Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Saw this 60" (w/9"-10" girth)cotton on the way home from Orlando this afternoon.
It'd take the king of kings to take down this big'n!

Unfortunately, a semi will do the job too...
R.I.P., big'n...
:Mark
-----
Surrender Dorothy!

www.crimsonking.funtigo.com

.

I'd like to see the kingsnake that could eat that. That is one huge cotton. That road there looks very familiar.

He is 6'1" currently and eats large rats! But then again . . .That IS a lot of cottonmouth! I once read in a book "Snakes of Louisiana" that a herpetologist once found a large, fat DOR cottonmouth on the highway. He cut it open to examine its' stomach contents and found some small fish, a frog, some other animal, and a THREE FOOT HOLBROOKI!!! That must've been one MEAN ACE cottonmouth! I don't remember how big he was, but probably big enough, lol! Here's a pic of my eight year old crotalus killer, "Georgia Boy": (He's got pretty good girth on him too (for a getulus))!

Zee

-----
"I am an expert on everything, but I know so little and have so much to learn!" -Carsten "Zee" Zoldy-

...too puny...
haha
I wish I would have had a scale to weigh the cotton. Heavy animal. I've seen cottons eat watersnakes and dread the day when I finally find a king in Hillsborough or Pinellas county..and he's in the jaws of an Agkistrodon!

:Mark
-----
Surrender Dorothy!

www.crimsonking.funtigo.com

Yeah, those guys can be quite heavy and MUCH thicker than any king! I once found a western diamondback in South Texas that was a true monster! The weird thing is that he was the only snake I found on the road that night, since temps dropped into the high 60's that evening. I was about to call it quits and decided for one last pass down a prime road I knew.
After I wrestled him into the bag, (my wife had to help me - he was too big and heavy),I took him home and took lots of pics (this was before digi-cams became the mainstay, so all the pics I have are hard copies).I measured AND weighed him and took some videos of him as well (on my VHS). But anyway, that guy/gal (I'll call it a he for now), weighed in at 11 POUNDS!!! It was 74 inches long and his head was almost as big as the palm of my hand. His fangs were almost an inch long!
I sold him to a collector in Texas who eventually sold it to a Zoo as a display animal.

Zee
-----
"I am an expert on everything, but I know so little and have so much to learn!" -Carsten "Zee" Zoldy-

I have seen all of your Kings 1st hand --- I don't think any of them (and none that I have) could take that monster down - and keep it down!
-----
Peter Jolles
East Coast Colubrids
www.eastcoastcolubrids.com

You just wait - "Georgia Boy" is still a little boy. When her reaches 8 foot he will! Ok - maybe - NOT (He'll never be thick enough)!!!! Ok, nuff' trash talkin'
But seriously . . . did you get a look at my 3 year old Indigo?
He's HUGE!!! He might be able to take a cottonmouth of considerable size, especially if HE reaches the eight foot mark. He's already got a HUGE head on him and impressive girth as well (at LEAST twice as thick as Georgia Boy). He literally tries to rip his rats in half if you wiggle them a little too long, lol! Too bad Kingsnakes don't get that big.
A long,long time ago (and during my crazier days), I once fed a live four foot Western Diamondback to a 5 foot WC Texas Indigo. The Indigo seized the head of the rattler (after being bitten once) and pulled on it so hard that he tore the lower jaw off the rattler. It was quite a gruesome scene, but he did eat the whole rattlesnake afterwards and then crawled into his hide-box like nothing happened. I had a lot of cage cleaning to do afterwards! That convinced me that Indigos WILL tackle large snakes from time to time . . . So who knows if an eight footer could that monster that Mark found!?! I have seen an aproximately 7.5 foot Texas Indigo once that a local found in south Texas and it was a sight I'll NEVER forget! (I still wonder to this day if he really ever turned it loose like he said he would,lol!)
But when it comes to GIANT snake eaters: Have you ever been to Wilmington, NC. (where they breed all those Bushmasters)? They have a King Cobra in there that is 15 foot long!!! That thing is UNBELIEVABLE!!!

Zee
-----
"I am an expert on everything, but I know so little and have so much to learn!" -Carsten "Zee" Zoldy-

That big GA you have coulda taken that cotton. I fed my teeny tiny NJ Easterns wide banded Water snake babies and the thickness ratios look to be about the same. These babies powered those fat Waters down and never puked on up...

-----

Wow, pretty cool Keith!
I remember going to Len Krysko's house a few years ago to visit and to pick up some Kings. He had so many babies (and nowhere to put them), he kept a lot of them together for a few days. When I looked at them all, I noticed that one of the little females (Pinellas county kings) had eaten a LARGER clutchmate. I picked her out since I thought: (I like this one, she's brave, lol!). How did I know she ate a clutchmate larger than herself? Well, because on my way home: Bumpy ride AC on = regurge!!! Yup, she regurged her brother who was about two inches longer than her!!! I was amazed. just like your pics. Those water snakes look pretty big compared to the kings! Nice pics, too!

Zee
-----
"I am an expert on everything, but I know so little and have so much to learn!" -Carsten "Zee" Zoldy-