Thai Red Bamboo Rat Snake

[awwalz01]

Hey everyone!

I was looking into getting a Thai Red Bamboo. I noticed that they had some different care compared to a good amount of other colubrids. Does anyone keep this species? I see that they need a higher humidity and can't survive temps above about 85 or so. Does anyone have any tips on setup? I was most likely going to keep it in plastic Tupperware type of box. Should I use a heat mat or is that too hot for them? Should I use a humid hide? What substrate, etc.

I haven't actually went and found one that I am going to buy yet, I am still i the research phase. Any tips would be awesome!!

[Minkness]

Charis breeds these bueaties actually. Hopefully they chime in with their experience.

From when I talked to Charis about them they are more if a look but don't touch type of snake and like to stay hidden most of the time. The care sounded pretty straight forward though. I decided against one since I'm a very hands on owner.

Hope this helps! =)

[Charis]

Actually, I'd recommend that their hot spot not get above 82, though 80 is better. You can use/may need to use additional heat on them and I'd make sure it is very well controlled and that the snake can get well away from it. They are generally pretty hardy snakes but succumb quickly to overheating. A much smaller than usual heat pad or small, low watt heat bulb is probably all you'd need, if anything.

We keep our reptile room between 72 to 78 degrees, though more usually in the middle of that, it fluctuates some. We don't have any additional heat on the porphs we keep and they seem to thrive that way.

We keep most in plastic RUBs/tubs and a few in glass enclosures, modified to block out a large part of the screen tops and hold humidity better. With a bit of modification, a regular glass enclosure works but the plastic tubs are easier to keep right.

We use a peat moss type substrate that holds humidity decently and all are provided with a humid hide at all times. Varying levels of humidity are good to have in the cage, so the substrate is dryer and the humid hides are kept quite humid.

Like Minkness said, coxi are generally quite feisty and love to bite as babies. They are also quick and can live up to their racing stripes! They can be tamed, our adult male is quite good with being handled, the females less so. So you might be able to tame it down or it might always have an attitude. If you don't mind this, they are a very rewarding and beautiful species to work with. They'll keep you on your toes!

[awwalz01]

Thank you so much! That really helped. I don't mind a snake that likes to bite. I just think they are so pretty. All of that considered, I think that I am going to save up a bit and get one. I just need to purchase all of the required gear. I've been looking things up about them for a while now and getting one more experience from an actual person helped clear some things up. Thanks again!

[sirtalis]

So high humidity low temps lol w/most reptiles its the other way around

[toddnbecka]

Originally Posted by sirtalis

So high humidity low temps lol w/most reptiles its the other way around

Not too different from a BRB's requirements, but smaller enclosure size for an adult.