The comments about the roundups(especially mine regarding Bob & Tom asking how much a rattlesnake weighs) got me wondering as well. I seem to remember a Guinness record about a 40 pound diamondback(7-8 feet if I remember right). How commonly would a snake of that length reach a weight like that? The thickest rattler I have seen, based on similarly sized pythons, would still be well under 30 pounds, and I see posts in the classifieds for "HUGE Gaboons" in the 25 pound range(obviously thicker than your average rattler)-anyone know the story behind that 40 pound diamondback as far as if it was an overfed captive, roundup capture, or other? I know a 7 foot diamondback is rare enough to be almost unheard of, but assuming it was that long, would it truly be that heavy at a healthy size?
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rattlesnake weights?
Replies (4)
No, I don't know the story behind that snake, but for comparison, the most massive rattler I've ever seen in person is a Mexican Rattlesnake at our refuge. He was 5'11" last time I measured him, which has been a while, but he's obviously slowed way down, so I'd guess he's about 6' now, maybe 6'1". I just weighed him a few weeks ago at a nice round 20 pounds...but 5 minutes later he took a giant dump, so I'm calling him 18#. If you scale that up in 3 dimensions:
18/(6^3)*(8^3) = 42.7 pounds...
That would be one big-&#$ rattlesnake! The Mexican Rattler I'm using for comparison is just about at the limit of what I can handle by conventional means. Some sort of divided cage would certainly be in order for a 40 pounder...
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What goes up must come down...unless it exceeds escape velocity.
this picture was taken a couple of years ago.
>>this picture was taken a couple of years ago.
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That's our boy. Looking a bit scrawny compared to today.
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What goes up must come down...unless it exceeds escape velocity.
I would be SHOCKED if someone found a WC 40 lb rattlesnake...Environmental factors, scarcity of food, etc. would all work to limit how heavy a snake would become in the wild...Not saying it's impossible, but HIGHLY unlikely...
A CB animal on the other hand has no such limits...(only the limits imposed on it by genetics and the owner). Even then, the only rattlesnake I can think of that might hit this mark is C. adamanteus. but possibly also C. atrox and C. basiliscus...possibly C. ruber as well.
-AzAtrox
