Reptile & Amphibian Forums

we have an eastern king, she was wild caught by a family friend in jersey, we have had her for close to 10 years and he had her for a few years before us, plus the time she was in the wild. she has been living her life in an aquarium about 5 feet long and about 3 feet tall and 1.5 foot wide, approximately. she eats f/t every 2 weeks. how long would you guys say she has left. we hate to lose her but were just wondering. thanks.
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1.0.0 bearded dragon
1.1.0 green iguana
0.0.1 black and gold tegu
1.0.0 knight anole
0.1.0 green anole
1.1.0 golden gecko
1.0.0 ball python
0.0.5 oriental firebellied toad
0.0.1 green treefrog
0.0.1 barking treefrog
0.0.1 cuban masked treefrog
0.0.1 gray treefrog
0.1.0 gulf hammock rat snake
0.1.0 eastern kingsnake
0.1.0 siberian husky

I've read that Kingsnakes can Live on average 15-25yrs in captivity if properly cared for... additionally a female that has never bred or breeds less (every other yr.) will also live longer.

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Thanx
Royal Blue Reptilez
Bklyn's Finest Brooksi & Goini Fanatic
~ZF

The original male albino Cal king lived 33 yrs in captivity after being caught as an adult.

I have had many females of various lampropeltis species, hatch, multiclutch and continue to muticlutch for 15 yrs, then slow down and live another ten yrs. After the 15 yrs of continuious breeding they became inconsistant, that is, missing a year here and there. This indicates that if supported, they can easily pass 25 years in captivity, regardless of heavy reproduction.

The above is not heresay or someone elses information, it occured here with us.

With wild colubrid snakes, ten years seems to be about it, on average. Possibly the same for rattlesnakes, but some individuals have lasted longer.

Because of the vast numbers of wild reptiles, the possibility of extreme longevity is there.

Also, no offensive to the original poster, but clearly there needs to be a difference made between functional longevity(ones who experience life events) and individuals who are under metabolized, unfunctional longevity. Like the example mentioned. And individual that is fed every two weeks cannot be functioning at anything but a very low level of metobolism. Another example, Bill Wooden, of woodeni fame, had a yuma morph king for 35 yrs, he kept it in a tank in the closet and fed it eight times a year. It died at two feet in lenght. That really cannot be defined as life. Life is often defined as what sum of what you experience, not how long your heart beats. Just something to think about.

Life events= birth, growth, recruit, socialize, old age, death. And all the experiences those catagories intail.

Please understand, its not to judge, only to offer thought.

Z indicated that snakes that experience reproduction, may live shorter lifes. But entertain the thought, reproduction is their main goal in life. To recruit is to exsist. Cheers FR

Nice post Frank. I have had this topic come up in discussion before and some fail to realize the components of what constitutes actual life for a snake. Phil

They can live up into their 20's with I think 30+ is the record. Its all in the level of care but then again not all animals are destined to live long lives not matter the care. I have a 20 year old Eastern King and he is a NJ Eastern as well, Ive only had him for the last 4 years though (im the 4th owner!). Do you have pics of your Eastern ? I love the NJ Easterns and it would be great to see what she looks like ? Here is my old guy....

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she used to look like that, she is quite old tho and is getting duller, her bands are more yellow and her scales are actually getting "wrinkly" for lack of a better word. we used to feed every month when she was eating live and in winter but during the summer she is eating more. i really dont see why thats a problem. she is the most docile snake i have ever seen tho. she has never bitten anyone and ive never seen ANY signs of aggresion. i was just asking a simple question tho, how long, not really quality of life, which i think is good. she has heat, humidity, food, hides, plants, and a cage i could fit in. i would classify her has a happy animal.
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1.0.0 bearded dragon
1.1.0 green iguana
0.0.1 black and gold tegu
1.0.0 knight anole
0.1.0 green anole
1.1.0 golden gecko
1.0.0 ball python
0.0.5 oriental firebellied toad
0.0.1 green treefrog
0.0.1 barking treefrog
0.0.1 cuban masked treefrog
0.0.1 gray treefrog
0.1.0 gulf hammock rat snake
0.1.0 eastern kingsnake
0.1.0 siberian husky

It depends. (The correct answer to most questions.)

Under "optimal" conditions, Kings can live 30 years. 25 or so is relatively easy with good care. One specimen that seems to be the current record holder that lived just over 33.

But this all presumes that your snake has no parasites leftover from the wild days.

Assuming that there are no parasite problems, and that the snake lived 5 years of less in the wild before capture, and that your friends had it 5-10 years after capture, I'd say that your snake will likely live about 10 more years.

But - many individuals defy the rules. Don't give it tap water, instead give it distilled or filtered water, feed live food and exercise out-of-cage often and yours could break the longevity record...

I randomly spot-check animals in my collection each year and i'm always surprised to find one or two with an internal parasite of some kind or another. (these are all captive bred animals). It's clear some are being vectored in the the food items. So an animal can be "clean" from the wild influences, and still have parasites introduced in captivity.

It also seems more likely the vectors would be live rodents rather than frozen/thawed. Apart from that difference, what do you see as the advantage of feeding live? I always figure that in addition to the risk of disease/parasites, a live rodent of the wrong size (like mice of hopper to adult size) can harm a snake if all goes wrong, but a frozen/thawed rodent of the same body mass can't. So I feed as many of mine as possible on frozen.

terry

>>It depends. (The correct answer to most questions.)
>>
>>Under "optimal" conditions, Kings can live 30 years. 25 or so is relatively easy with good care. One specimen that seems to be the current record holder that lived just over 33.
>>
>>But this all presumes that your snake has no parasites leftover from the wild days.
>>
>>Assuming that there are no parasite problems, and that the snake lived 5 years of less in the wild before capture, and that your friends had it 5-10 years after capture, I'd say that your snake will likely live about 10 more years.
>>
>>But - many individuals defy the rules. Don't give it tap water, instead give it distilled or filtered water, feed live food and exercise out-of-cage often and yours could break the longevity record...

Tap water may have been a concern 50 years ago but today it is better than bottled water. This is really a non issue. Organic farming is not the answer to longevity, for snakes either. Similar to humans, I would put caloric intake and nutrition as one of the major unrecognized problems with captive husbandry.

>>It depends. (The correct answer to most questions.)
>>
>>Under "optimal" conditions, Kings can live 30 years. 25 or so is relatively easy with good care. One specimen that seems to be the current record holder that lived just over 33.
>>
>>But this all presumes that your snake has no parasites leftover from the wild days.
>>
>>Assuming that there are no parasite problems, and that the snake lived 5 years of less in the wild before capture, and that your friends had it 5-10 years after capture, I'd say that your snake will likely live about 10 more years.
>>
>>But - many individuals defy the rules. Don't give it tap water, instead give it distilled or filtered water, feed live food and exercise out-of-cage often and yours could break the longevity record...
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Rick Staub
R&R Reptiles