Reptile & Amphibian Forums

(I'm the only one who was...) but anyway, I've been breeding snakes and a few other herps for around 30 years, and I was thinking about one of those things that gets into our subconscious awareness with experience. You know, one of those things you know and don't even know you know and then one day, you just know...you know?

Anyhoo, it's a look that female snakes get when they....mature. I have had females grow pretty fast--there's always the odd animal that feeds every time you offer, and outpaces its siblings--but, although they gain length, there is a..."thickening", a gain of a special quality of robustness, that tells me they are safe to breed. Females that grow slowly may not get that mature aspect until after they pass the typical breedable age, but the precocious ones may get it a year early.

Do the Dry keepers see anything like this?

I have a 3 yr old female that is 5'6"
and...I'm not breeding her this fall.

I have breed females at this size, but I just don't think she's ready.

They just get that..."look"...you know...that girthier look.
Immature snakes just look different.

I have a 3 yr old 6' male that probably weighs half of my 6.5 - 7' breeder males.

all leg--well, neck--oh! I don't know!

But that's what I'm talking about. When I see that look, I feel a female is ready to breed safely.

Exactly.

A long legged, lanky teenage girl is just as tall as an adult woman
...
but...if the curves aren't there, she ain't ready for procreation.

But...we've seriosly digressed eh?

>>Exactly.
>>
>>A long legged, lanky teenage girl is just as tall as an adult woman
>>...
>>but...if the curves aren't there, she ain't ready for procreation.
>>
>>But...we've seriosly digressed eh?

I can usually immediately tell an old snake from a young one, or a mature snake from an immature one of equal size. I'd hate to have to try to put my finger on exactly what the difference is in the way they look, or describe it to someone else, but there definitely is a difference....it's just one of those things you can just "tell".
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We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children. Ralph Waldo Emerson