Radiated Ratsnake

1 Overview

The Tri-rope Beauty Snake (Radiated Ratsnake), Coelognathus radiatus, is mainly distributed in Yunnan, Guizhou, Fujian, Guangdong and Guangxi. Its back is grey or yellow-brown. Its main economic uses: it can be made into ‘five-snake’ or ‘three-snake’ medicinal wine for rheumatism, and its gall is used in medicine. It eats rats and controls rodent pests. The species is listed in China’s ‘National Protected Terrestrial Wildlife with Important Economic, Scientific or Research Value’ catalogue (issued 1 August 2000).

It is non-venomous. Conservation note: heavily collected for food and medicine, it is protected in China and should not be wild-caught as a pet.

Chinese Name: Radiated Ratsnake (Tri-rope Beauty Snake)

Binomial: Coelognathus radiatus

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Reptilia

Order: Squamata

Family: Colubridae

Genus: Coelognathus

Distribution: southern China and mainland Southeast Asia.

2 Physical Characteristics

Also called the white-flowered ratsnake, it is non-venomous and is often caught locally and eaten as a delicacy. When provoked it flattens its neck and takes an S-shaped striking posture.

It is a national ‘Three-Have’ protected animal. The back is grey or yellow, with a black bar across the nape; it is named for the three radiating black lines on the sides of the head. The front half of the body carries 2-3 or 4 black longitudinal stripes (the upper pair wider), and the belly is pale brown. Mainly found in Guangxi, Guangdong, Fujian, Guizhou and Yunnan; large individuals can reach two metres.

3 Habitat

Most prefer humid environments, which hold the small animals they like, so they live mainly below 700 m in mountains, plains and hills, often on earth banks, field edges and roadsides, and sometimes wandering into homes. Autumn is their most active time, foraging to build energy for hibernation.

Hibernation runs November to March, mainly in mouse holes in field banks or mounds facing south, alone or in groups, sometimes with other snake species. On first waking they lie waiting for sunlight. Agile and rather fierce, they attack when meeting people. Common in fields, slopes, grass, rock piles, roadsides and pond edges. Active day and night. When startled they can rear the front of the body like a cobra and emit a hissing sound.

4 General Care

Prepare a box with a layer of sand or coconut soil and a water dish. Because its muscle contains protein, peptides, amino acids and fat, it has long been hunted as food and is now listed as an endangered animal.

Main economic uses: an edible snake, made into five-snake or three-snake wine for medicine against rheumatism; the gall is medicinal. It eats rodents and controls pests.

Reproduction: oviparous. Active April to October; in May-June it lays 6-12 eggs under shrub leaf litter. The eggs are cylindrical with slightly pointed ends, leathery and milky white, glued together in a clump with which the female stays to guard them.

5 Feeding

Snakes shed roughly once a month (some species every 3-4 months); control humidity during shedding.

Captive Radiated Ratsnakes have a temperature requirement for food: the optimal food temperature is above 25°C, otherwise the snake will not eat.

In the wild it preys mainly on rodents, also lizards, frogs and birds, and even earthworms. Captive individuals likewise need food above 25°C or they refuse it.