The Amur snake is one of the most beautiful snakes on earth. In size, it is similar to a four-lane snake. These snakes are often filmed in a variety of feature films.
The upper body of an adult is dark brown or black in color. This background is diluted with bright yellow stripes bifurcating on the sides. Such bright colors bring the Amur snake closer to exotic snakes. Sometimes there are completely black individuals.
In other snakes of our fauna, the color merges with the background of the environment. The Amur snake also has a protective color, thanks to the bright stripes, a potential predator does not perceive the snake as a whole. When the snake moves, the colored spots quickly flicker, which disorients the enemy. The head of the Amur snake is usually black, and the lip brushes have yellow and black stripes. Black stripes run from the eyes to the mouth. The belly is yellow and often has black spots.
Amur snake in the exotarium of the Belgorod Zoo Juveniles have a different coloration than adults. Their upper body has a brownish tone with transverse wide stripes of brown. Each stripe is framed by a black border, and is separated from the adjacent stripe by a narrow white stripe. On the head there is an intricate pattern of light and dark stripes. This coloration helps the young to camouflage themselves in the crowns of trees and on the ground.
Where does the Amur snake live?
These snakes live in Northeast and North China, in Mongolia and Korea. In our country, the Amur snake lives in the Khabarovsk and Primorsky Territories. In the west, the habitat of these snakes reaches the Lesser Khingan, and in the north - to Komsomolsk-on-Amur.
The Amur snake lives in forests of various types, but also creeps into meadows. These snakes, like ordinary snakes, can settle near buildings, in gardens and vegetable gardens, that is, they are not afraid of the proximity of a person.
Amur snakes are highly mobile, they crawl quickly and climb trees perfectly, they rise to a height of up to 10 meters. In addition, these snakes can swim and dive. They can travel long distances, but always return to their place of residence. In the experiment, the Amur snake covered 8 kilometers in a day. Individuals own certain areas, the boundaries of which are adhered to for many years. Snakes can leave their allotments to search for a mate or go for the winter, but they always come back.
Amur snakes hide in rotten stumps, in hollows, crevices between stones, in animal burrows, in heaps of garbage (if we are talking about life in the city). They spend the winter in similar places, while they accumulate in groups in which there can be up to 30 individuals.
How do Amur snakes eat?
The diet of adults consists of small mammals, birds, their chicks, eggs and frogs. Large representatives of the species can eat a rat and even a young hare. Snakes living near human habitation often eat chicken eggs. The shell breaks right in the esophagus of the snake, this happens due to the outgrowths of the cervical vertebrae. The snakes do not regurgitate their shells like other snakes whose diet is based on bird eggs. Small animals are swallowed alive, and large ones are strangled by wrapping around it in a ring or pressing its body to the ground.
In times of danger, the Amur snakes flee, and if it is not possible to escape, then they show defensive tactics: they hiss and rush towards the offender. Like some other types of snakes, when excited, the Amur snake vibrates with the tip of the tail. A large individual can inflict serious bites. In captivity, these snakes quickly get used to the owner, feed from the hands and breed well. These snakes are bred in China as pets that exterminate mice and rats.
Reproduction of Amur snakes
With the onset of spring, adults gather together, annually in the same territory. Males seek the location of females, while they are constantly next to their chosen one. During courtship, the male strokes the female's body with his head. After the end of the mating season, the males crawl away, and the females remain to bear offspring. They rest in secluded shelters and bask in the sun. In these places, not only female Amur snakes gather, but also females of other snakes, for example, muzzle and patterned snake
In the middle of summer, the females lay their eggs. Their diameter is 2.2 centimeters, and the length is 5 centimeters. The clutch contains 7-30 eggs. Larger females tend to lay more eggs. Masonry is done in a loose, moist substrate: in decaying leaves, moss, in hollows. Females can also make collective clutches. One such nest contained 108 eggs.
Amur snakes are very prolific snakes. The cubs hatch quite large, not infrequently their length reaches 30 centimeters. The diet of cubs is more varied than that of adults. They eat shrews, young rodents, chicks. Most of the young animals die in the first winter, since it is difficult for them to find secluded, frost-free shelters in the habitat. Puberty in Amur snakes occurs in the 3rd year of life.
People eat these big snakes. The capture of Amur snakes for gastronomic purposes and for keeping in captivity causes serious damage to the population.
