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Posted by chrish on March 24, 2003 at 11:35:22:
In Reply to: Size limitations of kings in captivity .... posted by Jeff Schofield on March 23, 2003 at 00:51:34:
is genetic variation.
Every Eastern King does NOT have the potential to reach 7 feet, regardless of what you feed it. Some populations/lines are larger than others. If you wanted to produce the largest eastern, you would have to select the largest adults over many generations.
A seven foot eastern king is probably analogous to a 7 foot human. There aren't very many of them and unless we line bred for size we are unlikely to produce a captive population of 7 footers.
I'm aware that snakes have relatively indeterminate bone growth, but that doesn't mean they will grow without limits. I guarantee no matter what you feed it, no matter how long it lives, you could never get a kingsnake up to 12 feet. There are real limits.
Most eastern/florida kings probably max out at around 5-6 feet. A few will be giants, but for every giant, there should be another that maxes out at 4 feet.
