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Posted by Brandon Osborne on March 23, 2003 at 12:52:09:
In Reply to: Re: Size limitations of kings in captivity .... posted by Keith Hillson on March 23, 2003 at 08:33:25:
I agree with Keith on this. I read a study about feeding frequencies of wild snakes several years ago. It estimated that most snakes in the wild only eat 6-12 times per year. I would say that kings and rats eat more often, but probably only about twice as much. I too have several brooksi that have been raised on mice only, that are over the 5' mark. It would seem to me, that a snake diet would have less absorbed mass than that of rodents. Reptile skin does not digest properly, thus a lot of waste. And thinking of how thin most wc racers, there wouldn't be much meat to fatten up a king. I wish I had the guys name from the old Columbus show, who had the 7' brooksi. Snakes may taste great, but would seem to be less filling. lol.
Brandon Osborne
: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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