Thanks for making an effort to be around more often. But now I feel bad for possibly dragging you away from an already hectic, fully booked schedule. But let's face it,.. I'm selfish. If I can just get a couple posts a week from you I'm happy.

And as for those average lengths and weights,.. The lengths sound pretty close to a realistic "average" (Like you said it's totally relative), but I have a problem with those weights in relation to the lengths given. I don't weigh my snakes very much these days, but I did weigh a lot of my pythons a LOT in the 70's and 80's when I was more obsessed with knowing every detail, and I must say,. 120 for a 13 foot male is highly unlikely. My 13 foot females back then were 100 to 110 lbs on average and they were OBESE then. So I don't see how a thinner bodied male could be heavier. (unless he's QUITE a male,.. just kidding) I could see 13 foot males being 70 to 80 pounds on average. (now it makes me want to go weigh my males. the only problem is I keep my males under 10 feet for optimum breeding purposes. I urge anyone with a 13 foot healthy male to get an acurate weigh and post it here) You could probably help here Rob. Go weigh one of your big boys when you get a chance.

And thanks again Rob (and everyone else that came out of the woodwork to support me sticking around) It really made a difference in my morale and gave me more of a positive outlook. I appreciate all of you and what you have done more than mere words can say. (can you feel the love?? lol) Seriously though,... Thank you.


>>Okay, Brian, you have made me feel guilty for not coming here more often so I will see if I can entice you to keep coming (and I will try harder to frequent here more often).
>>
>>To answer your question, those numbers sound somewhat accurate, however, I always question various websites when they are based on word of mouth rather than "real" experience (that is, working with burms on a LONG term basis; keeping burms for 5 years doesn't come close to keeping them on a long term basis) in working with burmese pythons. You won't find too many "experts" (anyone claiming to be an expert, doesn't know squat) who have truly kept a burm (or several burms) on a long term basis. It wouldn't surprise me if you found that male burms reached average lengths surpassing 14-15' if given the proper environment and enough time. I have two males that are already over 13' at 6 years of age and they will continue to grow for many years to come. One of the largest burms I have ever seen was a huge male over 17'...absolutely massive girth. My young adult females (6-30 years of age) range from 14' to 19' and weights reaching 250 pounds....give them enough time and the proper environment, they will continue to grow until they die.
>>
>>But, to make a long answer short, those numbers you mentioned are probably decent "average" numbers but I have found that when it comes to burmese pythons, "average" is all relative...an average sized adult burm is still one big pickin' snake!
>>
>>Rob Carmichael, Director/Curator
>>The Wildlife Discovery Center
>>City of Lake Forest Parks & Recreation (IL)
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It isn't "Ideas" that fail or succeed,... it is the "Sytstems" which are instilled to launch and sustain the idea that either fail or succeed.>

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