Reptile & Amphibian Forums

When is the last time that anybody has ever seen or captured a huge obese/fat getula in the wild?........ever!........anyone??

~Doug
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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

my website -Serpentine Specialties

last weekend..

seriously, you won't find obese snakes in the wild...at least I never have...

:Mark
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Surrender Dorothy!

crimsonking.piczo.com/

" seriously, you won't find obese snakes in the wild...at least I never have..."

Exactly!!
Reasons:
1. The wild has unlimited ways of thermoregulation.
2. The wild has unlimited space to travel, crawl, etc. That is more exercise for the snake, meaning leaner and healthier snakes in that aspect.

In captivity, they live in a box. They do not get the exercise as they would in the wild. They get thrown massive amounts of food. They may come upon a ton of food one day, and nothing for weeks.

Do the math gentlemen. Nothing else to say.

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Genesis 1:1

>>" seriously, you won't find obese snakes in the wild...at least I never have..."
>>
>>Exactly!!
>>Reasons:
>>1. The wild has unlimited ways of thermoregulation.
>>2. The wild has unlimited space to travel, crawl, etc. That is more exercise for the snake, meaning leaner and healthier snakes in that aspect.
>>
>>In captivity, they live in a box. They do not get the exercise as they would in the wild. They get thrown massive amounts of food. They may come upon a ton of food one day, and nothing for weeks.
>>
>>Do the math gentlemen. Nothing else to say.

I very much agree!
Thank You Sir for your post.
Bob Bichler
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R.Bichlers Colubrids
http://www.webspawner.com/users/rbichler/index.html

I do not know if that is it in total. Ever seen an obese gazelle? No, they would get picked off..

I have seen nice plump rattlers. But kings have got to hide in tight places, and move fast when needed.

I think optimum survival means most kings cannot be really fat. Coupled with what you said about thermoregulation, they can regulate their weight quite well.
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Mark

There is more to it.

We just had this discussion on the monitor forum.

Yes, I have seen fat wild getula. As well as many other snakes and lizards.

But, the actual question is, for what reason. For instance, wild reptiles can get fat from the abundance of food. Their conditions are right.

Captives mostly get fat because the conditions do not allow the processing of energy.

So the question is, fat and healthy vs. Fat and unhealthy. And more, Fat for long perionds of time, vs. fat for a season or two.

In nature prey bases are always changing, which is why reptiles will utilize an abundant food source until they get fat or the source runs out. Also in most cases, in nature every season is sligthly different. In captivity, its the opposite. Most things are done on a schedule.

Also it varies by species, Its very rare to see a snake like a vine snake get fat, hahahahahahahahaha that would be cool to see. Yet, as mentioned, pits, and crots are commonly found very robust or FAT. ALso boas.

"you won't find obese snakes in the wild"

TOUCHE'!....yes, my point exactly!

Nice Floridana there Mark. .....What locale?

~Doug
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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

my website -Serpentine Specialties

Thought you'd at least point out her obesity from obviously being gravid..
I bet she works on her figure after she lays....
BTW canefields Doug.
:Mark
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Surrender Dorothy!

crimsonking.piczo.com/

Yeah, I definitely noticed the uneven lumps and bulges on her lower sides, and the eggs pushing up on her spine..

~Doug
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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

my website -Serpentine Specialties

You also won't find snakes that breed every year in the wild much less 2-3 clucthes per year.

I think a study I once read said some wild kings produce one clutch every 2-5 years deopending on the food resources avaliable and the fat content the female has to acheive.

So the answer is keep your CAPTIVE snakes lean by breeding them.
Don't emulate wild conditions because feeding them snakes ina box will just overload the snake with parasites.

Emulating a snakes conditions while keeeping in a box is impossble to do.

or just feed it some frogs and snakes and see what happens when you do.
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www.Bluerosy.com

>>I think a study I once read said some wild kings produce one clutch every 2-5 years deopending on the food resources avaliable and the fat content the female has to acheive.
>>

Does anyone have any data or specific study to substantiate this? I would like to know? Not saying it's not true, but I like to see real Data. Sounds like a good study
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King Snakes! Who can make a better mouse trap?
Jorge Sierra

My Site > www.Sierrasnakes.com

I really miss hunting for snakes. I don't have the time these days.
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King Snakes! Who can make a better mouse trap?
Jorge Sierra

My Site > www.Sierrasnakes.com

and how do you guys get the photos to show up in the reply instead of just a link???

Upload your photos to an online photo hosting account like photobucket. Open the photo or photos you want to add to your post.
Copy the URL of the photo from the address bar at the top of page.
Paste that URL between image tags in the post. [ i m g ] image URL goes here [ / i m g ] like these only leave out the spaces. With this method you can add more photos and make notes between photos.

or

You can use your KS photo gallery to add photos to your posts.
You can read how to do this with this link. With this method you're limited to only 3 photos/post and can't add text or notes.

Link

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BigT
There is a difference between ignorance and stupidity. The ignorant can be taught, stupidity is beyond our control.
1.2 P. m. melanoleucus B/W N. J. Northern Pines
1.2 P. d. deppei Mexican Pines
2.2 P. l. lineaticollis Linis or Lined Pines
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0.3 P. c. sayi red bulls
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1.1 L. g. californiae B/W Cali kings
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Well, here is the average weight kingsnake for my area, although at least once or twice a year in late spring we do see large ones that look obese but most likely gravid!

Desert King

While I agree with most of what has been said so far, I have seen obese snakes in the wild... I think...

The real issue with the proposed question is, when is a snake considered obese? With humans and most domestic species we have measurements and body condition scores to tell us with some degree of accuracy and consistency exactly where we fall compared to "normal" for our given frame size. But with reptiles we don't have anything like this.

So when someone here sees a "fat" snake, it is entirely subjective. Additionally, what many people here consider as "normal" or "healthy" proportions, may actually be overweight.

Even someone well versed in snakes would have a hard time with this. Unlike mammals, who store their fat distributed all over the body, especially just under the skin, snakes store body fat in discrete lumps (called fat bodies or fingers) within the coelomic cavity. That means that when you see/feel a "fat" snake. You are looking/palpating through a lot of muscle and bone, to feel fat that is interspersed with soft organs. This is a challenging thing to do!

The real question is, what is normal? I have seen snakes with many different body conditions in the wild, ranging from emaciated to what I would call overweight. I have never seen a morbidly obese wild snake like I have seen captives. But where within this range is normal? Does it depend on the time of year? Age? Climate?

Anywho, I would argue that many of the adult breeders I have found in the wild have plenty of fat reserves, whatever that means.