Posted by:
toddbecker
at Mon Apr 6 14:45:30 2009 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by toddbecker ]
I have kept burmese off and on for over 20 years and they were always my snake of choice so i would have to say that they have always been my favorite. As far as average lengths in captive specimens, my best guestimate would be around 14-15 foot and around 75-100 pounds for a male. 17-20 for a female and between 150 and 200 pounds for a big adult female. In my opinion, captive snakes of all species will regularly grow much longer on average then that of its wild kin. In the wild snakes do not eat on a regular schedule and therefore there growth rate varies a lot depending on the time of the year. In captivity, a snake gets fed regularly and on a set schedule and therefore their growth rate is much more consistent.
I do believe that they continue to grow throughout there entire lives but usually after about three years their growth slows incredibly. They do not get length nearly as fast but will continue to get weight and girth. This is where I think HH is right on point. Once a snake has reached maturity and the growth has begun to slow(length) considerably, I feel it is important to slow down their feeding to about once every three weeks to once a month. They do not need to be fed every week or even every two weeks and to do so will just creat a fat unhealthy snake. Take a look at "Baby", the world record holder for the largest snake. When she died I believe she was 27' and wieghed over 400 pounds. She was truely a giant but she was incredibly obese and in my opinion suffered tremondously from what is commonly referred to as "pinhead." This is where the snakes body grows faster then its head and you end up with a huge snake with a dispropotionate size head. Easily avoided if properly fed and maintained. Just my opinion on every thing stated above. Todd
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RE: 6 foot burm growth rate? - toddbecker, Mon Apr 6 14:45:30 2009