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The Amur snake, or otherwise Schrenk, is a snake of the already-shaped family, it is widespread in the Far East. This reptile perfectly adapts to living conditions in a number of natural areas: from steppes to coniferous forests. In the territory
In the Russian Federation, the Amur snake is most often found in Primorye and in the Khabarovsk Territory. Moreover, the places of his residence can vary significantly: a dry forest zone, wetlands near water bodies, water meadows, an attic of a residential building or a farmer's garden. This species is found even in the mountains at an altitude of up to 1 kilometer above sea level.
An adult Amur snake can grow a little over 2 meters. The male is usually significantly larger than the female. The back of a snake can have all shades - from dark brown to black. A pattern of transverse stripes may be absent in a snake such as the Amur snake. The photo shows that the belly of the reptile is invariably light - of various shades. Shrenka has two subspecies. Russian snake and Chinese snake. The subspecies differ mainly in size - the second, as an inhabitant of warmer climatic zones, is larger. The Amur snake is diurnal. Sleeps at night, climbing into a shelter, which can serve as a hollow tree, burrows
animals, crevices in stones. In the cold season, Shrenka hibernates in October and wakes up in April. At this time, individuals gather in groups, sometimes up to 35 pieces.
The Amur snake climbs trees very well. It can rise to a height of up to 10 meters. Reptiles of this species reach puberty in the third year of life. In the spring, after wintering, adults gather in a certain place, which remains unchanged from year to year. Males pick up a mate for themselves and achieve its location by stroking the head of the female's body. When completed, the snakes scatter into their territories, and the females carry the eggs. Pregnancy lasts a little over a month. In mid-July, females lay small eggs, there can be up to 30 of them. The nest can be a sheltered place with loose and damp litter. There are also collective nests. In one of these nests, more than a hundred eggs were found by scientists.
Shrenka cubs are born quite large. Many of them die during the first wintering, as there are not many suitable shelters. The Amur snake feeds on small and their cubs, birds and chicks, frogs and eggs. The snake swallows smaller victims immediately, larger ones - initially strangles, squeezing rings around the body or pressing them to the surface of the earth. If the snake gets into a dangerous situation, it first tries to retreat. But if escape is impossible, it hisses and attacks. A large individual can cope with a small hare or rat. The Chinese keep snakes of this species as pets instead of cats, as they are great at killing rats and mice.
Idle talk that the Amur snake is poisonous is far from harmless, since people, without hesitation, exterminate these reptiles. The number of snakes is steadily declining.
Synonyms and names in other languages
Schrenk's snake, Schrenk's climbing snake;
Great black coluber, Manchurian black water snake, Amur ratsnakes, Siberian ratsnake (English);
Amurnatter (German).
Classification
Detachment- Scaly (Scugmata).
Family- Already shaped (Boopis).
Genus- Climbing snakes (Elaphe.
View- Amur snake (Elaphe schrencki).
Subspecies- E. s. schrencki is the nominative subspecies, E. s. anomala - Schrenk's abnormal snake, Sudliche Amurnatter - this subspecies is distinguished by some taxonomists as an independent species.
Inhabits E. s. schrencki in Russia - the Amur Region, Khabarovsk and Primorsky Territories, as well as in the DPRK - Northeast China: the provinces of Heilongjiang and Jilin. Occasionally found in Eastern Mongolia and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in China. E. s. anomala lives in North Korea and South Korea, China.
In zones of intergradation of subspecies, intersubspecific hybrids are possible.
It lives mainly in forest biotopes, in mountains up to 2000 m above sea level, in floodplains of rivers and streams, swampy areas, shrub thickets, fields, on the outskirts of towns and cities, in parks and gardens, as well as in kitchen gardens.
Appearance
Dimensions Amur snake snakes differ slightly depending on the subspecies - E. s. schrencki up to 130-160 cm long, maximum 170 cm, and up to E. s. anomala - 150-180 cm, maximum 210 cm.
Sexual dimorphism is weakly expressed, there are no fundamental differences in the size and coloration of males and females. In males, the tail is long with a characteristic thickening at the base, from the anus it is cylindrical, then turns into a conical shape. In females, the tail is shorter, without thickening at the base, cone-shaped throughout.
Character
A typical diurnal species, active in the morning and evening hours, hot time and spends the night in burrows, hollows and other shelters.
It is a terrestrial species, but climbs through trees up to 10 m from the ground, where it preys on birds. Swims well.
In a day it is able to overcome a distance of up to 8 km, which is huge for a snake, but returns to its individual sites, which it adheres to for several years.
