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  1. #1
    Registered User Sylphie's Avatar
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    Elaphe schrenckii FAQ

    First I want to state that all these responses are based on my experiences and nowhere do I say that it's the only proper way to keep these snakes.

    I just get asked these questions a lot by people from all around the world so I thought I write a quick FAQ. Most of the time the messages start with "I can't find much info about them and what I found is rather general... I would like some more specific informations if you would be so kind to answer to my questions". So here we are! Hope someone will enjoy it, and admins, if I got it in the wrong category I'm sorry, feel free to move it!




    Q: What are the most extreme temperature ranges that Elaphe schrenckii can tolerate?


    A: The perfect range for these snakes is between 70F and 83F (21C to 28C). From our experience they will be fine as low as 68F (20C) and as high as 102F (39C), so if you live in colder/warmer climates and worry about power shortages or a/c problems you’ll be fine for a few days if they stay in these temperatures. That being said you should try to reach the perfect ranges of course.

    Q: What are the best enclosure dimensions for adult snakes? And what type of enclosure is best?

    A: For adult pair you’ll want the minimum enclosure of 5 x 2 x 2 feet (150 x 60 x 60cm). It may seem big but they are active species that will use all the space you can provide. If you have only one adult snake then you can go a little smaller, like 4 x 1,5 x 1,5 feet (120 x 45 x 45cm). I would recommend either glass or wood enclosures with sliding doors. Any rack type tubes, rubs etc. are too small for them as well as don’t provide any space to explore around.
    Of course hatchlings and juveniles can live in smaller enclosures as well as in tubs/rubs as a temporary enclosures.

    Q: Can you give me a general idea about their temperament? And are there any differences between males and females? Also, are there differences between hatchlings and adults?

    A: Most of the snakes I had or heard about could be described as very calm, brave and inquisitive. They will often watch the humans on the other side of the glass or go to hands that are cleaning in their tanks. They don’t try to run when you want to pick them up, on the contrary you should probably watch yourself as they will go check what’s going on and can mistake you for food sometimes J

    As far as I can tell there are no differences between males and females, my females were a little more food driven than males but I don’t know if it’s a rule for the whole species or just my luck.

    There are hovewer differences between hatchlings and adults. Hatchlings are often shy and will try to run from your hands when you try to pick them up. They will calm fast once on hands. In my experience it’s all connected to the size of the snake. At one point they just decide that they are now a big, adult snake that can’t be hurt by anything at all and that’s when you get to fully enjoy interacting with them as they become the brave, inquisitive snakes that everyone mentions when asked about this species.

    Q: How often and for how long can they be handled? What are the signs of being stressed? Are they okay with being handled a lot?

    A: They are one of the species that I would recommend to anyone who looks for a “pet” that can be handled frequently. Since they tolerate colder temperatures you can handle them as long as you want (unlike the more tropical species). Of course they are still reptiles, not dogs so I would say that handling for half an hour is okay, but for 3 hours may be a little excessive.
    hey do like to move around and explore so they will use the chance to see the world, but they can still be stressed with too much activity happening around them (like big crowds, very fast active kids etc).

    The signs of being stressed are similar to other snakes. They will hiss and “puff” if they don’t want you to pick them or try to hide in the darker corners if they had enough handling.

    Q: Again with the handling issues… do they dart/run/flight around like crazy or are they calmly wandering around? How long should I wait after feeding to safely handle them?

    A: As hatchlings they can be flighty (depends on the individual, some are calm right out of the egg and others need time to calm down). That being sait I certainly say that they are a lot calmer than some of the other species like king snakes or beauty snakes that like to “spasm” around trying to get out of your hold. As they grow up they calm down and just wander around sniffing at everything.

    As a rule I wait 48h after feeding to make sure they won’t throw up the food… or use me as a toilet

    Q: How many morphs are there?

    A: At the moment there are 4 recognised morphs: wildtype (black with yellow markings), melanistic (all black), albino and anerythistic (black with white markings).

    Q: I heard you can give them fish and quail eggs, is it true? How often can they eat it?

    A: Yes, they will eat fish, quail eggs and quail chicks (the chicks are only for adult snakes). You can enrich the diet with these “treats” every few feedings safely. Just make sure the fish don’t have thiaminese.

    Q: What type of light should they have? And how much humidity they require?! No one ever mentions exact humidity with these snakes!

    A: They will do okay with normal LED bulbs but they will certainly benefit from UVB light. The lack of uvb won’t cause health problems like metabolic bone disease in lizards but if provided the snakes will often bask under it.

    Q: Do they need to brumate? Do they go off food in winter?

    A: In my experience they don’t go off food as a rule. Ours were eating perfectly even when paired up for breeding. There are however individuals that will go off food for a few weeks in winter. In that case you may consider brumating but it’s not strictly necessary.

