Size limitations of kings in captivity ....

[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ The Kingsnake Forum ]

Posted by Jeff Schofield on March 23, 2003 at 00:51:34:

In Reply to: Who has the largest king? posted by Agalinis on March 22, 2003 at 17:04:40:

Considering the number of kings in captivity I would hazard to guess they came from"relatively" few founding breeders. Yes, there have been wc snakes producing every year but the BIGGEST ones most can recall dealing with were wc before the popularity of captive breeding blossomed. Further, kings size in captivity is simply limited to what they are fed on and how they metabolize the food. More often snakes are used as breeders and this eliminates a few healthy months that otherwise could be dedicated to produce a monster. That and the simple fact that the largest kings(in my opinion) are a result of feeding a kingsnake its most "normal" food item....other snakes! I personally have seen a chain king from Maryland that before it passed on was bordering the 8' mark and is now frozen up(the size of a basketball!)in Chuck's freezer. He was a notorious feeder on racers and we all know that a snake diet is the most efficient use of a snakes digestive system..simple physics. A mouse feeder will top out at 4'+, a rat feeder at about 6', but it would take a racer feeder(male)that would be held out of any breeding plans to be THE king of kings.

Follow Ups:

Re: Size limitations of kings in captivity .... rtdunham 03/27/03 (0)
Something we may be overlooking here..... chrish 03/24/03 (11)
- Re: Something we may be overlooking here/ my 2 cents... daveboyle 03/24/03 (10)
  - Competition and digestive clarification.... Jeff Schofield 03/24/03 (9)
    - one other point about indigos.... chrish 03/25/03 (0)
    - Consider this..... chrish 03/25/03 (7)
      - But follow my thinking.... Jeff Schofield 03/25/03 (6)
        
        Some of the largest colubrids...... chrish 03/26/03 (5)
        
        Re: Some of the largest colubrids...... bobl 03/26/03 (1)
        
        Last I checked, King Cobras weren't colubrids! /np chrish 03/26/03 (0)
        
        one more- meretseger 03/26/03 (2)
        
        OF that list only NA rats and pits dont...correllation??n/p Jeff Schofield 03/26/03 (1)
        
        Now the correlation is "many big snakes are generalists".... chrish 03/26/03 (0)
Re: Size limitations of kings in captivity .... Mike 03/23/03 (2)
- Any king will eat them, but did it prefer snakes??n/p Jeff Schofield 03/23/03 (1)
  - Re: Any king will eat them, but did it prefer snakes??n/p Mike 03/23/03 (0)
Re: Size limitations of kings in captivity .... Keith Hillson 03/23/03 (5)
- Re: Size limitations of kings in captivity .... Brandon Osborne 03/23/03 (4)
  - Maybe a little misunderstanding..... Jeff Schofield 03/23/03 (3)
    - Re: Maybe a little misunderstanding - yes indeed. Agalinis 03/23/03 (2)
      - You agreed on several keys... Jeff Schofield 03/23/03 (1)
        
        I'm wondering... daveboyle 03/24/03 (0)