30 Years of Reptiles - First Boa

[bigsnakegirl785]

I don't think limiting food will keep your snake smaller, just smaller for longer. It will eventually reach the size it was meant to reach.

[eminart]

Originally Posted by bigsnakegirl785

I don't think limiting food will keep your snake smaller, just smaller for longer. It will eventually reach the size it was meant to reach.

This is actually an interesting topic for which there isn't a whole lot of real information. I've tried researching this in the past, but the only information I could really find was the opinions of long-time breeders and keepers. When I was researching, it was for the opposite reason - would a snake that hadn't been fed much during his developing years still attain maximum size?

I didn't find much, but here is my opinion. I think what you say is somewhat true, but not totally. I suspect there is a period of years where a snake will grow rapidly. For example, if a corn snake is 5 years old and 2 feet long, I don't think it will grow like a 1 year old, even if it is fed all it would eat the remainder of its life. So, I do think that feeding less in the early years will limit a snake's adult size.

[bigsnakegirl785]

Originally Posted by eminart

This is actually an interesting topic for which there isn't a whole lot of real information. I've tried researching this in the past, but the only information I could really find was the opinions of long-time breeders and keepers. When I was researching, it was for the opposite reason - would a snake that hadn't been fed much during his developing years still attain maximum size?

I didn't find much, but here is my opinion. I think what you say is somewhat true, but not totally. I suspect there is a period of years where a snake will grow rapidly. For example, if a corn snake is 5 years old and 2 feet long, I don't think it will grow like a 1 year old, even if it is fed all it would eat the remainder of its life. So, I do think that feeding less in the early years will limit a snake's adult size.

There have been people who rescued 7-9 year old snakes that were stunted, and attained a massive growth spurt in their care with proper nutrition. I unfortunately don't know any key words, but there have been at least a couple rescue stories I've read on forums where the older snakes that normally would be long past their growth stages going through massive growth spurts like a younger snake.

It's been awhile, so I may be missing some pieces of information, but that's the general idea.

[eminart]

Originally Posted by bigsnakegirl785

There have been people who rescued 7-9 year old snakes that were stunted, and attained a massive growth spurt in their care with proper nutrition. I unfortunately don't know any key words, but there have been at least a couple rescue stories I've read on forums where the older snakes that normally would be long past their growth stages going through massive growth spurts like a younger snake.

It's been awhile, so I may be missing some pieces of information, but that's the general idea.

You may be right, but, like I said, I wasn't able to find much actual scientific info on the subject. I've heard stories that are the exact opposite of yours. So, who knows. At any rate, even if I wanted him to be the largest BCI known to man, I'd still want to grow him slowly. That seems to be the recommendation of the boa experts.

[bigsnakegirl785]

Originally Posted by eminart

You may be right, but, like I said, I wasn't able to find much actual scientific info on the subject. I've heard stories that are the exact opposite of yours. So, who knows. At any rate, even if I wanted him to be the largest BCI known to man, I'd still want to grow him slowly. That seems to be the recommendation of the boa experts.

Indeed! Slower growth is healthier growth. Sometimes they grow faster despite your efforts, though. haha Once he gets into his second year you should notice more growth. They grow more during the period between 1 and 2 years of age, and their feeding schedules (the amount of time between meals) should taper off with age, too.

Unfortunately, snakes are a highly under-studied group of animals, and with their longevity things like if they will put on a growth spurt after being stunted, or if less food during their growing years will keep them small, etc. could take a very long time to find out. So most of our knowledge comes from breeders and fellow keepers, however unscientific until more scientific studies are done.