Thanks for the kind words on this week's long rant. I always appreciate when someone is willing to read what I've written and give it thought. I agree that the important thing with a breeder site would be letting people get a good look at the animals that are for sale. Updating is another good point, and I'll add it if I ever do another version of this particular commentary. A site where nothing seems to be current makes me think that the person doesn't care.



(The long out-of-date sites also make me wonder whether this person has died and has a room full of snakes waiting to be fed and watered. I live alone and have few visitors. If I had a heart attack in my sleep, several days could pass before anyone takes the step of breaking into my house to look for me. One good thing about having snakes as pets is that they'd last long enough for someone to find me and rescue them.)



I haven't yet found the Red Dragon's Den site. My obsession with weight and length is from the hope that I'm keeping my snakes at a good weight. I realize that every animal is individual and that my vet thought that they were fine. However, I'd love to see the data and know that my animals are somewhat near the center of their distributions.



Furthermore, I'd just be interested in seeing a distribution. I'd love to know whether the distribution is normal or whether there are some interesting bumps. Knowing that female snakes grow larger than male snakes, I'd expect the distribution of adult ball python weights to show two humps. I think the biologists call that trait "dimorphism," but I could be wrong on the term. I suspect that both males and females would have a normal distribution, but again, the real curve would be interesting to see. If there weren't a normal distribution within each sex, I'd love to know what other factors caused differences. I have a buddy who uses statistics in his political science research, and we like to talk about these kinds of things.



Thanks,





Bill




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It's not how many snakes you have. It's how happy and healthy you can keep them.

[ Hide Replies ]

• Truly generic website commentary (long, and no URLs mentioned) - wftright, Sat Jan 21 14:36:46 2006
• Great post... - vjl4, Sat Jan 21 16:06:46 2006
• Thanks - wftright, Sat Jan 21 16:57:47 2006
• RE: Thanks - toshamc, Sat Jan 21 18:10:33 2006
• Weight and length obsession - wftright, Sun Jan 22 13:39:42 2006
• I found it!!! - wftright, Sun Jan 22 13:42:31 2006
• you maqke a good point......moor - havic, Sun Jan 22 14:34:39 2006
• RE: you maqke a good point......moor - havic, Sun Jan 22 14:37:25 2006
• So this means? - wftright, Sun Jan 22 16:08:52 2006
• RE: So this means? - havic, Sun Jan 22 17:25:32 2006