Terrarium for the Amur snake it should be spacious - 60x40x40 cm. A thermal mat should be put on the bottom, coconut chips are well suited as a substrate, you can disguise pots with unpretentious plants in them - better aroid ones, such as dieffenbachia, scindapsus, arrowroot. Climbing driftwood is also needed, vine driftwood is very suitable. You can just put the soil in the terrarium and plant plants in it. Then the surface can be covered with moss and fallen leaves. A large drinking bowl is required, where the snake can fit entirely. Amur snakes love to swim, so the water gets dirty quickly and needs to be changed daily. You can keep several snakes in one terrarium, but then its size should be increased.
Air temperature from 20°C at night to 35°C during the day at the heating point.
Humidityair low, about 50%.
Lighting fluorescent ultraviolet lamps and incandescent lamps. Duration of lighting in summer is 14 hours, in other seasons 12 hours a day.
Feeding
In nature, Amur snakes feed on small and medium-sized mammals, birds and their eggs, and occasionally frogs. Young snakes feed on small rodents and insectivores, chicks, mollusks and frogs.
In terrarium conditions, Amur snakes are fed mainly with laboratory mice, as well as rats, hamsters, chickens, quails, and bird eggs. Young snakes are offered newborn mice.
Feeding is usually done every five days, after the snake has digested the previous feed and emptied itself.
Peculiarities
Unpretentious in the care and feeding of the snake.
Does not require a large terrarium.
He gets used to the hands, eats food from the hands and allows himself to be picked up.
Easy to use, suitable for beginners.
Non-poisonous, non-aggressive.
Refusal of food can be caused by stress, an unsuitable prey item, a new prey item, an atypical prey item for the species, or the snake is simply not hungry. Do not immediately force-feed the snake, because they can live long enough without food without harm to health. You should start to worry if the snake has not eaten for several months. Then you need to analyze the conditions of detention and the diet of the snake before the problem starts. In extreme cases, you can feed the snake artificially.
regurgitation can occur due to stress, illness, too much food object, feeding during molting, violation of the temperature regime. After regurgitation, you should not feed the snake for 7 - 10 days, then you should feed the snake again, taking into account the error analysis.
Moult - it is not a disease, but a necessary stage in the growth of the snake. At the same time, the eyes of the snake become cloudy, the color brightens, and the skin begins to peel off. During this period, you should monitor the humidity in the terrarium and the presence of a reservoir.
Respiratory infections- they are usually caused by opportunistic bacteria in case of a decrease in the snake's immunity as a result of stress due to improper keeping conditions. Symptoms are labored breathing, open mouth, nasal discharge. It is treated with an antibiotic - baytril, in injections.
pasture mites- visible to the naked eye, easily removed with tweezers, the bite site is wiped with alcohol.
salmonellosis- a dangerous disease, treated with antibiotics after the analysis of feces and the appointment of treatment by a doctor.
Breeding
Oviparous species.
Amur snakes become sexually mature at 3-4 years of age.
Reproduction requires wintering. To do this, daylight hours are gradually reduced for two to three weeks, and at an 8-hour day, the snakes stop feeding. At a 4-hour daylight, the daytime heating is turned off, after which the snakes are placed in a light-tight ventilated cage filled with sawdust or well-pressed moss - sphagnum. The temperature during wintering should be at the level of + 12-16 ° С. To maintain moisture, the soil (moss) in one corner of the cage is sprayed once a week. Periodically put a drinker in the garden. Duration of wintering up to 2 months. The snakes are taken out of wintering in the same rhythm in which they were laid, gradually increasing the light and heat day. At 8 o'clock in the afternoon, turn on the night heating and offer food to the snakes.
After the withdrawal from wintering, the snakes are plentifully fed, and then males and females are planted next to each other. The duration of mating is from 1 to 3 hours. After mating, after 40-55 days, females lay their eggs in wet sphagnum moss. The masonry is removed and placed in an incubator at a temperature of 27-29°C. The number of eggs in a clutch is from 6 to 30 pieces. After 40-65 days, babies hatch from the eggs, which begin to feed on newborn mice after the first molt.
Lifespan 8 - 15 years old.
Even people who do not have a special love for snakes sometimes stop admiringly in front of a terrarium with Amur snake (Elaphe shrencki), large (up to 2 meters in length) with a varnish-black powerful body, decorated with a yellow pattern in the form of oblique rings, bifurcated on the sides.
