Re: Size limitations of kings in captivity ....

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Posted by Keith Hillson on March 23, 2003 at 08:33:25:

In Reply to: Size limitations of kings in captivity .... posted by Jeff Schofield on March 23, 2003 at 00:51:34:

Jeff

The Georgia male John mentions is a mouse eater that's captive bred and is 5.5' long (measured it). Thomas Davis
has a 6' captive bred Eastern King that I would not doubt eats mice. My 98 hatch Brooksi is almost 5' long and has
eaten nothing but mice. I would guess that a mouse is a more fattening meal than a skinny Racer that is mainly ribs
and spine not to mention Easterns are not only eating snakes in the wild they are opportunistic in that they will eat
whatever from birds to turtle eggs to lizards and snakes and of course mice in the wild. As far as 3 months off for
breeding affecting their size that's irrelevant as in the wild they are probably eating 1-2 times a month and probably
going stretches longer than that. So I find the opposite that Kings in captivity actually get bigger.

Keith

: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.
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Follow Ups:

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)