Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My 14 month old male black milk seems exceptionally large. I know they get big as mature adults, but still seems bigger than i'd expect him to be at this age. probably because i'm use to cal kings, desert kings, and corns.

I tried to measure him last night and nearest I can tell, he's right at 42-43" long. I let him crawl in a straight line along the base of my boaphile cages and measure that way. Also, his shed skin comes in at around 48", but i know the skin stretches a little as it comes off. He's eating weanling rats every 10ish days and is not fat at all... pretty lean/dense and very strong feeling when handled.

The sibling female I have is a good 6-8 inches shorter, but just as big around. Theyve both been on the exact same feeding schedule for a year, she was just a slow start with eating on her own for her first 2 months.

Is he in the normal range? or is there a chance he'll be a monster in a few years?
-----
1.1 Argentine Boas
1.1 Dumerils Boas
1.1 Black Milk Snakes
2.3 California King Snakes
1.1 Nelsons Milk Snakes
2.2 Corn Snakes

No pictures? You know I love pictures of peoples animals… especially if they’re BM!

I’d say the female is in the more “normal” range. If memory serves me correctly my male was around 39 to 41 inches at that age… he’s just over two years and measures 53 inches. Can’t say yours will be a monster since I can only reference two other BM’s with fairly reliable growth info… he is a tad larger by a couple of inches. What I can say for certain is it sounds like you’re doing right by them.

You know there’s no way of telling just how large either of your snakes will ultimately be. I’ve mentioned this before but… my adult female Jade was the runt of the litter… the first two years I had her I gauged her against the growth chart my son made of his own two BM’s… the parents of my Jade. She didn’t compare to her parents at all, always a step behind when it came to length. Having just tried to measure her again today… she’s 6’4” and she still had a couple of kinks in her. Larger and bulkier than either of her parents but I’m sure the fact I’ve yet to breed her has a lot to do with that.

Long and short of it… sounds as if they are right on track for BM’s… maybe a little ahead with the male… be satisfied you’re doing very well by them… keep in mind though that if your male, at two years old, betters my Ed’s 53”… I may not stay so pleasant… slow him down!

Gerry

thanks for the reply, Gerry.

I was kinda thinking he was probably normal... just so much bigger than any of my corns, cal kings, and desert kings have ever been, so it kinda blows my mind. He's actually longer than my female Argentine boa that is just a month younger. Ive also got a pair of corns the same age as the black milks... these corns came from HUGE parents and have been fed as much as they wanted they past year... the black milks are still twice as big.

I'm about 3 months away from moving both black milks into their own 4X2X1ft boaphile cage so that should give them plenty of growing room.

I do need to take some pics of all of my snakes... i've got some nice looking critters. Nothing super rare or pricey, but still some quality animals that deserve to be shown off. I'll get some up fairly soon.
-----
1.1 Argentine Boas
1.1 Dumerils Boas
1.1 Black Milk Snakes
2.3 California King Snakes
1.1 Nelsons Milk Snakes
2.2 Corn Snakes

Looking forward to the pics.

The only part of your comment that matters is... "but still some quality animals that deserve to be shown off"... rare/pricey doesn't matter, it's all about having the animals that appeal to you as far as I'm concerned.

Gerry

couldn't agree more
-----
i work with tri-colored west mexican lampropeltis. some morph, some hobby, and some locale.

everyone is entitled to their options, but no one's opinion will ever change how i feel about the snakes i keep and breed.