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New Mandarin Rats

DeadMouse

DeadMouse

Hungry, hungry Hognose!
I know I had posted these in another thread, but as that thread was area/topic specific, I figured these snakes deserved a thread of their own :rolleyes:

Anywho, as I mentioned previously, I wanted to buy this pair a year ago at a local show but at the time did not have the money. I figured they would have been long gone by now so I thought I was "safe" when I semi-jokingly told my wife that if I saw them again this time, I'd buy them without hesitating. Well, there they were and what other choice did I have? ;)

So here they are, the Mandarins that were destined to come home with me -

Male (570 grams):
DSC_3545-cropped.jpg


DSC_3549-cropped.jpg


DSC_3556-cropped.jpg


Female (417 grams):
DSC_3559-cropped.jpg


DSC_3566-cropped.jpg


These two were far bigger than they looked when they were all cooped up in their large deli cups. My wife and I were trying to guess their weights prior to putting them on the scale and we were both way off by conservative measures.

The male, being a bit unnerved by all the activity and changes of today, wrapped himself around my wrist and didn't want to let go when I tried to weigh him. He helped me remember just how strong even a colubrid of proportional size can be. Even though I have a corn that is equal size and weight, it's been like forever when a snake actually made my hand change colors from constriction since they are all pretty well adapted to me handling them. This guy however was just feeling a little insecure of his new surroundings and wanted to have a good hold of me while he just looked around. On an interesting note, he did give me a bit of a musking when I first took hold of him and I have to say, it's by far the strangest smelling musk yet. My wife said it smelled almost like stinky cut grass and I have to say that I agree.

When it came time to weigh the female, I opted to just weigh her in her container since I was told she was the spookier of the two and had a tendency to be nippy. She actually turned out to be fairly calmer than the male. I'm sure she is simply biding her time until I get distracted and then WHAMO! :dgrin:
 
Very nice!! You are accumulating quite the collection! Do you have plans to breed this year- are they big enough?
 
Nanci said:
Very nice!! You are accumulating quite the collection!
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Thanks!

We've expanded our collection heavily over this last year after we decided to do something we've wanted to do for a long time, turn our hobby into a fun business. I haven't had a "real" job in a long time and I've pretty much burned out on dealing with flakes doing computer consulting from home, so I figured this would be a much more enjoyable endeavor and it's something my wife also thoroughly enjoys. So it's pretty much a win win situation. While I don't plan on really making much money from it all, if we can just break even on our investments over the next couple fo years, we'll be more than happy with that.

Do you have plans to breed this year- are they big enough?
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Supposedly this is a proven pair with a hitch. The breeders I bought this pair from said the female laid a clutch of eggs last year but they were all slugs. The problem they told me last year and this year, which is the reason they've been wanting to sell them, is that they have a dedicated room for their colubrids which they keep at a temp in the mid-80's and this unfortunately is too warm for these cooler mountainous species. So their logical assumption is that the heat was the suspect for the slugs. Being that they couldn't dedicate any other cooler space for these guys, the breeders just wanted to unload them and stick with their warmer species. Fortunately I have plenty of cooler rooms to keep them :) They also told me that this pair just came out of brumation, so I might try and put them together after they settle in within the next month. They are definitely the right age (2003's) and weight (male: 570 grams, female: 417 grams).

So here's hoping that 2008 shows me a little more love in the breeding department :)
 
They are positively stunning! When I first saw a photo of a Mandarin rat snake, I thought someone had done some major Photoshopping on it. Then I did a little research and found that they actually existed! Congrats on your new additions!
 
Beautiful snakes, nice pick-up. Lexcorn keeps Mandarins, I'm always drooling over her website!
 
Susan said:
They are positively stunning! When I first saw a photo of a Mandarin rat snake, I thought someone had done some major Photoshopping on it. Then I did a little research and found that they actually existed! Congrats on your new additions!
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Oh yeah they exist and are real cheap too.....if you get WC. You used to be able to get wild caught ones for $75 a pop. The captives are MUCH better and will actually live. I would suggest that you stay away from WC ones as my buddy who got a 10-lot ended up with a freezer with 10 of them in it! Captives will thrive....but they are costly last time I checked.
 
Absolutly beautiful ratsnakes. This is one of the few species of Asian rats I'd be head over heels to keep. Unfortunatley they are at least $400-600 a piece for CB in the uk.
 
Those two snakes are some of the most beautiful I've ever seen! The markings are incredible!
I hope they have some perfect eggs for you - can't wait to see the babies!
 
Very nice! I really like the way the pattern transitions from the head to the diamond shaped saddles. I just looked them up, looks like they all have a similar pattern.
 
Thanks everybody for the wonderful comments! :)

I am so grateful that I was able to get another opportunity to buy this pair. I was really bummed last year when we passed up on them because they looked so healthy being captive bred and the sellers weren't asking an arm and a leg for them considering what the current market is for them. They were originally asking $600 for the pair but I was able to get them for $500. A steal if you ask me :dancer: I paid about $450 for my pair of '07's back at the Anaheim NARBC show. Now Mandarins seem to have increased in price up to $300-400 each for yearlings or younger. :eek1:

The one thing about Mandarins though is they are a very shy nocturnal snake. As much as I love mine, they aren't a snake you get to see very often and they don't seem to handle very well unfortunately. My young ones are getting a little better, but nowhere near as much as my other colubrids.

As mentioned earlier about WC Mandarins, of all the ones I've seen for sale, none of them really looked all that healthy like the CB's always do. While the lower price of WC's might seem inviting, I've read and heard many horror stories about how poorly most fair in captivity.

Still, they are a fascinating and beautiful snake and if you can find and afford them and keep them reasonably cool, I highly suggest getting some :)
 
Very nice pickup, captive bred's are sure the way to go. I just couldn't resist a few years back and bought a pair of imports. Did all the homework on husbandry, set the caging up beforehand, etc. The pair I got were just crap. One developed a tumor on it's neck, both never ate.

Glad to see the pricing on the c.b's has stayed constant. Beautiful snakes, and a great deal too DM. Keep us updated :cheers:
 
alan said:
Very nice! I really like the way the pattern transitions from the head to the diamond shaped saddles. I just looked them up, looks like they all have a similar pattern.
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For the most part, they all pretty much have the same pattern/coloring. But naturally there are those rare wonderful exceptions.

Here's an axanthic:
46166mand-med.jpg


And here's a very interesting color (pic taken from the TFH book "Rat Snakes - A Hobbyist's Guide to Elaphe and Kin":
mandarinratsnake-oddcoloring.jpg
 
Both very nice('specially the axanthic), but I think the "normals" are nicer.
That axanthic pic kind of makes my eyes crazy, like looking at a herd of zebras.
 
alan said:
Both very nice('specially the axanthic), but I think the "normals" are nicer.
That axanthic pic kind of makes my eyes crazy, like looking at a herd of zebras.
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I wholeheartedly agree with you. I too am more partial to the normal coloring. I remember when I first saw them in my TFH Rat Snake book 15 years ago and just being blown away. Back then everybody just laughed when I asked where I could get some as they were basically just nonexistent in the retail market. I'm glad times have changed!

While Corns were my first introduction into snake keeping all those years ago, Mandarins were really my dream snake that I am now fortunate to have :)
 
Those are just awesome... I am glad you were able to get them after all, after a year! at least by waiting a year you know they will thrive in captivity ;) I really hope they will have nice fertile eggs for you. I had the same problem with my greeris, high mountain species, didn't get brumation temps low enough, female laid slugs... At least that's what I think. I absolutely agree these beauties deserved their own thread (and many more in the future, I hope! ) :cheers:
 
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