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Atlas / Library / Colubridae / Mandarin Rat Snake
Colubridae

Mandarin Rat Snake

Euprepiophis mandarinus

Photograph: Licheng Shih · CC BY

Photographed by an observer on iNaturalist and published under a Creative Commons licence; the photographer and the licence are named under the image. It is not an animal of ours, and no animal was handled by us to produce it.

14:00
Day

Drag the sun. The sheet states a night temperature, so the rail follows it.

National law is not global, and we hold no national wildlife law for any country, Thailand included. Check your own authority before buying or selling.

Check your setup against this sheet I keep one 123 plants usable with this species
Back to the globe My keep

https://keepr.pet/husbandry/en/euprepiophis-mandarinus

‹ All husbandry guides
warm end28–29 °C
cool end22–26 °C
Humidity50–70 %
Enclosure122×61×61
Diet7 days

The numbers

Thermal gradient

152025303540 °C
22–26°Cool side
28–29°Warm side
16–21°Night

Day: a real gradient, 28–29°C warm against 22–26°C cool, so the animal chooses. Night: 16–21°C.

Why

Same scale on every sheet here, so two species compare by eye.

The sheet stateswarm 28-29 °C / cool 22-26 °C / night 16-21 °C

Humidity

50–70%Target RH

The sheet statesdaytime humidity levels between 50-70%, and nighttime humidity levels higher

UVB

T5 6%required

The sheet stateslow-intensity UVB lighting: Zoo Med Reptisun T5 HO 5.0, 22" or Arcadia Forest 6%, 22"

Identity

Origin

Enclosure and conditions

Enclosure

28–29 °C50–70 % RHUVB tube48 in24 in
warm sideUVB tube
50100150200 cm
48 × 24 × 24 in · 122 × 61 × 61 cmWidth × depth × height
74dm² of floor
Substrate: not in our dataWater: not in our dataHides: not in our data

Drawn from the stated numbers. Only what the sheet states is drawn inside.

Why

The rectangle carries the exact width-to-height ratio of the figures above it, and the ruler under it places that width on the 0–250 cm scale every sheet here shares, so two species still compare at a glance. Nothing is added that the sheet does not name: a lamp drawn on a sheet that never mentions one would be invented equipment. What the sheet leaves out is listed rather than left blank, because an empty tank reads as « none needed ».

The sheet statesminimum for appropriately keeping one mandarin rat snakes is 48"L x 24"W x 24"H

Temperature
warm 28–29 °C / cool 22–26 °C / night 16–21 °C
Humidity
50–70% day, higher at night

What your climate adds

This sheet states a range to hold. Your local climate decides how much work holding it is. Pick the nearest city: nothing is sent anywhere, the choice stays in this browser.

Diet

Feeding rhythm

every 7 dAs an adult
4Meals in 28 days

Twenty-eight days, one row. Each band is a meal window. The sheet gives several ages on one line; this is the adult figure.

Why

The windows widen as they go because the interval is a range: four meals after a 10–14 day cycle land anywhere between day 40 and day 56.

The sheet statesyoung mice and rats, chicks, quail, feeder anoles, and feeder geckos, prey items between 5-10% of your snake's weight; juveniles once every 4-6 days, adults once every 7 days

Common questions

Is this one difficult to keep?

Honestly yes. It comes from cool mountain forest, so in Thailand you need a room that stays cool for it all year. Not a first snake.

Does it bite?

Very rarely. It is a shy, gentle snake that would much rather hide than fight.

How big does it get?

About a metre, sometimes a little more, and quite slim, so it does not need a huge enclosure.

Will I actually see it, or does it just hide?

It burrows and hides most of the day and moves at night. Give it deep substrate and expect glimpses rather than a display animal.

What it needs

Enclosure at least 122 × 61 × 61 cmbecause enclosure — minimum for appropriately keeping one mandarin rat snakes is 48"L x 24"W x 24"H
A heat sourcebecause temp — warm 28-29 °C / cool 22-26 °C / night 16-21 °C
A thermostat to regulate itbecause temp — warm 28-29 °C / cool 22-26 °C / night 16-21 °C
A thermometerbecause temp — warm 28-29 °C / cool 22-26 °C / night 16-21 °C
A way to check the night figurebecause temp — warm 28-29 °C / cool 22-26 °C / night 16-21 °C
A hygrometerbecause humidity — daytime humidity levels between 50-70%, and nighttime humidity levels higher
UVB 6-6% (T5), stated as requiredbecause uvb — low-intensity UVB lighting: Zoo Med Reptisun T5 HO 5.0, 22" or Arcadia Forest 6%, 22"

Every line above is deduced from a value this sheet states, and names which one. Nothing here is a general recommendation.

Sources

reptilesupply.com — lu le 2026-08-04atlanticherps.com — lu le 2026-08-04gbif.org — lu le 2026-08-08

Others in this group

Corn SnakePantherophis guttatusWestern Hognose SnakeHeterodon nasicusCalifornia KingsnakeLampropeltis californiaeEastern Hognose SnakeHeterodon platirhinosMexican Black KingsnakeLampropeltis getula nigritaSpeckled KingsnakeLampropeltis holbrookiEastern KingsnakeLampropeltis getulaGrey-banded KingsnakeLampropeltis alterna

What this sheet states

77%
TemperatureHumidityEnclosure sizeActivityOriginDietSourcesUVB

This sheet states 5 of 7 of the fields this product runs on. What is missing turns something off: day/night engine and awake count on the globe, the diet section. We show the gap rather than fill it with a plausible number.

UVB is measured but does not count: it is absent from 421 of 678 sheets, and on most of them that is not a gap, since a nocturnal snake's sheet has no reason to state a UV index. Counting it would call the library incomplete without cause.