life span

[J.huff23]

Do male cornsnakes have shorter lives than females? I know this happens with tarantulas as i have plenty of those. just curious.

 

[reverendsterlin]

possibly in the wild, they do tend to ignore food during breeding season but pets are able to be fed up after breeding season.
Rev

 

[Mushroom Spore]

Tarantulas are VERY different creatures - there is very little lifespan difference with reptiles.

 

[J.huff23]

thats good. thank you.

 

[pitbulllady]

I had a male "Greenish" Rat Snake, a species closely related to Corns, that lived for 13 years in my care, and this snake was a good three feet long when I caught him, so you can probably add an additional two-four years to his age, giving that long for him to reach three feet, which would depend on how well he'd eaten during that time. I currently have a TX Bullsnake, which is also not-so-distantly related to Corns(Pituophis and N. American Elaphe/Pantherophis evolved from a recent common ancestor, according to DNA research, and can interbreed and produce fertile offspring), that I purchased, wild-caught, 16 years ago, when he was about 2 feet long. If I'm not mistaken, the record lifespan for any Colubrid snake, that can be verified, was for a male Corn Snake, which lived to the ripe old age of 25. I would think that with snakes, the stress of being gravid and laying eggs would take enough out of a FEMALE as to take a few years off her life. I know that many of my females really get dragged down, physically, by the time they produce a clutch, and the bigger the clutch, the longer it takes for them to bounce back. Most of my Colubrid females go off-feed while gravid, which is one of the first signs that a breeding "took", and I'd think that if they are allowed to breed each season, and especially if they double-clutch, it will shorten their lifespan. In the case of snakes, it would seem that the MALES have the longer natural lifespans, since they don't have as much "invested", so to speak, in reproduction.

pitbulllady

 

[crpy]

I had a male "Greenish" Rat Snake, a species closely related to Corns, that lived for 13 years in my care, and this snake was a good three feet long when I caught him, so you can probably add an additional two-four years to his age, giving that long for him to reach three feet, which would depend on how well he'd eaten during that time. I currently have a TX Bullsnake, which is also not-so-distantly related to Corns(Pituophis and N. American Elaphe/Pantherophis evolved from a recent common ancestor, according to DNA research, and can interbreed and produce fertile offspring), that I purchased, wild-caught, 16 years ago, when he was about 2 feet long. If I'm not mistaken, the record lifespan for any Colubrid snake, that can be verified, was for a male Corn Snake, which lived to the ripe old age of 25. I would think that with snakes, the stress of being gravid and laying eggs would take enough out of a FEMALE as to take a few years off her life. I know that many of my females really get dragged down, physically, by the time they produce a clutch, and the bigger the clutch, the longer it takes for them to bounce back. Most of my Colubrid females go off-feed while gravid, which is one of the first signs that a breeding "took", and I'd think that if they are allowed to breed each season, and especially if they double-clutch, it will shorten their lifespan. In the case of snakes, it would seem that the MALES have the longer natural lifespans, since they don't have as much "invested", so to speak, in reproduction.

pitbulllady

I wonder how much calcium loss from producing eggs comes into play as well. I have dusted reptile feeder mice/rats with calcium. but how many breeders dust and does it have an effect on longevity.


I dont know how much wild snakes "boost" their prey intake for egg development. Of course then there is the ovoviviparous snakes.

 

[fantasticp]

I have dusted reptile feeder mice/rats with calcium. but how many breeders dust and does it have an effect on longevity.

Wouldn't they get calcium from the mouse/rat bones? :?