# Colubrids > Ratsnakes >  Taiwan Beauty Snake

## MAG_Pythons

Hi all,
I am seriously consitering getting aTaiwan Beauty Snake and i was wondering if any of ya'll had personal experience with them and what they are like. I held one at my local pet store (the only one i will ever buy anything from) and it seemed very docile. it was a juvinal about two feet long. I've read this care sheet http://www.snakemuseum.com/ratsnake.htm and it seems informitive asside frome saying to house them on pine. I have never owned a colorbrid and these snakes seem very hardy and awesome looking
thanx in advance,
Leigh

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## MAG_Pythons

also if ya'll know ne good care sheets i would love to read them :-D

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## MAG_Pythons

bump  ...

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## Shaun J

http://www.reptilia.org/care_sheets/...snk_taiwan.htm

I don't know how accurate it is but I hope it helps.  :Smile:

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## xdeus

This should be pretty close to what you need, and it was created by MedusasOwl, a popular member on this forum.  Perhaps you can PM her and get more info...

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## MedusasOwl

> MedusasOwl, a popular member on this forum.


Awwh!  :Aww:   That makes me feel lerved!  :Love:  

But yeah, Taiwan Beauty care should be very similar to VBB care, they're so closely related that Blue Beauties were thought to be an intigrade between Taiwans and Ridleys before they got acknowledged as their own subspecies.  They're all _Elaphe Taenura_, or Asian Stripe-Tailed Ratsnakes.

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## MAG_Pythons

awesome, thanx

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## jjspirko

The are awesome snakes, they get very large without the massive girth of liike a redtail boa or a big python.  Most top out at 7-8 feet with some power feeding during the growth phase they can hit 9-10 though. 

Average diameter of a large adult is about like a coke can.  I have a 1.1 pair of 05s and a new baby 06 male.  Baby ya right born in June and I have him on adult mice already.  Here is a shot of him with a full belly.




Here is a shot of a typical adult once fully grown.  I can't remember where I came up with this pic so I can't give proper credit,






My basic advice is as follows with all Asian beauties.  

1.  Don't stress they are pretty damn easy to care for

2.  Get a big inclosure they do get quite large as you can see.  Like a 40 breeder is at the smallest end for an adult.

3.  While they are babies handle them a lot.  Many people call them nippy but you are correct about them being gentle they just need to be handled during the growth years.

4.  Have fun

Honestly if you can keep other snakes safely you can keep these just give them a big cage and lots of attention and try to keep the humidity a bit higher then a typical rat.  The reason is the LONG NARROW tail can have sheding issues if you don't.  Other then that just use and corn or rat snake care sheet and make alowance for the additional size.

Here is my only caution about them.  Like I said 8-9 feet is their potential and when they are that big they can lift their head about 2.5 feet up off the ground and they are FAST as in fast like a cat.  So you just have to be willing to deal with a big fast snake.  They are worth the little bit of extra effort.  

Hope that helps,

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## Sapphire7

Beautiful!

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## MedusasOwl

Gorgeous Taiwan!  Man, I love me some Asian rats.  :Love:

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## jjspirko

That "baby" ate two small adult mice this evening and he would have ate another I am sure if I would have offered it to him.  In fact I think the stinker would eat himself to death if I alloweed it.

I have never seen a snake grow this fast, God only knows what he will be like in a year or two.  I am hoping this one tops 9 his daddy was 9.5 and mom was 8 acording to the breeder so the genes are right, one can hope for a big boy here.   Wish me luck,  :Sunny:

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## MedusasOwl

Good luck with that big boy!

Man, I can't wait to raise one of Ma-tsu's daughters up!  :Love:  Not sure how big my VBBs are, I think around 8 ft but I know for sure they're around 3lbs.  Asian rats are some nice big colubrids!  Great personalities too!

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## jjspirko

Medusa,

Guess you are my long lost sister or something there are just not that many beauty snake fans out there and I just don't know why there is not much more a herper could ask for.

Easy to care for

Beautiful

Gentle

Fast Growing

Easy to breed

The get really big with out getting to big (like Red Tails and Big Pythons)

Active and good attitudes

One wonders why there are not more of us.

 :Taz:   may be we are just crazy who knows,

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## MedusasOwl

I know we're not crazy!  Everybody who meets Ma-tsu falls in love with her, so it's not just us! (How can anybody not love this face?)  And she's so gentle that she even gingerly takes the rat out of the tongs when I feed her, all lady like!

I think part of it through is that they have a reputation for being "nervous" and photos rarely do them justice. I'm really set on spreading the beauty love with Blue Gorgon!  We just need to get the word out there on how awesome they are and dispell the spazzy myths! 

I think the reason they have that rep is largely because of wild caught individuals, and snakes that weren't handled enough when they were growing up like my boy Neptune.  He's a very nervous snake, but he was bullied a lot sharing a cage with Ma-tsu before I got them (she always sat on his head) and separated them plus their previous owners told me he was a sweetheart before they stopped handling him and left him in with the diva all the time.  

