The Ratsnake Foundation

Elaphe dione - The Steppe Ratsnake

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 23:40:00 -0000

Author: Jan-Cor Jacobs
Word Count: 1,287

The Steppe Rat Snake is becoming a rare terrarium occupant. That is a pity, since these animals are very nice and easy to keep. Moreover they don’t grow to very large animals, that won’t fit in their housing within a couple of years.

A Ratsnake Keeper s Ponderings

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 23:40:00 -0000

Author: Dave Royans
Word Count: 2,920

Or...
The importance of recording aspects of your snakes’ husbandry and relaying this to other fellow keepers.

The following is a representation of my own personal feelings at the moment on the various methods of conveying husbandry accounts, information and personal experience of keeping the animals we love to keep. It also goes on to explain that the lack of people willing to convey their experiences to others in the written form, results in a little frustration on my part and no doubt others. I don’t claim that anything I say is correct, although obviously I believe it to be, I do realise it’s just my opinion and as such not an absolute. I also realise that, it may change at least slightly over time however it hasn’t really changed for quite a few years now.

Often I use the word ‘we’, where I should have probably more correctly used the word ‘me’. If it helps, think of various lyricists, who have penned songs singing about subject matter outside their experience and personalising it with the first person, or conversely with them distancing something that was personal to them with the third person. It is undoubtedly what I have done here, haven’t we.

Persian Ratsnake, Elaphe persica (Werner, 1913) Natural History, Keeping and breeding in Captivity

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 06:00:00 -0000

Author: Sergei A.Ryabov, Director Exotarium, Oktyabrskaya, 26, 300002 Tula, Russia

Introduction
A medium-sized, but a very interesting species Elaphe persica has a rather limited distribution range: the south-east of Azerbaijan (the Talysh mountains) and the northern part of Iran, adjacent to the southern coast of the Caspian Sea to the north of the mountain system Elburz (Ananjeva et al., 1998).

Notes on reproduction of the adorned graceful brown snake, Rhadinea decorata (Serpentes, Colubridae), from Costa Rica

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 06:00:00 -0000

Author: Stephen R. Goldberg

Department of Biology, Whittier College, Whittier, California 90608, USA.

Keywords: Serpentes, Colubridae, Rhadinea decorata, reproduction, Costa Rica.

The Adorned Graceful Brown Snake Rhadinea decorata (Colubridae) is known from humid broadleaf evergreen forests from southern Mexico to Ecuador; it is active in the daytime and eats mainly Eleutherodactylus frogs and their terrestrial eggs (Savage 2002). Solórzano (2004) reported R. decorata clutch sizes of up to four eggs. The purpose of this paper is to present new information on the reproductive cycle of R. decorata from Costa Rica based on a histological examination of gonadal material from museum specimens. The first information on the timing of the testicular cycle is also presented. Comparisons are made with the timing of testicular cycles of other snakes from Costa Rica as part of an ongoing series of studies on the reproductive biology of snakes from this area.

A case of egg-binding in a Western Fourlined Ratsnake

Wed, 02 Dec 2009 03:30:00 -0000

Author: Dave Royans

Following frequent introductions from a (presumed old) male Elaphe quatuorlineata my younger female (4yrs or so), her appetite seemed a little keener, she seemed to be seeking out a few more meals than I was accustomed to giving her. Soon after she clearly began to take the appearance of a gravid snake, all seemed pretty typical with the eggs being evenly spaced down her body and not overdeveloped. On the 8th August, she completed her pre-lay slough. On the 20th August, she laid a couple of eggs, both appeared to be fertile. However they perished after a week or so. A few days later, she had laid no more, clearly from bumps I could tell that there were more eggs to follow, another four in fact. A secluded nest site was provided for her, which she did frequent and favour most of the time.

Predicting elusiveness: potential distribution model of the Southern smooth snake, Coronella girondica, in Italy

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 00:10:00 -0000

Authors: Pierluigi Bombi¹, Luca Luiselli², Massimo Capula³, Daniele Salvi⁴
^₁ Via Maria Giudice 23, I-00135 Roma, Italy. Corresponding author.
² F.I.Z.V. (Ecology) and Centre of Environmental Studies ‘Demetra s.r.l.’, via Olona 7, I-00198 Roma,
Italy. E-mail: lucamlu@tin.it
³ Museo Civico di Zoologia, via Ulisse Aldrovandi 18, I-00197 Roma, Italy.
⁴ Dipartimento di Biologia ambientale, Università Roma Tre, viale Marconi 446, I-00146 Roma, Italy.

Word count: 2,606

Abstract. Predictive models of species distribution may be very useful for understanding actual distribution of elusive species, including several snakes. The southern smooth snake (Coronella girondica) is likely the most elusive snake species of peninsular Italy, and is therefore well-suited for predicting potential distribution studies. In this paper we predict the potential distribution map of this species in Italy by using MAXENT algorithm, that finds the probability distribution of maximum entropy that is constrained by considered ecological parameters. Presence data for Coronella girondica were gotten from CKmap. The potential distribution model of Coronella girondica showed a very good overall performance (AUC = 0.959), and indicated that high suitability areas correspond mainly to Tyrrhenian north and central regions, including Liguria, western Emilia-Romagna, Tuscany, Umbria, and northern Latium. Southern Italian regions were clearly unsuitable for this snake species. Overall, our study revealed that previous distribution maps indicating the occurrence of Coronella girondica in southern Italy and Sicily were poorly reliable. The conservation and management implications of our study are also addressed.

