San Lucan Speckled Rattlesnake — Fact Sheet

Crotalus mitchellii · San Lucan Speckled Rattlesnake

📋 At a glance

🏠 Enclosure

• Locked indoor enclosure within an access-controlled escape-proof room.
• Minimum 150 x 75 x 75 cm; enlarge for a documented large island/mainland line.
• Positively lockable full-body shift and neonate-proof two-step locks.
• 8-12 cm compactable mineral soil/sand/clay; simple disposable quarantine setup.
• Avoid unstable rubble, sharp volcanic rock, calcium sand and hidden voids.
• Protected contact only; two trained adults at every primary opening.

🪨 Enclosure furniture

• Snug warm and cool hides plus one ventilated humid shed refuge.
• Permanently anchored low ledges or cork, low cover and clear inspection lane.
• Stable water bowl and protected service/feeding port.
• Never lift or rearrange rock while the snake occupies the compartment.

💡 Lighting

• UVB recommended: measured Ferguson Zone 2 over part of the warm zone.
• Linear UVB plus bright visible light, with complete shade.
• Replace lamps by manufacturer guidance; meter rock-level output.
• 10-14 hours light adjusted gradually; complete darkness at night.

🌡️ Temperature

• Basking spot: 32-35 °C

• Warm zone: 24-29 °C

• Cool zone: 20-24 °C

• Night: 17-22 °C

• Limit basking area; never heat all rockwork or floor.

• Measure air and surface separately; thermostat, guard and alarm heat.

• Seasonal reduction follows documented peninsula/island origin; no universal deep brumation.

💧 Humidity & water

• Ambient 30-50%; 50-65% in one ventilated shed refuge.
• Stable fresh-water bowl through protected access.
• Avoid constant dampness; seasonal fog/storm moisture is a local microclimate.
• Poor shed or concentrated urates → review hydration, heat and illness.

🐁 Diet

Feed freely:

• Appropriately small frozen-thawed mice; juveniles every 7-14 days.

In moderation:

• Larger mice every 14-28 days for adults, scaled to lineage and body condition.

Avoid:

• Live rodents, oversized prey, overfeeding dwarf lines and loose feeding tubs.

Supplements:

• None routinely with complete whole vertebrate prey.

🩺 Health — warning signs

• “Mitchellii” paperwork from the USA → likely old pyrrhus/stephensi identification; review taxonomy.
• Constant cool-hide use → overheating or overlit enclosure.
• Rounded body → obesity, especially in dwarf island lines.
• Incomplete shed/concentrated urates → dehydration or illness.
• Bubbles, wheeze, oral lesions, mites or abnormal faeces → veterinary assessment.
• Burn or crushing wound → unsafe heat or unsecured rock.

Secure behind the shift and use an experienced reptile veterinarian; there is no safe hands-on home treatment.