Thai Bamboo Ratsnake/Thai Bamboo Racer/Red Mountain Ratsnake/Red Mountain Racer

ANIMAL:
Thai Bamboo Ratsnake/Thai Bamboo Racer/Red Mountain Ratsnake/Red Mountain Racer Oreocryptophis coxi

Type of Animal:
Colubrid

Habitat:
Humid/moist secondary forest, humid/moist bamboo forest, mountainous karst regions w/ lots of rocks/caves, mountain/montane forest, plains w/ rocks & bamboo, tropical forest, monsoon forest, hill forest, mountainous areas

Location(s):
N Thailand

Appearance:
Slender body w/ smooth scalation, belly cream to white, red or orange ground color w/ black lines/stripes, hatchlings brighter than adults, small squarish head

Food/Diet:
Small mammals, amphibians, lizards, young birds, bird eggs, reptile eggs

Status in Wild:
Stable

Conservation:
Breeding in zoos & herpetoculture

Lifestyle:
Solitary

Additional Info:

Called:
Male
Female
Young: Snakelet
Group: Solitary

Weight:
Male: 0.7 lbs
Female: 1 lb
Young: 3 oz

Gestation:
4 months 

Life Span:
10-15 years

Body Length:
Male: 2 ft
Female: 3.25 ft
Young: 1 ft

Tail Length:
0.5 ft, same for both sexes

Main predators are larger snakes, monitor lizards, birds, & mammals.
 
Most active in early morning & late afternoon. Sometimes nocturnal & crepuscular as well.
 
Spend much of their time burrowing/hiding under logs/rocks/moss/grass
 
Very secretive in wild.
 
Females can lay up to 3, sometimes as many as 5, egg clutches a year, each w/ 2-12 eggs.
 
Sexually mature at 1.5-2 years old. Males mature before females.
 
Courtship consists of male by gliding/twitching along female’s body trying to lift tail inserting hemipenis into cloaca.
 
Mating can last from 30 minutes to 5 hours.
 
Females often have post-laying shed 2 weeks after laying eggs.
 
Often hybridize w/ very closely related Red Bamboo Ratsnakes/Red Bamboo Racers.
 
Often hibernate in very cool weather.

Fun Fact(s):
Almost unknown in captivity until late 1980s.
 
Known as ngu thang maphao daeng in Thai.
 
They can be voracious feeders & sometimes bites result from feeding response.
 
Sometimes kept as pets w/ temperament ranging from docile to defensive.
 
If threatened, 1st reaction is to crawl away & hide. If that doesn’t work, they’ll raise front half of body off ground & go in classical S position while twitching tail against ground/surrounding objects creating distracting noise. If that doesn’t work & provoked enough, they’ll bite.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *