Diadem Ratsnakes
The snakes that I keep are the atriceps subspecies. I have also seen the cliffordi subspecies for sale as imports. I have not seen any atriceps as imports and believe they are no longer being imported at this time. Fortunately, this species is very easy to breed and has trippled clutched for me. The founding stock came from Kevin Brown in Florida who brumates his down into the 50s for several weeks. I stop feeding mine for 2 weeks then give them another 2 weeks in the 50s. This has proven sufficient to simulate breeding for me. They are easily kept in tubs but I prefer to use 4x2x1 Animal Plastics enclosures with 40 watt Reptile Basics Radient Heat Panels. Some people have had issues with their females dropping eggs in the water bowl. I have never had this issue. I use very large and deep boxes filled with damp ecoearth for a humid hide and egg laying box. 78-80F cool end / 86F basking spot. I use aspen for the substrate. Incubation is at 82-85F, vermiculite/water 1:1
Here's a longer version of their care that I prepared:
Keeping and Breeding the Royal Diadem Ratsnake ((Spalerosophis diadema atriceps)
The royal diadem ratsnake is a colorful and sought after subspecies of the diadem ratsnake complex. They are also known as the Pakistan Jeweled ratsnake or the black headed royal snake. They are found in arid and semi-arid regions of Pakistan and India. Though they are primarily terrestrial and often take refuge in borrows, they are also excellent climbers. Adults have a tan, orangish, or reddish base with black splotches. The degree of black splotching varies greatly even within snakes found at the same site. I have seen snakes captured from the same borrow where one had only a handful of these black markings and the other was almost completely covered in them. The head often contains deep red and black markings. There may also be brownish saddles along the spine. Juveniles are more subtly colored and do not display the red or black markings until they are over one year of age. These are medium sized colubrids reaching lengths of around five feet long. They are also known to make rather loud hissing hounds when disturbed, but adults rarely bite. They are a rear-fanged species, but none of the bites I’ve received have produced any reaction.
Royal Diadem Ratsnakes availability
As these snakes are not imported at this time, all available animals will be captive born. Occasionally, Spalerosophis diadema cliffordi is imported from Northern Africa and the care is similar, but these snakes will not develop the black or red colors that the royal diadem ratsnakes are known for. Captive born royal diadem ratsnales will usually appear on the market in late summer to early fall. The number of breeders of these snakes have dwindled over the years and they are now very hard to come by. With the decreased availability, the prices have risen but they are still an affordable snake for most. They are not a difficult species to breed, so availability may increase over time. The biggest limitation the lack of genetic diversity available to would be breeders.
The Ideal Royal Diadem Ratsnake Home
Individual housing is recommended to regulate breeding patterns, but these snakes are generally well behaved and can be kept as pairs for extended periods. I recommend keeping them in larger enclosures with an ideal dimension of 4x2x1. A glass fronted enclosure is ideal as this species will often bask out in the open during the daytime. However, they can also be kept in rack systems. A background temperature in the mid to upper 70s and a basking spot of 86-88 degrees will suit this species. I use radiant heat panels to heat my subadult and larger snakes, but use a rack system to rear the younger specimens. They will sometimes sit on top of the warm end hide box to get closer to the panel, but will also spend an equal amount of time on the cool end.
For substrate, I provide them with shredded aspen bedding. If you’re using aspen in a rack system, make sure the layer is not so deep that the heat does not penetrate. Newspaper or any non-glossy paper product will also work fine for a substrate. A suitably sized hidebox should be available on both the warm and cool sides of the enclosure. Additionally, I feel a large moist hide box is very important for adults of this species. These snakes often occupy borrows in the wild and I have found my captive specimens spend a fair amount of time in these moist hide boxes. It would also be a good idea to provide a small moist hide for the young snakes, especially if your house is very dry, but the small tubs with a water bowl often seem to be sufficient for proper shedding and development. To provide them with water, I give neonates an 8 ounce deli cup filled three-quarters of the way. For subadults and adults, I provide a 16 ounce deli cup nearly filled with water inside of a similarly sized PVC tube to prevent spilling. Fresh water is available at all times.
Feeding
Although I’ve seen pictures of young snakes in the wild regurgitating lizards, I have never had a single snake that refused to start on rodents. Neonates will often demand live pink mice in the beginning. However, some will eat frozen thawed rodents from the get go. Nearly all will convert over to frozen thawed rodents within a few weeks. I feed the small snakes 1-2 pinky mice per week and gradually increase the prey size along with the size of the snake. The rodents are simply left in the cage and sometime during the night, the snakes nearly always eat them. I feed mature females an adult mouse once to twice per week. I typically feed the male snakes slightly less than the females snakes to prevent obesity.
Breeding
Fortunately, these snakes are not difficult to breed. The snakes can be bred at three years of age if they have been well fed and cared for. The females in particular need to be well conditioned because they can double or even triple clutch. I generally remove the male after the second clutch to ease concerns over wearing the female down.
Beginning in early December, I stop feeding the snakes and let them fully digest and pass any meals. After two to three weeks of fasting, I lower the temperature down into the 50s. I only maintain these cool temperatures for about three weeks. After that, I return them to their normal temperatures and offer them a very small meal such as a hopper mouse after about a week. Once they have fully digested a couple of small meals, I again return to feeding them adult mice.
I generally see the first clutch of eggs around May or June. For pairs I intend to breed, I keep them together until late-summer when the second clutch is usually laid. The female will generally spend considerable time in the moist hide box before depositing the eggs and will sometimes dig excavations in the 3-4” substrate layer, although the eggs have always been visible at the surface. I have heard of other breeders having problems with their snakes laying eggs in water bowls. My snakes have never done so and always lay their eggs in these hide boxes. I suspect the other breeders egg boxes were not used reliably because they were small or not very deep. As I use a lightly moistened coco fiber substrate, the eggs are fine even if I do not notice them right away. The females will also have a notable swelling just above the cloaca just before laying eggs and are more likely to bite at this time. Typical clutch size is 6-9 eggs.
For an incubation medium, I like large grade vermiculite. I mix this at the standard 50/50 water to vermiculite by weight measurement and just sit the eggs on top of the medium in a small box. Other breeders have used suspended incubation techniques successfully. I use a corn cob holder to poke two little holes in the box for air circulation. l. I incubate these eggs around 82 degrees. For an incubator, I use a hovabator connected to a proportional thermostat. The hovabators do not maintain an exact temperature but keep it within 2-3 degrees. I include a small cup of water in the incubator so that the air does not become overly dry. While I have not specifically tracked the incubation period, I believe it to be around 60-70 days at these temperatures. I generally transfer the young snakes to 6 liter tubs with paper towel or aspen, an 8 ounce water bowl, and a small moist hide about 24 hours after they’ve left the egg.
Keeping and Breeding the Royal Diadem Ratsnake ((Spalerosophis diadema atriceps)
The royal diadem ratsnake is a colorful and sought after subspecies of the diadem ratsnake complex. They are also known as the Pakistan Jeweled ratsnake or the black headed royal snake. They are found in arid and semi-arid regions of Pakistan and India. Though they are primarily terrestrial and often take refuge in borrows, they are also excellent climbers. Adults have a tan, orangish, or reddish base with black splotches. The degree of black splotching varies greatly even within snakes found at the same site. I have seen snakes captured from the same borrow where one had only a handful of these black markings and the other was almost completely covered in them. The head often contains deep red and black markings. There may also be brownish saddles along the spine. Juveniles are more subtly colored and do not display the red or black markings until they are over one year of age. These are medium sized colubrids reaching lengths of around five feet long. They are also known to make rather loud hissing hounds when disturbed, but adults rarely bite. They are a rear-fanged species, but none of the bites I’ve received have produced any reaction.
Royal Diadem Ratsnakes availability
As these snakes are not imported at this time, all available animals will be captive born. Occasionally, Spalerosophis diadema cliffordi is imported from Northern Africa and the care is similar, but these snakes will not develop the black or red colors that the royal diadem ratsnakes are known for. Captive born royal diadem ratsnales will usually appear on the market in late summer to early fall. The number of breeders of these snakes have dwindled over the years and they are now very hard to come by. With the decreased availability, the prices have risen but they are still an affordable snake for most. They are not a difficult species to breed, so availability may increase over time. The biggest limitation the lack of genetic diversity available to would be breeders.
The Ideal Royal Diadem Ratsnake Home
Individual housing is recommended to regulate breeding patterns, but these snakes are generally well behaved and can be kept as pairs for extended periods. I recommend keeping them in larger enclosures with an ideal dimension of 4x2x1. A glass fronted enclosure is ideal as this species will often bask out in the open during the daytime. However, they can also be kept in rack systems. A background temperature in the mid to upper 70s and a basking spot of 86-88 degrees will suit this species. I use radiant heat panels to heat my subadult and larger snakes, but use a rack system to rear the younger specimens. They will sometimes sit on top of the warm end hide box to get closer to the panel, but will also spend an equal amount of time on the cool end.
For substrate, I provide them with shredded aspen bedding. If you’re using aspen in a rack system, make sure the layer is not so deep that the heat does not penetrate. Newspaper or any non-glossy paper product will also work fine for a substrate. A suitably sized hidebox should be available on both the warm and cool sides of the enclosure. Additionally, I feel a large moist hide box is very important for adults of this species. These snakes often occupy borrows in the wild and I have found my captive specimens spend a fair amount of time in these moist hide boxes. It would also be a good idea to provide a small moist hide for the young snakes, especially if your house is very dry, but the small tubs with a water bowl often seem to be sufficient for proper shedding and development. To provide them with water, I give neonates an 8 ounce deli cup filled three-quarters of the way. For subadults and adults, I provide a 16 ounce deli cup nearly filled with water inside of a similarly sized PVC tube to prevent spilling. Fresh water is available at all times.
Feeding
Although I’ve seen pictures of young snakes in the wild regurgitating lizards, I have never had a single snake that refused to start on rodents. Neonates will often demand live pink mice in the beginning. However, some will eat frozen thawed rodents from the get go. Nearly all will convert over to frozen thawed rodents within a few weeks. I feed the small snakes 1-2 pinky mice per week and gradually increase the prey size along with the size of the snake. The rodents are simply left in the cage and sometime during the night, the snakes nearly always eat them. I feed mature females an adult mouse once to twice per week. I typically feed the male snakes slightly less than the females snakes to prevent obesity.
Breeding
Fortunately, these snakes are not difficult to breed. The snakes can be bred at three years of age if they have been well fed and cared for. The females in particular need to be well conditioned because they can double or even triple clutch. I generally remove the male after the second clutch to ease concerns over wearing the female down.
Beginning in early December, I stop feeding the snakes and let them fully digest and pass any meals. After two to three weeks of fasting, I lower the temperature down into the 50s. I only maintain these cool temperatures for about three weeks. After that, I return them to their normal temperatures and offer them a very small meal such as a hopper mouse after about a week. Once they have fully digested a couple of small meals, I again return to feeding them adult mice.
I generally see the first clutch of eggs around May or June. For pairs I intend to breed, I keep them together until late-summer when the second clutch is usually laid. The female will generally spend considerable time in the moist hide box before depositing the eggs and will sometimes dig excavations in the 3-4” substrate layer, although the eggs have always been visible at the surface. I have heard of other breeders having problems with their snakes laying eggs in water bowls. My snakes have never done so and always lay their eggs in these hide boxes. I suspect the other breeders egg boxes were not used reliably because they were small or not very deep. As I use a lightly moistened coco fiber substrate, the eggs are fine even if I do not notice them right away. The females will also have a notable swelling just above the cloaca just before laying eggs and are more likely to bite at this time. Typical clutch size is 6-9 eggs.
For an incubation medium, I like large grade vermiculite. I mix this at the standard 50/50 water to vermiculite by weight measurement and just sit the eggs on top of the medium in a small box. Other breeders have used suspended incubation techniques successfully. I use a corn cob holder to poke two little holes in the box for air circulation. l. I incubate these eggs around 82 degrees. For an incubator, I use a hovabator connected to a proportional thermostat. The hovabators do not maintain an exact temperature but keep it within 2-3 degrees. I include a small cup of water in the incubator so that the air does not become overly dry. While I have not specifically tracked the incubation period, I believe it to be around 60-70 days at these temperatures. I generally transfer the young snakes to 6 liter tubs with paper towel or aspen, an 8 ounce water bowl, and a small moist hide about 24 hours after they’ve left the egg.