Re: Diadem Ratsnake......Info.

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Posted by j deryke on February 15, 2001 at 15:30:51:

In Reply to: Diadem Ratsnake......Info. posted by Fiona on February 11, 2001 at 17:46:58:

: Hello,
: Today my husband and I were in a pet shop buying fuzzies for one of our "babies" and we saw a beautiful little guy. We saw that he is a Diadem Ratsnake. Since we have gotten home, we have tried to find out about this little guy. Care and housing...etc.. The problem is there is not alot of information about them. I would greatly appreciate anything anyone can tell me about them. He was gorgeous and we are seriously considering adding this little one to our growing family.
: Thank you guys,
: Fiona

There are at least 6 different "diadem" ratsnakes. The name refers to the pattern on top of their head. They now appear to be rear-fanged, so you might check the rear-fang post on Kingsnake if that's a concern. I own a 3-yr-old Spaerosophis diadema atricepts, better known as a Pakistani Jewel ratsnake. Be aware that they are really a sort of rat-racer, not like a cornsnake. Very fast, nervous and slim for the size. A true eating-machine: live, dead, small rats, mice- doesn't matter-gimme more! The atricepts variety is a color-changer: as babies they all look like a gopher snake. At 1 yr,they begin to get pink blotches all over as the brown pattern fades into scattered black spots. At about 2 yrs, the whole snake is salmon-pink with intense black blotches scattered over him. The head is coal-black. There's another subspecies (dunno which) that does the same thing, but has a canary-yellow base color. Handle-able, quite active. I think the other diadema retain their brown-on-tan pattern forever. Finally, if you are interested in breeding them, the eggs are peculiar, too: they are quite large & extremely elongated like those 'good-and-plenty' licorice candies, not 'egg-shaped'.

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: : Hello, : : Today my husband and I were in a pet shop buying fuzzies for one of our "babies" and we saw a beautiful little guy. We saw that he is a Diadem Ratsnake. Since we have gotten home, we have tried to find out about this little guy. Care and housing...etc.. The problem is there is not alot of information about them. I would greatly appreciate anything anyone can tell me about them. He was gorgeous and we are seriously considering adding this little one to our growing family. : : Thank you guys, : : Fiona : There are at least 6 different "diadem" ratsnakes. The name refers to the pattern on top of their head. They now appear to be rear-fanged, so you might check the rear-fang post on Kingsnake if that's a concern. I own a 3-yr-old Spaerosophis diadema atricepts, better known as a Pakistani Jewel ratsnake. Be aware that they are really a sort of rat-racer, not like a cornsnake. Very fast, nervous and slim for the size. A true eating-machine: live, dead, small rats, mice- doesn't matter-gimme more! The atricepts variety is a color-changer: as babies they all look like a gopher snake. At 1 yr,they begin to get pink blotches all over as the brown pattern fades into scattered black spots. At about 2 yrs, the whole snake is salmon-pink with intense black blotches scattered over him. The head is coal-black. There's another subspecies (dunno which) that does the same thing, but has a canary-yellow base color. Handle-able, quite active. I think the other diadema retain their brown-on-tan pattern forever. Finally, if you are interested in breeding them, the eggs are peculiar, too: they are quite large & extremely elongated like those 'good-and-plenty' licorice candies, not 'egg-shaped'.

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