Quote:
Originally Posted by VexalUntil
Nice comparison shot Gus.
Another factor of size besides locality at certain ages is the consistency and size of prey items. A neonate snake fed once a week on fuzzy mice is going to be smaller than a litter mate fed twice a week on the same size prey. Additionally another litter mate fed once a week on small adult mice will be considerably larger than the other two.
Young snakes grow depending on how often you feed them and the size of the prey item(s). Until they mature in which case they grow more when you don't feed them.
As in Ratsicles post, I am willing to bet one of two senarios. 1) The smaller snake ate less often than the other two. 2) the smaller snake was fed smaller meals because of it's smaller size and the largest was switched to either bigger prey items or offered additional meals because of its larger size.
|
.
Thanks..
.
Certainly the size of prey and frequency of feeding determines growth, along with temperature and more.
.
Consider that those boas are all very young in those images and at that age their relative size and mass is more about them being individuals than any feeding regimen... it would not be possible to feed each the same size meal as the largest one can handle nor reasonable to feed the largest boa what the smalest gets. And they each would not digest a meal at the same rate even if they were all fed the exact same prey.
.
The adult size of many locales of boas in captivity is much more the same than would be seen in nature. But even if fed as much as possible to get them as large as possible as quickly as possible (a mistake in my opinion) neither the Caulker Cay boa or the Hog island would ultimately be nearly as large or as massive as the Peru redtail.
.
Not all boas are born the same size and not all develop the same. They are enough the same that they'll live ok kept pretty much like any boa. If as keepers we can see the differences and supply more individual care we'll get the best results.
.
That's 1,2,3 and maybe more. (I wasn't counting)
.
Thanks for joining in.
.
