Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Welcome to kingsnake.com's message board system. Here you may share and discuss information with others about your favorite reptile and amphibian related topics such as care and feeding, caging requirements, permits and licenses, and more. Launched in 1997, the kingsnake.com message board system is one of the oldest and largest systems on the internet.

Click here to visit Classifieds
Click for ZooMed
Click here for Dragon Serpents

Max length for Northern Pines

Steve G May 18, 2003 06:14 PM

What is everyones experience with the maximum length for captive raised Northern Pines? I just measured my '99 male at 7'9". I believe that I saw a pic of a monster in a Reptiles magazine a while back. Has anyone seen these guys going over 9 feet in captivity? There is no doubt that mine will exceed 8 feet before he sees pine snake heaven.

Replies (9)

birddog5151 May 18, 2003 07:25 PM

Is that length or height??? Sorry, a little humor. That's surely close to a record????

Mike

Alan Garry May 18, 2003 11:30 PM

I have a male that is just over 8'. It took him 6 years to reach the length yours is now. I heard once from a reliable source about a CB pair where each snake was 8'8", but don't know how old the snakes were at that time.

kottonmouth May 19, 2003 12:33 AM

.

gila7150 May 19, 2003 08:58 AM

Steve,
According to the Peterson Field Guide, the record length for these guys is 83" (and it says average is 48-66".
I have no idea if this was a captive or wild caught animal but obviously your snake is well past that record.
I was fortunate enough to see your northern in person and he's definitely the largest I've ever seen. Do you remember his approximate size as a yearling? I have a CB02 male that is already 48" and I don't power feed him at all. He's on the exact same feeding schedule as my female (every 7 days) but is growing at a much faster rate.
My theory is that it's something in your water...all of your adult pines were just massive.
Chris

gila7150 May 19, 2003 09:00 AM

I think I put a parenthesis next to a )

Steve G May 20, 2003 12:32 AM

Chris...........that male was just under 5 feet his first year. Also keep in mind that I did not brumate him his first 2 winters. His first chillin' was winter of 01-02 for his first breeding the following spring. You have to throw the "field guide" records out the window when dealing with captive raised snakes. I have heard of more than one eastern Indigo that has attained a length of over 10 feet. Perhaps all the minerals in my Palm Bay city water has something to do with it...........lol. I sure hate washing my vehicles with it. You've got to be quick to get those water spots off the glass.

tvandeventer May 19, 2003 12:43 PM

I personally took two North Carolina sibling Northern Pinesnakes to 8'1" and 8'2". I heard about the two 8'8" snakes a guy in New York had years ago. Captives do outgrow wild specimens in many cases. There's still big wild snakes out there. Shannon Brown's 9'+ Bullsnake. And an Eastern Coachwhip I got a week ago DOR in southern Mississippi. Measured nine feet long not counting the head which the vultures took. Cheers, TV

keith hillson May 20, 2003 12:33 PM

WOW ! What a beauty. What does your female(s) look like ? Whats the origin of your stock ? Ive been wanting a pair of pines but ive been looking for nice white ones like your male pictured.

Regards

Keith

gofer May 20, 2003 01:32 PM

Wow, nice looking snake Steve. I am hopefully picking up two pairs of nice Northern Pines this year. I hope mine get close to the size of yours pictured. Great pic, i'd love to see some more if you have any full body shots.
Have a good day,
Gregg F.
Gregg's RB

Site Tools