Age of Garters

[Snakeknot]

I was lead to believe from all the info out there that corn snakes live around 20 years. Now from my visit with my new, wonderful herp vet, he said that corns can live up to 30! You mean my snake can live as long as my horse? COOL!

What about garters? I've been told they live 15 years. Is this wrong? Who has a really long lived garter out there and does anyone know the record???

Also, is there any way to tell a snake's age??? I bought Draco as an adult. I believe him to be a young snake but I really don't know. ( I guess you can't read their teeth like horses! ) Do their scales have rings???? ( I expect snickers to this last one guys! )

Devon

[drache]

as far as I know there's no method to ascertain their age - just guesswork

[gregmonsta]

Unless you have the d.o.b it will just be guesswork I'm afraid. My first two ribbons lived for 10years and were a few months old when I got them.

[guidofatherof5]

Like Greg said. It's just a guessing game without a DOB. Then you compound the issue if it's a wild caught snake.
The wild is much harder on them than the good life. I used to try and judge age by size but that just doesn't work on wild caught snakes.
They grow so much slower in the wild, in my opinion.

[infernalis]

They grow so much slower in the wild, in my opinion.

Sometimes yes sometimes no Steve, In the wild it's all about survival of the fittest, get as big as you can by winter....

So many wild babies will power feed in an attempt to put on as much size as they possibly can by winter.

Some of us, (myself included) pace the feeding a bit since I never brumate babies.

[guidofatherof5]

Sometimes yes sometimes no Steve, In the wild it's all about survival of the fittest, get as big as you can by winter....

So many wild babies will power feed in an attempt to put on as much size as they possibly can by winter.

Some of us, (myself included) pace the feeding a bit since I never brumate babies.

I should have clarified my statement. What I ment was that a smaller adult in the wild may be much older than a much larger size captive breed snake. A few of my wild caught radixes that have died from what appears to be old age were always smaller than many of the captive bred snakes I have.

[jitami]

I'm curious about this as well. I'm fairly certain Sly is approaching 9 years old (wild caught in March of 2002 as a little guy, but likely not a neonate). Hoping for a nice looooong lifespan ;)

[ssssnakeluvr]

I had a wandering that was a large adult when she was caught and had her for 9 years.

[Snakeknot]

I am AMAZED by the size of most captive bred garters I've been seeing. I'm used to seeing garters one size in the wild then I see pictures of people with their captive bred garters and they look HUGE! Much bigger than I expected a garter to ever get. I guess some of the captive breds really like their mom and dad's "cooking"!

Devon

[guidofatherof5]

I am AMAZED by the size of most captive bred garters I've been seeing. I'm used to seeing garters one size in the wild then I see pictures of people with their captive bred garters and they look HUGE! Much bigger than I expected a garter to ever get. I guess some of the captive breds really like their mom and dad's "cooking"!

Devon

It's the good life for them. Optimum heat, shelter, water, food, health care and bodyguards.
All they have to do is sit back and grow.:D

[ConcinusMan]

I've seen populations of concinnus feeding on fingerlings at a fish hatchery and they were all gigantic (3-4 feet) and fat. Steve has a point. In most natural conditions, I find they are usually about 2 feet on average. So yeah, size is no indication of age.

Skipping brumation and good feeding can make them big at a young age. I preferred to keep my last WC concinnus at a natural growth rate. They didn't get pampered and only occasionally was the winter rest skipped. They were about 10 inches when I caught them. They grew rather slowly compared to most CB snakes once they reached about 2 feet, but the male lived to be 18, the female was nearly 21 and they were close to 4 feet long. In the last couple of years, you could tell they were old, it showed. In most cases and (garter) species you can probably expect 10-15 years of age in captivity but varies. sirtalis are usually longer lived than say, ordinoides.

Young snakes grow fast but once they reach adult age, pushing for maximum size asap has a high potential of shortening their lives in my opinion.

[ae88weaver]

Hi I just registered and have no idea how to post anything or make a bulletin about the questions I have.. Can someone help me?

[Stefan-A]

Hi I just registered and have no idea how to post anything or make a bulletin about the questions I have.. Can someone help me?
The first posts by a new member have to be approved by a moderator before they show up.

[Odie]

Hi, from Oregon, ae88weaver :)