Sounds a bit strange

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Posted by Dirk on September 29, 2001 at 23:39:15:

In Reply to: Undersized Elaphe? Size of yearling black rats and corns? posted by Amanda Gannon on September 29, 2001 at 23:16:11:

I've got Leucistic Texas Rat snakes (pretty close to Black Rats) and they grew fast and huge. At 1 year, they were around 3' long and eating full sized mice (two at a time) once a week. Now at 4 years, they are over 5' and very heavy bodied. I feed them jumbo mice (two at a time) once a week. They do not appear to be obese or overweight, just big.

If they are only as big around as a pencil, I think something is wrong. They should be bigger than that. I'd start looking for environmental factors that are out of norm.

I do use a vitamin and calcium supplement every other feeding and ensure that sufficient warmth is available (cage floor temperature range is 75 to 95 degrees) and clean water is always available.

Your question about how big a yearling snake gets in the wild is hard to answer because it depends on the availablility of food, length of growing season, and other factors.

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Re: Sounds a bit strange Kenyanboa 10/01/01 (0)

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: I've got Leucistic Texas Rat snakes (pretty close to Black Rats) and they grew fast and huge. At 1 year, they were around 3' long and eating full sized mice (two at a time) once a week. Now at 4 years, they are over 5' and very heavy bodied. I feed them jumbo mice (two at a time) once a week. They do not appear to be obese or overweight, just big. : If they are only as big around as a pencil, I think something is wrong. They should be bigger than that. I'd start looking for environmental factors that are out of norm. : I do use a vitamin and calcium supplement every other feeding and ensure that sufficient warmth is available (cage floor temperature range is 75 to 95 degrees) and clean water is always available. : Your question about how big a yearling snake gets in the wild is hard to answer because it depends on the availablility of food, length of growing season, and other factors.

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