Keywords. Distribution modelling, elusive species, Serpentes, Colubridae, Italy.

The Tiger Ratsnake - Care & Breeding

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 05:00:00 -0000

Author: Mark Wootten
Word Count: 1144

Introduction

The Tiger Ratsnake (Spilotes pullatus) is also known as the Chicken Eater. It is a large arboreal colubrid found throughout South America. They are reported to exceed 3m but 2.5 is a typical average size for adults. There are several subspecies recognised but I have been unable to find any definitive data regarding these. Most animals seen in the hobby are usually wild caught and come in with other commonly imported South American snakes, such as Emerald Boas, Amazon tree boas etc it is usually very difficult to pinpoint even the country of origin, so specific locale data is rarely available.

Observations of two melanistic smooth snakes (Coronella austriaca) from Dorset, United Kingdom.

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 05:00:00 -0000

Authors: Angelo P. Pernetta¹,²,³, Christopher J. Reading¹
¹ Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, CEH Wallingford, Benson Lane, Crowmarsh Gifford, Wallingford,
Oxfordshire, OX10 8BB, U.K.
² School of Biological Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton, SO16 7PX, U.K.
³Address for correspondence: Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, c/o Freshwater Biological Association, East Stoke, Wareham, Dorset, BH20 6BB, U.K. Corresponding

Word Count: 1,088

Abstract. We report the capture of two smooth snakes (Coronella austriaca) with melanistic colouration from a site in Dorset. These two individuals constitute the second published report of melanism in smooth snakes from the United Kingdom.

Keywords. Melanism, smooth snake, United Kingdom.

Complimentary Newsletter (Registered members)

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 00:50:00 -0000

July 2008 Ratsnakes Digest - a complimentary copy for Registered members

Page 2. Exciting Times Ahead - Treasurer
        Welcoming Thoughts - Membership Secretary
Page 3. Looking Forward - Chairman
Page 4. Eggciting Times, When Bad Eggs Come Good
         -Oreocryptophis porphyraceaus coxi - Rob Kool
         -Coelognathus radiatus - Sue Knight
Page 5. Unexpectedly low mitochondrial DNA variation within the Ladder Snake Rhinechis scalaris - Valeria Nulchis et al.
Page 8. Snakes Can’t hear ... Or can they?
Page 9. Breeders Notes - Japanese Forest Ratsnake - Rob Kool
Page 10. Eggztended Incubation in Coelognathus helena - Dave Royans
Page 11. Patronyms of the Pioneer West XIV. Bogertophis subocularis (Brown, 1901), Trans-Pecos Ratsnake - Edward O. Moll and Manny Rubio
Page 15. Reptile Art - Tell Hicks Prints
Page 16. Members Interview - Dusty Rhoads
page 21. Albino Chocolate Pantherophis emoryi - KJ & Kasi Lodrigue / KJUN Snakehaven
Page 22. Outdoor Enclosure for Fox Snakes - Tell Hicks
Page 23. Trinket Snakes Coelognathus helena - Dave Royans & Sue Knight
Page 29. From the Wild - Albino Grey Ratsnake
Page 30. Taxonomy - An Alternative Classification of the New World Ratsnakes (Genus Pantherophis)

Download the Ratsnakes Digest by clicking the link below or right click and save target as.

File Size: 6.46 MB

Scientific Paper Overview - Chinese Beauty Snakes

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 18:00:00 -0000

Author: Sue Knight

Introduction

Two Chinese scientists Wei Guo Du AND Xiang Ji from Hangzhou Key Laboratory for Animal Sciences and Technology & Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Biodiversity and Biotechnology, College of Life Sciences respectively conducted a series of experiments with Orthriophis taeniurus eggs in the laboratory to examine the effects of incubation temperature on hatching success, embryonic use of energy and hatchling morphology. This report gives an overview of this paper, noting some of the more interesting conclusions that were drawn from their experiments.

The Ratsnake Foundation

Elaphe dione - The Steppe Ratsnake

A Ratsnake Keeper s Ponderings

Persian Ratsnake, Elaphe persica (Werner, 1913) Natural History, Keeping and breeding in Captivity

Notes on reproduction of the adorned graceful brown snake, Rhadinea decorata (Serpentes, Colubridae), from Costa Rica

A case of egg-binding in a Western Fourlined Ratsnake

Predicting elusiveness: potential distribution model of the Southern smooth snake, Coronella girondica, in Italy

The Tiger Ratsnake - Care & Breeding

Observations of two melanistic smooth snakes (Coronella austriaca) from Dorset, United Kingdom.

Complimentary Newsletter (Registered members)

Scientific Paper Overview - Chinese Beauty Snakes

A Ratsnake Keeper s Ponderings