Reptile & Amphibian Forums

..ive noticed the tendency for photos of large snakes tend to be of someone standing there holding the snake vertically from near the neck area, and letting the body droop. seems to me like this can give an innacurrate idea of size. first, there is almost no way to know how tall the person really is. second, you hold a snake unsupported, and its wieght will stretch it. the spaces between vertebrae will slightly lenghten, and considering how many snakes have, seems like this could add some inches. its good to see the SerpWidget thing going on, as well as the dollar trick. kings have such an awe inspiring appeal, that 5 foot snakes can seem like 6 foot beasts. few snakes have that power.

anyway, im done babbling..

gerg

Greg,

I agree. Not to mention any names, but I was a little surprised to see a photo someone holding a king by its neck off the ground in a vertical position - it looked like the king was about to have its neck snapped in a way some redneck would do it at a snake round-up-rodeo in Texas!

I was surprised because the guys who took/held that pic know better and are herpers and not a couple of yahoos...

When kings put that kind of size and weight on it can't be good to suspend them like that for even 5 seconds or so, much less more than once for a longer period. They don't have the type of muscle arrangement like a tree snake to really protect themselves in that position. Moreover, if a king found itself in that kind of position in the wild, it would quickly drop to the ground unless it was too far a leap (if they can judge distances like we can).

Kings are tough snakes though. Corns and rats have been known to fall 30-40' with a squirrel or bird coiled and never miss a beat. My kings will sometimes feel out a cage that's 6 feet off the ground, crawl down as much as they can, then just release and hit with a "thud!" But they are controlling that fall and just keep on moving with no injuries at all - not even shaken up.

My guess is they could handle a fall of 20-30' without being killed but I wouldn't expect to see that happening to many kings unless they're in rocky areas.

Just MO though, and I'm talking the Beasts from the East in this message.

Peace.

-John

LOL....Kinda reminds me of the "old fisherman's trick"
Just hold the fish a little closer to the camera and it'll look A LOT bigger!! LOL
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Ace

yeah well for some strange reason size really seems to matter to lots of folks here??? here is a a pic of cleo its 2yrs old i will be posting more recent pics soon. he is 14yrs old and 75inches long,i have no reason to lie? and as i have said several times anyone is welcome to come and see him i am a regular at ETHS meetings and also will be displaying him at my table this year at the ETHS expo in sep.'04,,,,,,,,peace
thomas davis

T&S reptile farm

Thomas

I dont think anyone is accusing you of lying but most of us here after getting more acurrate measurments overestimated the size of our Kings. I wasnt lying when I said my Eastern was 5.5' long I was just estimating wrong lol. Try and get a shot of Cleo from directly above adding someing to the pic for scale like a ruler or a dollar bill. You then can use the Serpwidgets program to calculate an aproximate size. One a side note I would be very surprised if Cleo wasnt close to what you estimate her size to be she just looks like a big King period.

Keith
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hey,

i wasnt meaning to come across like i was calling 'liar' to anyone. i was just more amused at the human tendency to have to "stand the snake up". its just something funny ive noticed in lots of king, indigo, bull, pine, and rat snake photos.

that photo of cleo in your arms is my favorite. i think it shows his size and bulk better than the other ones. massive snake you have there! great color too

greg

Not trying to stir the pot or anything but the pics of people holding their snakes are without question my favorites. I understand it may not be the best choice for size comparison in terms of Hulk Hogan holding it vs Richard Simmons but for the most part it's a good pic and I would hate to see people stop doing it. Just my $.02 worth.

Oh, and keep the big kings comin'.