Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I think I know what most (all maybe) of the people will say, but this makes me curious.

If you were to take a good eating snake at 750 grams and put it in a very small enclosure, control temperature, food intake, humidity, everything very precisely, and timed how long it took to reach 2000 grams.

Then, if you were somehow able to go back in time, and you took the same exact snake at 750grams, and put it in a very large enclosure, fed it exactly the same, kept the heat exactly the same,humidity, etc... everything exactly the same, except the enclosure size, would it reach 2000 grams any more quickly.

Does a snake grow into its surroundings at all? I know some animals that are trapped on small islands or desolate area grow to different sizes than their identical cousins in a very large habitate. Maybe this is selective genetics over time however?

Interested in opinions.

Alan

I think that the snakes basic size or size potential has more to do with genetics than with anything else.

That being said - from my experience - I have noticed that hatchlings raised in bigger cages or that I have moved into bigger tubs sooner - have grown quicker than the ones that are kept in smaller tubs for longer.

However - they seem to all even out into their adulthood (age wise) regardless of the size of cage they are in.

Nothing scientific to my observations - could be purely coincidental.
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Tosha
JET Pythons

A single animal from a mainland population will not be dwarfed if it lives on an island... it may starve, and stunt it's growth, but it will not be a true dwarf.

"Island Dwarfs" are caused over hundreds of generations as a result of very limited resources and limited territory. Large animals simply can't find enough food to support a very large body size (and/or their prey is dwarfed for the same reason), so natural selection simply weeds out the large animals and favors smaller bodies. (Again, this takes many generations to accomplish)

There are exceptions to this however, such as the Komodo Dragon which evolved from smaller monitors. Elephants once lived on the same islands as the Komodo Dragons and they (the elephants) became extremely dwarfed. The elephants were the size of a small horse or even a large dog. Normally, a monitor could never dream of hunting an elephant, but with the evolution of the dwarf elephant, monitors on the islands began to evolve larger and larger until they reached their current size (even though the elephants eventually became extinct). Size probably has more to do with food and stress factors than amount of physical territory.

~kasey

np Kasey.

Unlike certain fish, snakes do not grow with or against thier environment. They grwo when they eat. This does Not mean you should over feed your BP! Over feeding could cause health issues and or shorten the life of your BP