Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Casper my leucistic Texas rat snake is about 2.5 years old and around 54 inches long. He is in great health, sheds very easy and eats consistencely. My questions are:

1. What is considered his adult age? The age in which is growth rate will slow dramacticaly?

2. How long can I expect him to get? I have him in a 40 gallon long cridder cage. Will he out grow this?

My cage is set up with washable dinner place mats as his bedding. His water tub takes up about a fourth of the cage. This allow for good moisture which is why I think he has not had any trouble shedding. I have an under the cage heatng pad for his warm spot. I have two plastic stools for him to climb on for exercise and he love to set on them. His hide box is a plastic T-Rex skull I found at a pet shop. I also three temp stips place though out his cage to watch the cage`s temperture range.

Thanks in advance for any replies.

A Texas Rat Snake can grow to be 86 in, so yours is still growing. You are right that its growth rate will start to slow soon, but yours has a way to go. I would expect it to slow down in its growth rate in the next year or so. Most likely, your snake is sexually mature (an adult) by now judging from his size. I would still wait another year if you plan to bread him.

Your cage sounds like it is a good size for you snake. You have provided him with a great water dish to soak in and to keep the humidity up in the cage. It may be time to get the snake a better hiding space, but I am sure you are making sure that he has some room to move around in it.

Your snake sounds like it is healthy and doing just great. That is a testament to the care that you giving him. Keep up the good work.

Thanks for the great feedback. I am really proud of this guy and soon as my sister in-law can she is going to take some pics and I will post them.

The T-Rex skull cave is about a foot long and about 8 to 10 inches wide. He seems to like it when he wants to hide but most of the time he appear very social and enjoys setting on top of one of his stools.

I wait two days after he has eaten then handle him for about 10 to 15 minutes a day. He has clam down so much since he was a little guy. Now he will even "sit" on my shoulder for a while instead of the constant moving. Sometimes he like to go down my shirt and sit around my belt area and peek his head in and out. It`s actually funny to watch. Thanks again for your reply.

The hide box sounds like it's more than big enough. Snakes tend to like small hide boxes. I like to provide my snakes with multiple hides, of different sizes, and i almost always find them curled up together in the smallest hide possible. For a while, i had two 20 inch black rat snakes that would curl up together inside a film box. Right now, i have corn snakes together to breed. Two four and a half foot corns manage to squeeze themselves into a 4x6 notecard box. With room left over.
Keep this in mind, and if you do get a larger hide box, i'd keep the smaller one in there, also.

Here's a pix of my lone male. Around 4' and wolfing sm. rats defrosted. I have a pair of 03's that hopefully will breed in 05. He's kept in a 90 quart Rubbermaid on Aspen bedding, cork bark, and a big hide box. I don't like "fat" snakes, only fat gravid females.

Enjoy the pix.

Mike
nyc,ny

sorry folks. here's the pix.