Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello! I've had Kami, my BMS for 10 months now (she's about 1 yr old), I was wondering if anyone has ever kept detailed growth records of their baby BMS's? I'd like to compare to my own. Thanks for any info you can provide.

Cheers!
John

Hi John,
I haven't kept any growth records on mine (Growing quickly though)but I seem to remember some earlier posts where some keepers had done just that (NateGodin?) Hope this helps. I'm really enjoying mine. Getting a little impatient with the muddy Honduran look but I'm tottaly committed to the fantastic full grown adults they'll eventually be. They are VERY impressive animals. Good luck!
Bob.

Thanks much for the reply Bob. Kami's black tipping is starting to really expand, and she's shedding about every 4 weeks. She's pretty high strung now, but not unhandleable. Can't wait for her to grow to a big black beauty.

Cheers!
John

John,Nate,

John, Mine are also 03's and doing very well 2.2 and are still a bit high strung. I'm looking forward to them mellowing out like DANN says they do. (not unhandleable just jumpy. never bitng)not your typical milksnake at all. Nate, I've enjoyed your Black milk posts. Thanks

Hello,
I have detailed records of my snakes' growth, though they're on my computer at work, and I'm on vacation this week. I can post those sometime after Labor Day if you're interested. I take pictures of them just after each shed and use the Serpwidgets snake measuring program, so I also have a pretty good photographic record of the color change process. Anyway, my black milks are 2 years old this September, are both right about 4 feet long, and are almost completely black. How are yours doing?

Yes, I would absolutely love to see your records and photos! My female seems to be doing fine, eats like a pig (I feed her 3 pinkies every 3 days), she's not growing as fast as I thought she would, but then again shes just about 1 yr old, so I'm not sure how big an average 1 yr should be. She's still slender, but about 24 inches long. I got her from the Harford Breeding Center. Can you tell me more about the measuring program you use?

Thanks again for your response!

John.

Hello,
The program I use is called Snake Measurer and is available at serpwidgets.com. I've included a link for you. Sounds like your snake is getting plenty of food, but it might be cheaper and easier for you to feed larger prey items... at 24" you could probably start feeding 1 or 2 rat pinkies rather than 3 mouse pinkies per feeding. What are your temps? The temp. range (80-85 degrees) that Harford Reptile lists on its webpage is actually the absolute maximum range of temps for a black milk. Mine do fine at (Maine!) room temperature which is about 65-75 degrees depending on the season. Definitely not your typical milksnake, but that's why I like them so much. I'll get some new pictures up tomorrow if the sun (and the snakes!) want to cooperate. I'll get a growth chart and some older pics up sometime next week for ya.

Nate
Snake Measurer

Hey again,

My temps are a low of about 65-70 degrees at night, and 75-80 degrees during the day (almost never reaches above 80). I know where you're coming from in temps, I'm in Michigan myself.
She is still quite slender, so I've been hesitant to feed her larger items, instead opting for more of the pinkies per feeding (I was feeding her 2 pinkies every 3-4 days during the first 7 months I have had her), I was very worried about obesity.

Would love to see pics, thanks very much again for your responses!

Oh, and thanks much for the link!