Trivia Question: What song is the post title taken from?
The latest on our Burmese python adventure is that the original owner may want it back. We will find out closer to the end of the month when Willa’s cousin Bill visits. You probably think I am crazy, but if I knew that Monty was going to max out at…say eleven feet…then I would be willing to keep her (of course, I’d be crazy and single). The female Burm featured in the new SOAP movie is eighteen feet long. The second largest snake in the world, male Burmese pythons average 9 – 14 feet and females average 13 – 18 feet. Of course, we are not positive that Monty is a girl and should probably have “it” probed.
Monty shed yesterday and looks absolutely stunning. The purpose of the image on the left (click to enlarge) is not to show off her coloring, but rather to give you an idea of the her growth rate. I downloaded and installed a simple freeware program called Serpentine Widgets’ Snake Measurer. All you do is take a photo with the snake and an object. Then you mark the object, enter its length (a dollar bill is 6″ long) and then click along the center of the snake from head to tail. Right now Monty is five and a half feet long, which is a half foot longer than she was on July 24, 2006 (10% longer). Her weight is now 2,190 grams, or 4.8 pounds (28% heavier). With a those kinds of measurements you can definitely tell that Monty is quickly living up to her reputation. “Knowledge is power,” but so is size.
8 Comments
Hey is is possible to limit the size of a snake and the growth rate by say limiting their food intake… just curious.
Matt, yes you can limit growth, but you need to be careful to not do so at the risk of creating an unhealthy snake.
Scott, VERY COOL PROGRAM!!!! i SOOOO am installing that.
Matt: Yeah, stelmo is right. It’s a good question and I’m not launching into a rant at you at all (seriously…so don’t for a second think that I’m directing this at you). I know you’re just asking (and I’m glad you asked), but I have heard about big chain pet store employees who perpetuate the misinformation that underfeeding a snake is an acceptable practice. For some reason malnurishment for reptiles is okay, but no one would propose, say…underfeeding a great dane in the hopes that it’d stay small. They’d just suggest you buy a smaller dog to begin with.
If someone doesn’t want a 15-20 foot snake then both he and the snake are better off apart. Feeding a snake less then it needs to eat does stunt its growth, but not entirely. And as stelmo said it is unhealthy for the animal (i.e., making it much more susceptible to disease and infection…especially respiratory ones). It’s also likely to be pretty hornery due to being hungry all the time. Then the snake begins to become a danger to its owner or others.
btw. school house rock.
I hear what you are saying. You wouldn’t want to do that to kids either I suppose.
Correct!
As your body grows bigger
Your mind grows flowered
It’s great to learn
Cause knowledge is power!
It’s Schoolhouse Rocky
That chip off the block
Of your favourite schoolhouse
Schoolhouse Rock!
When I saw the title to this post, I thought it was another article on y’all’s new baby…..
You wouldn’t want to do that to kids either I suppose.
Hmmm. . .tempting. Sure would save buying new clothes.
Actually, my first thought when I read that comment was in regard to what the Burm might do to the kids if underfed. God has designed them to find food, and if not provided with enough, they are likely to take advantage of whatever food they can. Probably not a good proposition for Izzy.