    That being said I know that brumation is good for the health of our reptiles and should be done for every species... I’m at fault here as I don’t brumate ours since we don’t really have means to do so at the moment. You should probably read about it more and make your decision.
    0.1 Elaphe schrenckii, 0.1 Python regius, 1.0 Pantherophis guttatus, 2.0 R. ciliatus, 0.1 Pogona vitticeps, 1.0 Mauremys reevesii, 1.1 dogs

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  3. #2
    Registered User Sylphie's Avatar
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    I only now noticed that the part about humidity did not get copied.. so here it is:

    Q: How much humidity they require?! No one ever mentions exact humidity with these snakes!

    A: Russian ratsnakes are very smiliar to corn snakes in this part of the care. As long as the humidity is below 80% they will be perfectly fine (higher humidity could cause health problems like blisters for example). I recommend using water bowls big enough for the whole snake to fit, this way they will be able to bath before shedding or when they feel it's too dry. Personally I never heard of anyone having problems with shedding in this species, so antyhing between 30% to 80% will be okay in my opinion.
    0.1 Elaphe schrenckii, 0.1 Python regius, 1.0 Pantherophis guttatus, 2.0 R. ciliatus, 0.1 Pogona vitticeps, 1.0 Mauremys reevesii, 1.1 dogs

  4. #3
    BPnet Veteran hilabeans's Avatar
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    Re: Elaphe schrenckii FAQ

    Hey Sylphie, not sure if you'll see this but was wondering if you have a feeding guide for these guys?

    Like this one for bp's:



    My little one is still very small and on mice pinkies twice per week, but he always acts like he wants another one immediately after eating. I'm wondering if I should be feeding him two pinkies per feeding instead of one? I don't want to overfeed him, but I get worried when he swallows his pinkie eagerly and immediately comes for another right away.

    I'm turning into my grandma and just want to feed everyone. Lol!


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  6. #4
    Registered User Sylphie's Avatar
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    Hi, I always fed more on intuition, but since I had a few of them I can do example guide for you It worked for me, but I need to tell you first that I'm not a huge fan of power feeding my reptiles, so if you'll move your snake to bigger prey faster it probably will be okay too.

    It will be the same for males and females since they are very similiar in size even as adults:

    Hatchlings (first 3-5 months): one small pinky mouse every 4-5 days
    Hatchlings (around 6 to 12 months old): one big pinky/small fuzzy once a week, some will be really hungry at this stage so you can offer food more often (like every 4-5 days)
    Juveniles around 1,5 old: will be on big fuzzies or small hoppers once a week usually, but some take longer time. Some also refuse bigger prey so you need to give them 2 fuzzies until they grow bigger and decide to take hoppers
    Around 2 years old: one hopper once a week, but they grow very fast at this stage so after 2-3 months you'll need 2 hoppers at each feeding, or small weaned mices
    Around 2,5 years old: mine were on weaned/sub adults once a week, every few feedings I would offer them 2 items and usually they ate it all
    Around 3 years old: adult mices, once a week but when they reach 3 years old you'll probably have them on 2 audlt mices each feeding since they will destroy the whole enclosure if fed only one mouse
    From 3 years old to 5 years old: rats 35-45g once every two weeks
    From 7 years up: rats 60-90g once every two weeks

    I'm not sure if you have small and big pinky there too, the small ones are the newborn ones, the big are the ones that have a little fur on them but are a little smaller than fuzzy. I'm sorry that it's rather vague but I never really weighted them regurally so I can't make a nice chart like the one you showed Also, don't worry if they don't grow too much the first 1,5 year, at the moment I have one male born in May 2016, he's still only 90grams and eats one fuzzie once a week. They hit a really big grow spurth around 2 years old and that's when you'll switch the prey sizes very often as after 2-3 months they usually need more or bigger prey.
    Last edited by Sylphie; 12-13-2017 at 09:38 AM.
    0.1 Elaphe schrenckii, 0.1 Python regius, 1.0 Pantherophis guttatus, 2.0 R. ciliatus, 0.1 Pogona vitticeps, 1.0 Mauremys reevesii, 1.1 dogs

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  8. #5
    BPnet Veteran MissterDog's Avatar
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    Great info Sylphie!

    Something I'm curious about; Is there a size or behavioral difference between males and females? Similar to ball pythons? Or are they the same?
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  10. #6
    Registered User Sylphie's Avatar
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    Re: Elaphe schrenckii FAQ

    Quote Originally Posted by MissterDog View Post
    Great info Sylphie!

    Something I'm curious about; Is there a size or behavioral difference between males and females? Similar to ball pythons? Or are they the same?
    My oldest pair is now 4 years old and they are totally the same in size. We had one 9 years old female and she was a lot bigger than them, but she also had 6 years of growing more. I never really saw big differences in size gender-wise, some individuals are just bigger but it can happen to both males and females.
    As for behaviour, I'm not sure if it's a rule but our males were all calmer than females, no matter the age Females tended to be more food driven or shy while the males were all an easy-going dudes. But that's just our experiences, I don't really know if it's something typical in this species or just our luck.
    0.1 Elaphe schrenckii, 0.1 Python regius, 1.0 Pantherophis guttatus, 2.0 R. ciliatus, 0.1 Pogona vitticeps, 1.0 Mauremys reevesii, 1.1 dogs

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  12. #7
    BPnet Veteran hilabeans's Avatar
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    This is perfect Sylphie, thank you!!!

