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when will a corn stop growing?

Every time a snake sheds it, has grown, weather it be a mm in lengh of a few inches. Even 20 year old corns will shed at least twice a year (I havent got a 20 year old, just going off shed patters as snakes age).
 
Hmmmm, I figured they would stop growing eventually. They shed when their skin wears out too don't they? So it's not necessarily that they have outgrown their skin. If it's true that they grow forever, why don't we have 8 ft. corns? I'm just curious. Most other creatures have a maximum growth (with a few that will be bigger or smaller within that norm), and shedding is one the way snakes get rid of old damaged skin. We loose ours all the time, so we don't shed like snakes. How come all species of snake don't have 8 or 10 ft. species. Is it because they put on more growth for longer periods in their life, or that their maximum growth period has a larger growth amount at a time.
 
My understanding is that growth slows considerably after sexual maturity. And with advanced age and slower metabolism, slows even further. But technically, snakes do "grow" their whole lives, even though the last six years of a captive specimen would be almost unmeasurable.
 
Why corns don't get 8 feet is because of there natural history. Its in the genes how big they get. The only coulbride native to north america that gets longer than 8 feet, the bull snake and that is still rare for that length. No snake will stop growing. A hatchling will shed about 1 time a month. If you get a hatchling and measure the dates and lengths of the sheds, he will shed about 1 time a month and you will have a noticable length difference without measuring. An 11 y/o corn may only shed 2-3 times a year and not 12-13 times as a hatchling. My corn shed 3 times in 2 months one time and there was a big difference in size. There may be 8 foot corns out there but to make it that size and not be caught, they must be masters in camaflage or really good imitaters like rattlers!!!!
 
I thought the record lenght was around 6ft, but i'm not sure. If it is around that lenght, it was probabley an old snake, i know 1 corn thats just over 5.5 ft long (not shed size actual lenght), but he'll be 14 years old this summer.
 
Well the record for a corn is like 6' 3" and that was a wild caught animal. The record bull snake was a bit over 8 feet and the record north american rat snake was something about 6' 6" or around there, The longest snake ever was a 33' w/c reticulated python.
 
My friend was in Florida last summer and found a wild corn that was as tall as him (and he's 6' or a smidge taller). Mind you, the big ones come from further north and this was a wild corn that had to fend for itself, so I'm sure there are bigger ones out there. I'm sure there are 7 footers out there but it's just like argueing about how big the biggest great white shark is out there...we may never know.


hehehe...just proof read this and saw I wrote 'out there' a lot...I'm easily amused tonight!
 
In Holland, there's a big corn too, I guess he's with Jelle now, he's quite big and well over 180 centimetres....but I guess Jelle or Marcel could tell more about that....

I think the reason why we don't have really big corns in captivity is because we breed them at 2 or 3 years of age....that is quite young, and actually, the snakes aren't at their full length...the breeding takes a lot of energy....so most of the times you see quite small female corns...most males stay smaller and are not fed as much as the females are fed....

i guess it's in the morphs too, I guess some morphs stay smaller then normals wildcaughts....
 
I don't think that makes sense though. In the wild, they breed whenever they feel like it. I'd be willing to bet there's a few out there breeding before they're 3. My amel male is looking for a mate right now. He's nearly four ft. long, but not even 2 yrs. old. No one told him he shouldn't be mating right now, he just wants to! 4 ft. long at less than 2 yrs. old is not small. Most breeders won't breed their females until they are at least 3/4 lb. or 300 grams. My male's almost 500 grams. Unfortunately, my female that's almost the same age as he is, is too small. She's only 174 grams, so she won't be bred (sadly for my male-he really wants her!). I don't believe that's the reason you don't see 8 ft. corns. There are plenty of posters on here with snakes that are 5 ft. or longer. I'm betting my amel will top 5 ft. when he's reached his growth, and I've got a hatchling right now that I suspect will be a pretty big girl when she matures. She's at almost 2 ft. now and she won't be 1 yr. until July. I think there's just large snakes, and one's that aren't so large.
 
I think it's just like humans. The average human height is somewhere around 5 1/2'. Most humans fall on or around that mark. Some grow taller, some not as high. A lot of it has to do with genetics, but there will still be cases where children will be noticably taller than their parents. Kind of like dwarfs giving birth to children that grow up to be at least standard height.

However, back to the origional question. I was always under the impression that snakes were continually growing. I'm fairly sure that as long as any being has food and water, it will ocntinue to grow and thrive. Humans are still growing until they die, gravity is just starting to win over their bodies, and the body can't fight anymore. Why would snakes be any different?
 
wow this is interesting, my male, scales shed this evening and i measured his shed (not the actual snake, just the skin) and he is 5 foot 11 inches, 1 inch away from 6 foot, he is a hybrid, however, im not sure if that would make a difference to his size or not, have had him since he was 3 months old and hes now 7 years old.

i have one of his offspring, named Diaga, she would be 3 years old in july and her shed last measured 3 foot 8 inches. lol.

just curious, is there a great big difference to the shed measurements and the snake measurements or is it just a little bit different?

sorry but ive never managed to measure any of my actual snakes. lol
:D
 
The shed's actually stretch quite a bit, so they aren't really an accurate assesment tool. You can go to Serpwidgets site and download the snake measurer program. It works great. I use it every month or two to track my hatchlings growth. Just take a picture of your snake next to an object of known size, then put the measurement in and start measuring your snake. It will tell you the size when you're done. Easy!
 
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