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snake length
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by Timber_Rattlesnake on September 7, 2002
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Do snakes always reach their total length?
Such as the ridgenose rattlesnake, the length is 2.19.
Is it possible for one to only reach 2.5 or 1.19? (ft)
What does it all depend on?
Dan
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RE: snake length
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by fizzbob7 on September 8, 2002
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no...just like all humans dont get 6 ft tall....nutrition has a lot to do with it and from what i understand, high protein diets can make a snake grow quickly but how can anyone prove that the maximum length won't be reached regardless...just might take longer...just like in pythons..some burms get 18 ft and 250lbs...some only get 180lbs...i have seen one that was 25ft and 400lbs.....i think its predetermined to an extent....
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RE: snake length
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by TomT on September 8, 2002
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Snake size is a polygenetic trait. This means that there are multiple contributing genes in the determination of size, just as it is in humans. I did a bit of checking into the genetics of size several years ago, when I was interested in breeding dwarf reticulated pythons. It is almost impossible to predict how large a snake will get. All I will say on the subject is this.... if you have 100 snakes of a species born/hatched at your place, there will be a small percentage of really big ones, a small percentage of really small ones, and a whole lot of in-between ones....
If an individual has the genetic make-up to be large, then a proper diet is important to acheiving potential length (size) but feeding won't make a genetically small individual larger.... it will, however, make a mall animal FAT.....
Please feel free to email me if you'd like to continue this thread. I find it to be a fascinating subject....
One last note.... you can stunt a big snake, temporarily, and if it eventually gets the food necessary to make it grow, it will eventually make up for lost time and grow really large.... I did this with a "stunted" 5 year old reticulated python... she was 5 years old, 11 feet long and 20 pounds in November of 99 when I got her. I fed her all she would eat and by the following June (7 months), she had increased in length to 15 feet, and she weighed 100lbs.... I gave her to a serpentarium and she has grown to 19 feet since then.......
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