    1.0 Lesser Mojave Ball Python "Neptune"; 1.0 Western Hognose "Murray"

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    Inverts:
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    1.0 Doberman Pinscher "Bulleit"; 1.0 Siamese Cat "Boudreaux"; 1.0 British Shorthair Cat "Oliver”


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    Re: Elaphe schrenckii FAQ

    I love this thread. After seeing a few progress threads I've been interested in them. I have a couple questions. Would they be a good first snake or would some experience be needed? What kind of substrate do you recommended for them? How fast do they grow? I know you said a adult would not do good in a tub but how long does it take for them to get to adult size? For a hatchling or young adult, is there a gal size you recommended? I know with ball pythons it's better to have longer than taller but is that true for Russians?

    Sorry if you answered any of these questions and I missed them when I was reading your post.

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  15. #9
    Registered User Sylphie's Avatar
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    Re: Elaphe schrenckii FAQ

    Quote Originally Posted by madhatter18 View Post
    I love this thread. After seeing a few progress threads I've been interested in them. I have a couple questions. Would they be a good first snake or would some experience be needed? What kind of substrate do you recommended for them? How fast do they grow? I know you said a adult would not do good in a tub but how long does it take for them to get to adult size? For a hatchling or young adult, is there a gal size you recommended? I know with ball pythons it's better to have longer than taller but is that true for Russians?

    Sorry if you answered any of these questions and I missed them when I was reading your post.
    I'm glad you like it!


    Q: Would they be a good first snake or would some experience be needed?

    A: They are great begginer snakes! In fact my first snake was Russian ratsnake and it was a great choice. They are very hardy species, don't require any specific humidity, are okay with colder/warmer temperatures, will practically never refuse food. They aren't prone to stress too, so you can handle them without worrying that they will go off food.

    Q: What kind of substrate do you recommended for them?

    A: Anything that is safe for reptiles. Newspapers, paper towels, coco peat, lignocel, bark, eco earth, plain old dirt, aspen - anything you like!

    Q: How fast do they grow?

    A:
    For the first 2 years they grow rather slow and steady. Between 2 and 3 years old they grow like crazy, you'll need bigger prey items and enclosures every few months They are considered fully grown at 4 years old, but they will get a lot more bulkier with passing years. Below you can see our Artemis at 8months old, 1,5year old and 3 years old.



    Q: I know you said a adult would not do good in a tub but how long does it take for them to get to adult size? For a hatchling or young adult, is there a gal size you recommended? I know with ball pythons it's better to have longer than taller but is that true for Russians?

    A: They are fully grown at 3-4 years old lenght-wise, but they will gain a lot more in girth with passing years. Below you can see 9 years old female held by my husband and 4 years old female held by my sister. Maybe I'll try to do a new picture with my husband for better perspective...

    Hatchlings can be kept in tubs without problems, similiar sizes to corn snakes for the first year or two. At two years old you should probably start thinking about bigger enclosure. "If you have only one adult snake then you can go a little smaller, like 4 x 1,5 x 1,5 feet (120 x 45 x 45cm)." - that being said I now keep my 4 years old pair in 2,6 x 1,6 x 1,9 feet (80x50x60xm) and they have plenty of space there. The recommended sizes in my opinion are more for 6-7 years old snakes that are a lot bulkier than the 3-4years old, so you don't need to worry about getting the full sized enclosure for quite a long time.

    I would say that for example if you have a young hatchling that is less than 2 years old you can keep it in either a tub or small temporary glass/wood enclosure. From 2 to 5 years old something like I'm using now (3 x 1,5 x 1,5 feet or 2,5 x 1,5 x 2feet) will be perfect. If your snake grows really big then you'll probably need to think about adding that one feet in lenght to make it 4 x 1,5 x 1,5. I can't really recommend sizes for hatchlings as they grow at different rates.

    The best would be horizontal (longer) enclosure, but I kept mine in vertical (tall) for 2 years and they were doing perfectly fine in it. It all really depends on decorations.

    (Sorry for not answering in gallons but we don't use them in my country so I don't want to mess the dimensions with converting it )

    Last edited by Sylphie; 12-13-2017 at 03:08 PM.
    0.1 Elaphe schrenckii, 0.1 Python regius, 1.0 Pantherophis guttatus, 2.0 R. ciliatus, 0.1 Pogona vitticeps, 1.0 Mauremys reevesii, 1.1 dogs

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  17. #10
    BPnet Veteran MissterDog's Avatar
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    Probably an odd, specific question but, how mischievous are Russian rat snakess when it comes to lights fixtures mounted inside the cage? I've often been cautioned that even ball pythons could climb up and drag a light fixture down, could the same be said for a Russian rat snake to the point one should consider a sort of mesh guard if I wanted to consider florescent lighting inside?
    Last edited by MissterDog; 01-10-2018 at 02:04 PM.
    1.0 Ball Python (Mystic Potion) Tapioca
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    0.1 Russian Rat Snake (Melanistic) Kallari (RIP)

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