New mandarin pics...

[Phillip]

Finally got a couple more pics of the mandarins and thought i'd share em since I've had a couple of requests to see more of them.

enjoy

Phil

 

[atavuss]

wow! eye poppin bright colors!
Ed

 

[GQ.]

Sweeeeeeeet! They are one of my all time favorite snakes. My buddy just picked up a trio of them. I may just have to pick up a pair myself, after my next two or three chondros that is!

 

[Valael]

I can't get over how bright that yellow is.

 

[Phillip]

The yellow is nice. It contrasts against the black really well. Cool thing is that's how they look as the photos are untouched. Too bad you can't look at them in person without them going nuts.

Phil

 

[atavuss]

Originally posted by Phillip
The yellow is nice. It contrasts against the black really well. Cool thing is that's how they look as the photos are untouched. Too bad you can't look at them in person without them going nuts.

Phil

pretty secretive are they? they like it on the cool side too, eh?
Ed

 

[manville]

i really like its colours...

 

[Phillip]

CB ones can take it up to the mid 80s where WC have to be kept in the very low 80s to preferably the 70s. And yes very flighty and secretive at least when young. They are hands down the flightiest and most nervous snakes I have kept. From what I have heard they will regurge if you mess with them while they have food in them but I can't say for sure as I leave them alone. I figure there will be plenty of time for looking at them once they grow. If you get CB ones though they aren't hard to keep at all as long as you dont get them too hot. Mine feed and shed well they just run like crazy if they think you are going to touch them.

Phil

 

[Wh1teshark]

Can I ask what you payed for them?

 

[webspinner]

Do their colors fade as they get older?

 

[genious_gr]

How did they cross a bee with a snake???

 

[Phillip]

The colors don't fade and cost usually runs in the 800 per pair neighborhood here in the states. Sometimes they can be had for a bit less but not normally for captive bred ones. Price can also go up a tad depending on availability and such. It all depends on how many of them folks manage to hatch out in a given year.

Phil

 

[Phillip]

Currently Pro Exotics has them at 850 to 1000 per pair if that helps any.

Phil

 

[Wh1teshark]

I have seen them for about 2-300 USD here in Sweden. I thaught that was expensive

I'll try tro find some on the expo in Stockholm i Januari.

/Dave

 

[Phillip]

They are a slight bit less expensive on your side of the pond due to having more long term breeders of them through Europe however i would still be suspicious of a price as low as you describe. Usually when that low they are WC which are notorious for not doing well when trying to acclimate them.

This species is not hard to keep when you start with feeding CB animals but WC are a big gamble.

Phil

 

[Valael]

I had to post this here.


I came across this picture of an adult Mandarin and wanted to add it:


http://www.proexotics.com/sept_24_03_pics/colubrids/Original Files/e mandarin big female 6-03 1.jpg


They look amazing in Philip's pictures, but they're freaking incredible when they're full grown. Still just as brightly colored.

 

[Phillip]

As I have told folks who have asked me they certainly don't fade with age and the pic shows this well. Pro Exotics has some really choice adults. They have some other nice shots of them on their site as well.

Phil

 

[Philth]

Sorry for my lack of knowledge, but I would like to know more about this snake. Is it a colubrid, were are they from, what spieces is it, ect. thanks. very cool snake!

 

[Phillip]

Elaphe mandarina ( mandarin ratsnake ) A medium sized asian colubrid that prefers to be kept cooler than many colubrids and is very secretive. They tend to not be the best pet species as they are extremely jumpy and if handled too often and stressed the young ones can go off feed. It is also a bad choice to try wild caught ones as they tend to do poorly while captive bred are pretty easy to keep as long as you don't get them hot and can leave them alone until they are well established.

There are also some showing up in the hobby that have somewhat of a reddish tinge between the scales on the grey part of the body. This is a locale morph as are the ones that get larger. These are a fantastic species but not for the beginner and not for someone that wants a snake to hold all the time.

Phil

 

[Bry]

Phil beat me to it. By the way, Phil, the pic of that adult is awesome. I had no idea they got that large. I always pictured them to be fairly small as adults. So these Mandarins, they get to about what, 5 feet? I'm guessing by the length of the snake in the pic in relation to objects around it.

Bry