Species Fact Profile: Beauty Rat Snake (Elaphe taeniura)

                                Beauty Rat Snake (Beauty Snake, Cave Racer)

                                               Elaphe taeniura (Cope, 1861)

Range: South and Southeast Asia, Indonesia

Habitat: Tropical Rainforest, Cave Systems

Diet: Rodents, Bats, Birds, Eggs, Frogs

Social Grouping: Solitary

Reproduction: Females lay 2-13 eggs, about 5 x 3 centimeters in size, which they defend during the 70 day incubation period (except for breaks to hunt).  Hatchlings are 30-45 centimeters upon hatching, independent at birth, sexually mature at about 18 months

Lifespan: 15-25 Years

      Conservation Status: IUCN Vulnerable

• Total length 1.2-1.8 meters.  Maximum length reported 2.8 meters.  Triangular head, robust body
• Background color yellow-brown or olive green, growing darker towards the tail (large black stripe running along the side), covered with dark blotches.  Paler on the underside.  Black stripe running back from behind each eye
• When frightened, wriggle their tails against substrate to make a rattling noise, as well as flatten their bodies to look larger and fiercer (resembles the hood of a cobra).  Will bite readily, but prefers to flee
• Primarily terrestrial, but also a good climber (can scale rock walls in caves to access bats), may shelter in trees for the night (active by day)
• At least ten subspecies documented, varying in their pattern, size; some subspecies have several color morphs.  The endemic Taiwanese subspecies (E. t. friesei) especially commonly kept in zoos, pet collections
• Widely kept as a pet, as well as harvested for its skins
• Feral population exists in the subway system of Hasselt, Belgium, descended from animals that escaped a pet shop in 2005 and have been able to survive the cold winters using the warmth of the tunnels.  Sometimes encountered in neighboring buildings
• Has been introduced to Okinawa, Japan, and become an invasive species, threatening native bird and mammal populations.  Also introduced to Hong Kong
• Genus name from the Greek for "stag" (unknown why - this is the genus of the various Old World ratsnakes), species name from the Greek for "ribbon tail"