100 Flower Rat Snake - Orthriophis moellendorffi

Moellendorff's rat snake is a fascinating and underrated snake found in south China and northern Vietnam. They inhabit rocky caves and often are found near water courses. Low light levels and low temperatures are preferred by these secretive snakes. They are active mostly at dawn and dusk; hunting, mating and travelling when the sun is low.

I acquired my pair of Moellendorff's rat snakes in early 2011. They were wild caught in China and arrived in a shipment of Chinese rat snakes. I had wanted to work with this species for years and never had the chance. I had read many articles and books about the species and all of them pretty much said don't bother with wild caught animals because they do not live well in captivity and often succumb to parasites or stress in the first few weeks. I was determined to have them so i bought the pair, despite the warnings. When they arrived i checked them thoroughly for any external parasites. Looking for mites, ticks and any lumps and bumps which may indicate a worm infestation. They were then offered water. They were bathed for about 2 hours in cool water. They were clearly stressed and slightly weak from travelling and an obvious lack of food during capture and transportation. They drank and drank and drank.

After a couple of hours they were placed in their enclosures. To begin with they were quarantined in 50 Litre RUBs (Really Useful Boxes- Staples' gift to reptile keepers.) They had a newspaper substrate and were given no heating to begin with but it was late spring and my house temperature was adequate. They were kept away from my entire collection for a few weeks.

The first week they were left alone completely, apart from offering fresh water which every other day had electrolytes mixed into it. This was to give them an extra boost, as the powder is designed for rehabilitating reptiles. They responded brilliantly to this and within the first week had accepted a very small rat pup each. I cant deny i was feeling very good about this.

For the following few weeks they were left to quietly settle and gain weight. They both shed within the month and then i was ready to set them up properly in more substantial enclosures.

Still using the 50L RUB i added a loose substrate (Lucky Reptile Jungle Bedding) and a dark hiding box. They were also given a basking spot of 28c. This was provided with a thermostatically controlled heat mat. They used the hot spot extensively and were rarely in the cool end of the tank. I increased food size to rat fuzzies and they took to them well. The female however was not keen on the more furry food items at first. She fed more readily on smaller bald rats. 

It was around this time that i started to look at handling them and rechecking their health and condition. I was astonished at how muscular they were for such a slender snake. And their heads looked so large! It was now that i discovered just how foul tempered they can be.

The female displayed rather impressively. She gaped, hissed and violently struck at any movement. She showed me just how wide she could open her mouth and just how big she was by puffing herself up and letting out some very intimidating hisses. When i persisted with handling (for cleaning purposes) she protested more. For a slender rat snake they pack a punch and she got me good! Then she unleashed the most unpleasant weapon in her arsenal... musk! This pungent secretion is released from a snakes cloaca (vent opening) and is very smelly and even more difficult to clean off.

They continued to feed and continued to grow for the next few months but never got any calmer during handling so i stopped it and left them alone unless they needed cleaning. It should be mentioned that they make a lot of mess. They also drink large amounts of water, especially when the bowl was changed. I also noticed that they preferred the bowl close to their hide holes. They were sprayed heavily most days as well, to keep a very high humidity in their boxes. As Autumn approached i started to think about hibernation. It seemed pretty likely that these snakes would respond well to hibernation, if i was to breed them.

I purchased a Lucky Reptile Herp Nursery II and set it up so it was running at 12-13c. The snakes were starved for 3 weeks and were given lower temperatures until they were living at 18c constantly, with no basking spot. Then they were placed in dry snake bags with newspaper bedding and placed in the Herp Nursery II. They were left in their for 4 weeks, as i had read that in the wild they only hibernate for 2-3 months. They were woken up for a drink each week and were never allowed to warm up to room temperature.

At writing they have been awake for 8 hours. They have passed waste (urates) and have shown a fondness of their basking spot again. They have been moved into a Vision V70 rack system with heat cable at one end. I am now just waiting for a post hibernation shed and hopefully some copulation. I will keep posting any progress with this species and will make a full care and breeding sheet when i have some breeding data to record.

I have fallen in love with this species and have found them very interesting to keep. I can't recommend them to new keepers and any one who enjoys handling their snakes but if left alone to settle and given adequate temperatures and humidity, these snakes can make very good captives.

J

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