Hi all. I think I've posted maybe once or twice on the pit board in ten years – I keep mostly pythons – but I was looking at the record of an old Sonoran gopher snake who just shed today and so should resume feeding after his last meal in September, 2011. This is a male I found on the road in Brewster County, Texas in June,1990. He weighed around 100 grams at the time. I've got a couple of questions.



I usually feed him 350g-450 g rats. I see he ate 2 rats in 2009, 4 rats in 2010, and 3 rats in 2011 (of which he regurgitated the last, so really 2 rats in 2011). Yes, that's all he's choosing now despite being offered food every few weeks throughout the feeding season. He's gone from a high of over 4100 grams in weight in 2006 to 2365 grams today. He looks fine, but just seems to be slowing down. Hey, we're all getting old. Aside from maybe offering him smaller food items going forward, I don't see myself changing his husbandry.



Here are my questions: Does anyone have a feel for what the typical longevity in captivity is for the Sonoran gopher snake? What the maximum recorded has been? Would you think that a 100 gram animal found in June in west Texas would have been a young of the previous year?



Thanks in advance for any answers!


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-Joan

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