Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Is there any way to tell how old my WC corn is? It is a male caught back in November. He is roughly 4', probably a little less.

WEll, at that size it becomes much harder to judge the age. There are many factors to consider here,....it's genetic predisposition to size from each parent, amount of food it was eating, how often it was able to feed, etc...

A male corn can generally be slightly larger than female's, but not necessarily. Being that it's a male slightly under 4 ft., My guess is that it is at least 3 years old or better. Keep an accurate record of exactly how long it is now, and see if he continues to grow much bigger, if he does, that will give you an idea that he was approx. 3 or 4 as of now.

Adult corns average around 4 ft or so, but they can even be somewhat smaller than that, or even upwards of 6 ft. sometimes. Again depending on their genetics and feeding factors, etc...

"Miami" phase, an "Rosie Rat's"(key corns) tend to be a little smaller than some of the other wild-type populations, while the Okeetee corns from Jasper County SC being probably one of the largest.

best regards, ~Doug
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"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!"

What Doug said is good information. Keep in mind that it generally takes corn snakes longer to reach a size in the wild than it would to reach the same size if it were in captivity.

The constant supply of food in captivity not only causes faster growth, but the snake does not have to expend energy looking for food (which "costs" growth). Also, lab raised rodents are likely to be fatter than wild rodents.

Wild snakes almost always have parasites and this can slow down growth, as parasites "steal" energy from the reptile.

Also, depending on where the snake was found, it may have hibernated duruing the winter, which slows down growth, as the snake isn't taking in any food (many pet keepers feed their snakes year 'round).

I'd say a wild corn that's about four feet in length is at least 5 years old - but there's no way to tell for sure.

Tim

Third Eye

I kind of figured there wasn't a way to tell from size. Growth rate seems like a decent possibility in determining a rough idea of age. He was wild caught in mid/south Florida, so he probably didn't do much hibernating, if at all.
My cousin has a corn that he got from a pet store, now 10 years old. It looks exactly like mine, size and all, lol...

i have a corn who is 15 years old.... she was a rescue and was at the vet school in NC until my Aunt who worked there got her and brought her for us for christmas when i was in middle school.... i'm now 27 and she was at least 3 years old when we got her... and shes shrinking... she used to be about 5 1/2 feet and now shes MUCH smaller...... heres pics of her.... you can see her cataracts

~kin
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~Sober Serpents~
www.freewebs.com/soberserpents
Corns, Creamsicles, A Black Rat, Thayeri, Cal Kings, A Jungle Corn(Just A Pet), A Ball Python, A Bearded dragon, Leopard Geckos, Green Anoles, a Snapping turtle, and a white cheeked mud turtle