Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Who here has personally raised babies to reach that size and how did you do it?

I just recently started feeding small rats to my biggest '04s which were my first baby kings. I'm hoping they're on their way to becoming five or six footers. It's a shame when animals don't reach their optimal growth potential in captivity.

This girl was eating fuzzies when I got her over a year ago. No doubt she can take on medium rats, but I feed her two small rats instead.

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chickabowwow

I think the best method to get best potential growth is small meals often. The other is to find snakes that have the genetic potential to get to 6'. Some just wont no matter what ya do. Looks like you have Brooksi/Florida King ther so that is your best bet for a 6'

Keith
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Thanks for your input. I've noticed that even within the brooksi (I have 20), some seem more predisposed to grow larger length-wise whereas some would turn into fat sausages if I offered the same feeding regimen.
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chickabowwow

Yep. I had 1.1 GA Eastern Kings that were sibs. The male grew long and never really added much fat while the female bulked up and was always considerably shorter than the male. I still have the male and he is near 5' and is a 2003 hatch. The female I dont own anymore. I also think you are correct in that repeated inbreeding can result in smaller adults. Hell has anyone seen a Hypo Honduran Milksnake that is 6' or more ?

Keith
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That's a nice big king, pretty too. You may have answered your own question!

I'm sure genetics plays the major role, but the biggest (and I mean HUGE) Florida king/brooksi I've seen was a 12-year old male that was NOT kept in a 28qt box..

Thanks! Eventually I'd like to move all my snakes into bigger cages just because I'm more pet-oriented than breeder-minded when it comes to reptiles.
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chickabowwow