I was kind of amused to see a reference to a zonata born in 1999 as "old"! I have a San Bern. Mtn. king (L. z. parvirubra) collected in early June of 1984 in the San Gabriels that is 43" long and thriving. He must have been at least 3 when we found him, but based on the size of his head I suspect he may have been 5 years or older. He was only 24" and "pencil thin" but his head was so large it appeared to be mismatched to his body. We took him to the car and fed him live side blotched lizards from our hands. He ate pre killed mice from my hand that first season, even full grown adult mice that he could barely swallow. By the end of summer he was 31" and very robust. He eats half the year and shuts down by the beginning of October until early spring. I believe him to be close to, if not 30 years old.

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