The Taiwan Beauty Snake is a relatively large species that is only found in Taiwan. It is one of the 9 sub-species of Beauty Snake. These snakes have beautiful contrasting colors ranging from yellow to black.
Taxonomy
The Taiwan Beauty Snake belongs to the Colubridae (Colubrid) family of snakes. This is a largest family of snakes in the world with almost 250 different genera. This family of snake is home to many popular species including the Corn Snake, Milk Snake and the Garter Snake.
The genus that this snake belongs to is called Orthriophis. This is a group consisting of 4 species.
- Orthriophis cantoris (Eastern Trinket Snake)
- Orthriophis hodgsoni
- Orthriophis moellendorffi (Flower Snake)
- Orthriophis taeniurus (Beauty Snake)
As you can see above, the species of this snake is Orthriophis taeniurus or Beauty Snake. However, the Taiwan Beauty snake is actually a sub-species of Beauty Snake. It’s scientific name is Orthriophis taeniurus friesei.
There are currently 9 recognised sub-species of Beauty Snake. These are:
- Orthriophis taeniurus callicyanous (Vietnamese Beauty Snake)
- Orthriophis taeniurus friesei (Taiwan Beauty Snake)
- Orthriophis taeniurus grabowski
- Orthriophis taeniurus helfenbergeri (Helfenberger’s Beauty Snake)
- Orthriophis taeniurus mocquardi (Mocquard’s )
- Orthriophis taeniurus ridleyi (Ridley’s Beauty Snake)
- Orthriophis taeniurus schmackeri
- Orthriophis taeniurus taeniurus (Chinese Beauty Snake)
- Orthriophis taeniurus yunnanensis
Description
The Taiwan Beauty Snake can grow to between 6-8 feet in length. They have a beautiful contrasting appearance with a bright yellow background and black blotching.
The tail end of the snake transitions from black and yellow blotching to perfect black and yellow stripes that run to the tip of the tail. Most of these snakes will also have white markings mixed in with the yellow and black blotching.
While long, the Taiwan Beauty Snake is not very heavily built in comparison to its overall length. They have a similar body tone to a typical Rat Snake, such as the Baird’s Rat Snake or the Black Rat Snake. The belly of the snake is typically white, cream or off yellow in color.
Feeding a Taiwan Beauty Snake
You should feed your Taiwan Beauty snake weekly. Offer them one appropriately sized rodent at each meal. The rodent should be no larger than the girth of the snake, at the snake’s largest point.
Adults and juveniles can both be fed on a weekly schedule. While some snakes will only accept mice, it is best to feed them rats if they will eat them. Rats have more nutrients in them and are better for the snake.
You should avoid excessively handling your snake for a few hours before feeding them. This is particularly important for shy or nervous snake. If your snake is shy, they may refuse a meal.
You should also refrain from handling your snake for 24 hours after the snake has eaten. Excessive handling before your snake digests its meal can lead to regurgitation.
Taiwan Beauty Snake Enclosure
A juvenile Taiwan Beauty Snake can be housed in an enclosure measuring around 2ft x 1ft x 1ft. This will do for the first year or so of the snake’s life.
After that you will need to upgrade the enclosure. You can choose to put them in a slightly larger enclosure, depending on the size of the snake or you can upgrade them straight into their adult setup.
An adult Taiwan Beauty Snake can be housed in an enclosure measuring 3ft x 2ft x 2f. This is large enough for many of these snakes. However, if your snake is on the larger side, you might need to go with a 4ft long enclosure.
You should include at least two hides in your snake’s enclosure. Once should be placed in the warm end while the other should be in the cool end. A clean water bowl should also be present at all times.
This snake will climb if given the opportunity so you should include some climbing branches or driftwood. Any other form of enrichment will also be appreciated such as leaves or stones.
Light and Heat
You should provide your Taiwan Beauty Snake with a basking spot of around 90F. The cool side of the enclosure can drop to around 75-80F. This will provide your snake with a thermal gradient.
You can choose to heat your enclosure with an under-tank heat mat or with an overhead heat bulb. The heat source should be positioned at one end of the enclosure to provide that thermal gradient.
It is important to ensure that your heat source is connected to a high-quality thermostat. This will ensure that the temperature is correct and there is no drastic rise or drop in temperature.
These snakes do not require any special lighting such as UVB. However, if you do choose to use lighting in their enclosure, make sure it is turned off at night as it is important to give your snake a proper day/night cycle.
Taiwan Beauty Snake Humidity and Substrate
You should aim for moderately high levels of humidity inside your Taiwan Beauty Snake enclosure. These snakes do well when the humidity is around 50-60%.
Depending on where you live, you likely won’t have to do much to achieve these levels of humidity. Placing a large water bowl in the enclosure and a light misting of the substrate is usually enough.
You could choose to provide the snake with a damp hide. This can simply be a plastic container with a hole cut in the lid. The inside of the container is then filled with damp Sphagnum Moss.
You can keep these snakes on a wide variety of substrates. If you are looking for a substrate with very little maintenance, you can use newspaper or paper towel. Simply replace the substrate when it is soiled.
However, more naturalistic substrates that hold humidity well are better options for these snakes. Some substrates that work really well include Repti Bark, Coco Fibre and ‘Forest Floor’ bedding.
If you choose to use one of these substrates, you should spot clean whenever your snake goes to the toilet. You should then deep clean and replace the entire bedding around once a month.
Taiwan Beauty Snake Breeding
The Taiwan Beauty Snake is known to breed without a brumation. However, a brumation period of three months is very beneficial to promote breeding. You should brumate your snakes at 65-70F.
Once the temperatures are brought back up, you can pair your snakes. You will generally see signs of breeding activity shortly after the snakes are paired. It takes 40-60 days for the clutch of eggs to hatch.
Most Taiwan Beauty Snakes will lay a clutch consisting of 6-10 eggs. These eggs should be removed from the enclosure and incubated at 80-85F. The humidity should be kept high, but the eggs should not be soaked.
If everything goes to plan, the babies will begin to hatch after around 60 days. The hatchlings will typically measure just over a foot in length. You should wait until the snake has shed its first skin before offering them their first meal.
Most hatchlings will readily accept pinkie mice for their first few meals. However, once big enough, you should try to switch them over to rat pus as rats are a better source of food for your snake.