This gorgeous snake is a male TAIWANESE BEAUTY SNAKE, sometimes also known as the stripe-tailed rat snake due to its distinctively striped tail.  I find the first common name much more appropriate as I find this species absolutely beautiful!   I have named him Goldie due to his gorgeous golden base colour!

Like all snakes Goldie flicks out his tongue to smell his surroundings and I was really pleased to capture this on camera in the pictures directly above and below!

As you can see below the head scales of these snakes are truly beautiful:

In the picture below Goldie is sitting with his tail alongside his head and you can clearly see why these snakes are also sometimes known as the stripe-tailed rat snake.

Goldie is only a juvenile at the moment but the Taiwanese beauty snake is well known for being one of the fastest growing rat snakes in the world.  They are always a slender snake but they commonly reach in excess of  six feet, with just below ten feet being an unofficial record for the species!  Because they are so slender they never reach anywhere near the weights of pythons or boas of similar lengths, so they are much more manageable in captivity!