey items.

The Mandarin Ratsnake reaches an average length of about 130 cm in length, with specimens sometimes reaching a length of approx 160 cm. Although other Ratsnake species at this length could eat very large food items, it is advisable to use small and easily digested food items for the Mandarin Ratsnakes. We start them feeding on small and easily digested items such as mouse fuzzies or Rat pups, advancing to small adult mice later.

It is advisable to de-worm your Mandarin Ratsnakes and treat them for internal parasites, but although there are different opinions about this frequently discussed topic, we believe that as long as the animals have arrived in top condition it is better to wait 3-6 months before treating them, to allow them to settle in properly with a minimum of stress.

For the same stress-reducing reason we can not guarantee to supply this species in exact pairs, as we are not willing to probe our imported specimens to determine their sex. Being easily stressed, the handling involved by probing them can stress these snakes to such an extent that they stop feeding, and we will always let animal welfare come first. We see it as much more important to supply Mandarin Ratsnakes of top quality, rather than selling them fast and easy as we undoubtly would if we supplied them in guaranteed sex ratios. We will do our best to supply our customers requested sex ratio without probing, but buyers seriously interested in attempting to breed from our Mandarin Ratsnakes are advised to obtain a group of animals.

The Mandarin Ratsnakes geographical range in the wild is officially accepted to be China, Laos, Burma and Vietnam, with China being the country of origin for most, if not all, specimens exported. Several color-morphs exist, amongst them a stunning red phase that we do sometimes have available.

The Mandarin Ratsnake is still considered a common snake in the wild, and although several thousand specimens are exported for the animal trade yearly, this number makes up for less than 10% of the total number of Mandarin Ratsnakes being captured every year. The remaining 90% or so captured every year are being sold at local markets, for human consumption. The single biggest threat to the species long-term survival in the wild is, a growing human population that needs to be fed and housed, which in turn leads to serious destruction and damage to natural habitats.

It is our opinion that the stunningly beautiful and fascinating Mandarin Ratsnake should not be imported at all, unless only top-quality specimens with a fair chance of survival can be obtained, by importers who are willing to give them the correct captive conditions, and provide prospective buyers with advice on how to keep them - as well as simply not selling them at all to the first person who looks at them and wants one because they are so beautiful. This is the only way to establish a larger captive breeding population of this highly desirable snake, which is definitely what we all should work towards for every single species that is taken from the wild that do not adjust easily to captive conditions.