What Doug said is good information. Keep in mind that it generally takes corn snakes longer to reach a size in the wild than it would to reach the same size if it were in captivity.

The constant supply of food in captivity not only causes faster growth, but the snake does not have to expend energy looking for food (which "costs" growth). Also, lab raised rodents are likely to be fatter than wild rodents.

Wild snakes almost always have parasites and this can slow down growth, as parasites "steal" energy from the reptile.

Also, depending on where the snake was found, it may have hibernated duruing the winter, which slows down growth, as the snake isn't taking in any food (many pet keepers feed their snakes year 'round).

I'd say a wild corn that's about four feet in length is at least 5 years old - but there's no way to tell for sure.

Tim

Third Eye

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