snake's age! ....

[snakems]

If by theory you mean a testable and tested concept, then yes, it is "just" a theory.

ooo.... sarcastic with the not so knowledgable snake challenged members I see

[snakems]

I think you need a dead snake to test it on though!

yes that's what I am saying. I know nothing about it but I wouldnt imagine you could figure this out on a live snake.
but of COURSE i could be completely wrong.

[snakems]

**couldnt**

[Stefan-A]

ooo.... sarcastic with the not so knowledgable snake challenged members I see

No, I just dislike the phrase "just a theory". A lot.

[snakems]

well I wasnt intending to belittle the definition of "theory" by saying "just a theory"
im sorry, I just meant in comparison to a fact, which at that moment given the little info and first mention I had ever heard about it before, I wasnt so sure about what exactly it was you had posted.

[adamanteus]

It's unfortunate that the various natural factors governing the growth rate of a snake, such as availability of food, type of food, weather and who knows what else, make it almost impossible to accurately guess the age of a wild-caught snake. There are certain indicators.... if it's a really big specimen, it's probably quite old. If it's very 'clean' and free of scars, it's probably quite young. But nothing accurate that I know of without cutting the poor thing in half and counting the rings!

[snakems]

I looked it up afterwards. Im not sure how to go about finding information on the subject that's more layman-friendly

[snakems]

It's unfortunate that the various natural factors governing the growth rate of a snake, such as availability of food, type of food, weather and who knows what else, make it almost impossible to accurately guess the age of a wild-caught snake. There are certain indicators.... if it's a really big specimen, it's probably quite old. If it's very 'clean' and free of scars, it's probably quite young. But nothing accurate that I know of without cutting the poor thing in half and counting the rings!

yeah
so sad lol .... I guess I will never know.

[Stefan-A]

Abstract: Individual and population-specific patterns of growth, and variations in these patterns, can be determined if the age
of individuals is known; this allows the dynamics of populations to be more accurately modelled and projected into the future
and provides a better understanding of the life history. Besides contributing to our understanding of the fundamental
ecological issue of limitation of distribution and abundance, such knowledge is critical to management or conservation plans
for many species. Skeletochronology, the reading of growth layers in bony structures, has been used extensively to determine
the age of individual fish and, to a lesser extent, of reptiles and amphibians. This study evaluates the use of skeletochronology
to determine the age of garter snakes (Thamnophis spp.), with emphasis on the development of techniques that allow the
sampling of bone structures from live animals. Layers were observed in the caudal vertebrae of two species of garter snakes,
using standard histological techniques, and were consistent in number within individual snakes, with some variability. The
validity of growth layers as an indicator of age was established using snakes raised in the laboratory under differing
hibernation regimes. Skeletochronology has the potential to be an important and useful technique for the study of age in
snakes, but is very labour-intensive and is best used as part of a large, long-term project.

But no, I don't recommend it. I did reply to James, who probably got the joke.

[adamanteus]

I'd rather just guess!