Among terrariumists, the Amur snake is very popular because it easily gets used to captivity. You can sit for hours in front of the terrarium hoping to catch any movement of the snake, because, immersed in its "deep philosophical thoughts", the snake seems to forget about all earthly problems for several hours. However, "thoughtfulness" immediately disappears when something edible appears in the snake's field of vision, be it a mouse or a chicken. Then the appetite takes its toll, the snake "picks up" a powerful long body, "lays" it in steep waves. The head at this time rises above this pile of muscles, the tongue is increasingly thrown out, determining the exact location of the living "lunch". The mouse, sensing danger, seeks to hide in a secluded corner, which, however, is absolutely useless. Even the eye of an experienced terrariumist cannot always catch the lightning strike of a snake, and a mouse that has just rushed around the terrarium is already in its death convulsions clamped by the rings of a beautiful muscular body. As soon as the mouse becomes limp, the snake slowly swallows it. At this time, a slight swelling can be seen on the body of the snake, indicating the location of the just swallowed prey.
As you move towards the tail, the lump decreases in size. And the snake again becomes like an Eastern philosopher-contemplator. As already mentioned, this snake is not alien to human society. Even in nature, where no one captivates her, she quite often becomes a neighbor of a person, settling in gardens, vegetable gardens and attics of living quarters. Knowledgeable people do not object to such a neighborhood - this snake performs the functions of a cat brilliantly. The habitat of this species is the Primorsky and Khabarovsk Territories, in the north reaching Komsomolsk-on-Amur.
This species belongs to the genus climbing snakes. (Elaphe). It is not vanishing and is therefore fairly common. The Amur snake lives in forests, forest edges, clearings, thickets of bushes. As shelters, it uses voids in old stumps, heaps of deadwood and stones, burrows of burrowing animals. The snake is great at climbing trees.
It feeds on rodents, birds and their eggs. Swallowed eggs, like those of some other representatives of our snakes, are crushed in front of the esophagus by elongated processes of the vertebrae.
Mating usually occurs in May-June. Pregnancy lasts about a month and in July-August the female lays from 11 to 30 large eggs. In September, young snakes up to 30 cm long appear. Babies are shy and, when meeting a person, they usually hide imperceptibly in a thick grassy litter. If this is not possible, they can take a threatening pose, just like adults, hiss loudly, pounce on the enemy, opening their mouths and emitting a characteristic, supposedly frightening, sour smell (ordinary snakes do the same when frightened).
Large snakes often bite, since they are not poisonous, they are not dangerous to humans. When the snake is alarmed by something, it hisses loudly, swelling noticeably when inhaled. In such an excited state, the snake is able to vibrate the tip of the tail, which, hitting hard objects, makes a characteristic crackle, similar to the sound made by the "rattle" of a rattlesnake.
To keep the Amur snake in captivity, a horizontal type terrarium is required. For a pair of snakes, a terrarium measuring 100x60x70 cm is sufficient. Ground or peat covered with sphagnum or fallen leaves is used as a soil. The terrarium should have a fairly large drinking bowl or a small aquarium with water. You can install a branch that is convenient for climbing. Shelter is not required.
Mice, small rats, birds and bird eggs are used as feed. The temperature during the day is + 26-30 degrees Celsius, at night - + 18-20. Wintering lasts 1-3 months.
In captivity, serpents are born, having a size and mass much larger than in nature. Juvenile color changes after 6 months. The first molt occurs 6-10 days after birth. They feed on newborn mice ("naked").
Keeping Amur snakes in captivity is not so difficult. These snakes can be entrusted even to a child - she will not harm him. However, not everyone thinks so. Once, about 7-8 years ago, I worked at an exhibition that was held on Novy Arbat in the "Flowers" store. It exhibited reptiles and amphibians. Journalists from the Moscow TV channel, seeing something intriguing in this, paid us a visit. The director asked us to pull out a snake to film one of his assistants with it. The organizers of the exhibition did not think for a long time and presented the Amur snake, pale with horror, to the guy. The snake gracefully wrapped itself around the neck of the "model", with graceful movements crawled towards him under his shirt. The boy's eyes widened, and he paled even more. The director realized that he was too smart. Everyone rushed to help the unfortunate assistant, began to unbutton his shirt, but they were afraid to touch the snake. The initiative had to be taken over by the workers of the exhibition, and they showed how calm and dignified the snake behaves in the hands of a person. And the guy who had to play the role of Laocoon, although he looked at the Amur snake with a certain amount of admiration, did not dare to take it in his hands.
