Posted by:
Shiari
at Sat Feb 1 11:20:13 2014 [ Report Abuse ] [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by Shiari ]
You mean for a powerfed snake that is going to be unhealthy. Wild snakes aren't 3 feet long at a year old, because while they may gorge when they find a nest, it might be 3 weeks before they find another.
Also, just because they *can* breed at 9 months doesn't mean they *should* breed at 9 months. That's like saying a human girl who starts menstruating at age 10 is totes ready to pop out a baby. Her ovaries might be up to the task, but the rest of her is not.
It's unethical because breeding is physiologically very stressful on a snake and overbreeding will shorten the lifespan of pretty much any animal. Breeding young tends to wear them out as well.
In nature, that doesn't matter as long as the female survives just long enough to reproduce a few times and get her genes out there. If she dies after that, so what.
Well, I'm a vet tech and not nature. I want my girls to live into their late teens, early twenties because while I do breed them, they are also my pets and my responsibility. I give them years off. I don't try to double clutch them.
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