I definitely want more Asian rats.  Spectacular snakes.  The size, personality, colors, good appitites, all the things you mentioned! We just gotta spread the word and spread the love.  :Wink:

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## snake_lady83

I loved the video of your snake that was too cute.  I couldn't help but giggle.  Curious like every other snake I know.


-Hannah :Smile:

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## MedusasOwl

Hehe, thanks, she was trying to sit on my head, such a cutie!  :Wink:

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## jjspirko

Yea I have heard qutie a few people claim they bite, are nippy or are nervous etc.  The reality though is I have worked with a lot of them over the years and have never been bit.  Heck, I can't even say that about corns or bulls!

I think pehaps that these snakes need to be handled often as babies or they tend to behave a bit more agressively and since most breeders don't handle there snakes often (due to the simple legistics of keeping hundreds of snakes) that breeders are the source of this belief.  

I know this is the case with African House snakes because of my 30 plus breeders none of them bite but most large scale breeders say AHS are prone to bite.  

Who knows where this comes from all I know as my three are gentle as any corn or other captive bred rat snake,

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## MedusasOwl

I agree 100% that it's a handling issue.  There seems to be a development period where they really need attention in order to remain docile.  They just need some extra TLC as youngins.  I keep wondering if that's true of radiated rats too, but I've yet to hear of a really well socialized radiated like I have all these sweet and darling beauties.  Someday I'll be known as the crazy Blue Beauty lady, lol, and I'll love it.  :Wink:   I'm obsessed.  Totally in love with these snakes.

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## piranhaking

Wow, one of theses days I will definitely have one of those.  Beautiful snake, and like was said earlier, big with out being too big.  One question though.  I know that with boas and pythons at around 8 feet or so (i think it is) they suggest you don't handle them alone, but since these seem to be a much smaller diameter and all, would that still apply or are they still manageable as adults?

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## jjspirko

I would have no fear at all of self handling a 10 foot beauty snake because it is a GIRTH issue.  A 8 foot boa could constrict you it is possible and a 12 foot python will if it chooses to and you are alone.  But a 8-10 foot beauty is no where near the same size as a 10 foot python.  

Honestly you are talking 1/5th the weight in the same length or less.  A big beauty will have the girth at his thickest of say a coke can, it is big and impressive but not like a 50 pound boid in any way at all.

Now I think a small child should not be left alone with such a snake but any adult in good condition should be able to handle a big asian beauty no matter what happens.  

It is also important to note that 

There have been very rare incidences of constriction by big boas not many but a few so it can happen.

There have been too many deaths by pythons, mostly burms, retics and rocks.  So we know this can occur all to painfully.  I will put condas in this group too because when people say a boa this is not genneraly what they are talking about.

As far as I know there have been zero incidences of death or bad injury by any rat snake from any species.  I could be wrong but I have been doing this stuff for 25 years and have never heard of anyone being hurt or killed by a rat, bull, etc.

Last Cribos (Indigos, Black Tails, Yellow Tails) are a lot more massive then any rat snake and I have neve heard of a serious injury from any one of them either.

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## piranhaking

Thanks for the great response.  I have only had very little experience with large snakes (anything larger than a 40 some inch ball).  I have never had a snake other than a young corn try to really squeeze me, so I have no way of knowing what kind of squeeze they are really capable of.  Seems like we always have things to learn.

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## MedusasOwl

Oh yeah, no worries at all!  

Jack has it covered beautifully, but I just thought I'd add that I could never keep huge boids partially because of back problems, but I can tangle with even my tempermental male beauty no prob and he's somewhere around possibly over 8ft.  Both of my adults are only around 3 pounds too at their last vet check up.  My little elderly kitty weighs more!  They're long but slender, very impressive gorgeous snakes.  :Love:

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## jjspirko

I concur with Medusa on the weight issue the largest asian rat snake I have ever actually seen and handled was a massive Male blue beauty that was over 11 feet (may be a record) his girth was about like that of a typical 16oz water bottle at his biggest.  He was friendly as all get out to boot!  His weight could not have been more then 6-8 pounds and that again was the biggest beauty I have ever seen or heard of from a reliable source for that matter.

Compair this to the average weight of a male red tail mature boa of 35-40 pounds and you get a clear picture of why a 8-10 foot beauty is a lot easier to manage then a boa or python of a similar length.

By the way Tai, my young male who was born in June and I bought at the Bob Clark show in August is in the blue again and about to shed for the FOURTH time since I bought him.  Talk about growth,  :Dancing Carrot:

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## MedusasOwl

Ooh, thanks for the reminder to add reference to that 11 footer on my caresheet!  I heard about that bad boy and even though it's uncommon for them to get that long, best to warn folks that it's at least possible.  :Good Job:

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