Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Got a call from a friend that new this guy who had a canebreak, wanted me to take it of his hands. I am in SC and this snake was caught in jasper County 4 1/2 years ago. He told me on the phone it was in a 10 gal. and has been in the same cage its whole life, has never had its substrate changed in 4 years. This cage had everything in it from spoons to cups to dishes all covered in feces, the snake was also kept in a garage with no heat or light (to speak of) So i get there and can't believe what i am seeing, the canebreak has 14 rattles and is only about 15 inches long, actually had room in a 10 gal. The girth is about the size of a very small corn snake and he is so dehydrated that the rattles don't work at all, I got him sat. and he is in a 4' precision cage and pounded 2 f/t mice right away, I just couldnt believe a 4 yearold cane could stay so small and stay alive, he had a sad start, but will have a very happy ending. Jason

Thats pretty sad but im glad he will now be in the hands of a proffesional to live out the rest of his life

Be really careful about feeding it too much. My friend rescued a black tail rattler that had been abused. The thing was very thin and dehydrated. The snake ate one mouse and I was happy to see it. It was then offered two or three more mice and died a few days later. I think it might have been going from long term starvation to too much food that did it in.

At least the snake's been rescued. It will be interesting to see if it stays stunted in size after all this time or if it restarts its growing cycle once it's eating properly.

you far from beaufort??

originaly from Boston and lived in beaufort for 5 years, me and my wife(from beaufort)managed plums on baystreet for 4 years, that was 7 years ago, I live in Columbia but go to beaufort alot, my wifes family owns shamrock reality, its near the paris island bridge. jason

oh ok I'm in Beaufort now =)

We would love to see pics of this anaimal. I think you should documnets its age as best you can and write an article for herpetological review. Everyone talks about altering the size of animals by the cage size but there is not much documentation.
Good luck with your new snake.

I doubt the size of the snake was due to cage size, but rather from lack of available food and water.

Hope this snake rebounds and puts some size on.

MH

Probably not documentation on "dwarfing" snakes or other reptiles. However, I have heard of this being done with a lot of snakes.
I know for a fact, a guy that has kept a nile monitor (acquired as a hatchling) in a ten gallon aquarium for years and then went to a 20 gal.
That lizard is still alive today, and he is all of 24" and 11 years old!
I know of another person who kept a typical corn snake in a shoebox for most of it's life (about 8 years) and it is only 16" in lenght.
So yes, I believe you can "dwarf" a snake by the space you raise it in, even WITH regular feeding regimen.

Randal