Reptile & Amphibian Forums

A simple observation regarding my red belly (Spaz) pictured above on the KS banner. I aquired her last January at which time she measured about 51" in length. I assumed she had maxed out in size as she is a mature adult however, after a year and a half of mostly trout for food, she is now 60" long and doubled her girth.
At the same time, my adult female banded (Fe) was about 30" and now, also fed trout, is 43" long. Her girth is almost triple what she was when I received her.
All my snakes are showing similar growth rates and I strongly suspect that foremost, de-worming them took a tremendous load off them. Spaz did not pass pass any (noticeable) parasites but Fe did! Tapeworms in her case. As did some of the others not mentioned here. I feed my snakes well but am extremely careful not to overfeed. Once a week for the adults. Once every 5 to 7 days for juveniles and every 4 to 7 days for babies. Babies receive more food/body ratio than juveniles and them more so than adults. The above is'nt law to me, I go by "feel" as much as regimine. An individual may get more or less depending on it's response to my entering the room, others being fed, etc.
In the meantime, I still owe Justin S. some male/female comparative photos. I'm working on it, honest!
Michael

So that's your erythrogaster huh m56? Those are great snakes. My parents get them in their back yard in Augusta, GA now and then. I'd love to see another photo of that one of yours if you have one.
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Tim