Unreal, man! Keep us posted. N/P.Cheers!

[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ The Rat Snake Forum ]

Posted by Francis on May 03, 2002 at 22:35:24:

In Reply to: Re: Let me understand.. posted by Frank Roberts on May 02, 2002 at 12:11:22:

: when I got her she was already a year old and yes 14 inches, I assume he fed her infrequently LOL, I saw the snake once and then again 4 months later and no difference, I bought her. She then started growing so fast I could not believe my eyes, I have been studying reptiles and amphibians for over 25 years and have never seen growth like this, from 14 inches to 4.5 feet in four months time, Although she should be this big at 1.4 years, so maybe she caught up so to speak, but in my experience with other snakes they take just as long to hit the size they should be and seem to be behind until adulthood, this is not the case with this snake, I would not have believed it if it didn't happen at my own house. I imagine the guy was feeding her like once a month, a pinkie or something, perhaps to try and keep her small and more desirable of a purchase, She eats even in full shed as if I don't know when my next meal will come ind of attitude. I don't feed her a lot either as I have stated, reminded me of some retics I have seen hitting 10 feet in one year, the difference is she wasn't power fed to accomplish it. I also will not breed her till her 3 or 4th year to see how big she gets without interrupting her potential growth. We shall see! My friend will take pics of her in the warmer springtime and I will post. Wish I was a good photographer I would have loved to record her growth in a picture format. Unreal!! Could be a mixture of all variables, I thought it had something to do with her being so small and underfed at 1 year of age before I got her, But I have studied the growth of other colubrids treated the same and it usually takes "a lot more time" to get any real growth on them, she is beautiful too, so in fact I had to get a male as well, I got my male from Glades Herp, he is about 14 inches also, I will record how he grows also on her regimen and post results.

: Frank Roberts

Follow Ups:

Post a Followup

Name:
E-Mail:

Subject:

Comments:
: : when I got her she was already a year old and yes 14 inches, I assume he fed her infrequently LOL, I saw the snake once and then again 4 months later and no difference, I bought her. She then started growing so fast I could not believe my eyes, I have been studying reptiles and amphibians for over 25 years and have never seen growth like this, from 14 inches to 4.5 feet in four months time, Although she should be this big at 1.4 years, so maybe she caught up so to speak, but in my experience with other snakes they take just as long to hit the size they should be and seem to be behind until adulthood, this is not the case with this snake, I would not have believed it if it didn't happen at my own house. I imagine the guy was feeding her like once a month, a pinkie or something, perhaps to try and keep her small and more desirable of a purchase, She eats even in full shed as if I don't know when my next meal will come ind of attitude. I don't feed her a lot either as I have stated, reminded me of some retics I have seen hitting 10 feet in one year, the difference is she wasn't power fed to accomplish it. I also will not breed her till her 3 or 4th year to see how big she gets without interrupting her potential growth. We shall see! My friend will take pics of her in the warmer springtime and I will post. Wish I was a good photographer I would have loved to record her growth in a picture format. Unreal!! Could be a mixture of all variables, I thought it had something to do with her being so small and underfed at 1 year of age before I got her, But I have studied the growth of other colubrids treated the same and it usually takes "a lot more time" to get any real growth on them, she is beautiful too, so in fact I had to get a male as well, I got my male from Glades Herp, he is about 14 inches also, I will record how he grows also on her regimen and post results. : : Frank Roberts

Optional Link URL:
Link Title:
Optional Image URL:

[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ The Rat Snake Forum ]