# The Lifespan of Captive Snakes



## Uromastyxman (Jan 28, 2009)

Hi all,

I have noticed in my collection that snakes after the age of 15 start noticeably to age, slow down and by 20 they seem elderly in their movements and behaviours. These are the usual standard species of Boas, Pythons and Colubrids, medium to large, four to 8 feet.

I know there are instances of much longer lived examples and I know some animals can die prematurely for various reasons. I also know that some species have shorter lifespans. But I wonder if members would be kind enough to to share their own experiences of their snakes that have not died prematurely but lived on and passed away through what might be considered a "natural life trajectory"

i would appreciate it if people did not turn this into a bun fight as I know some might decide to provoke discussion into an unnecessary argument about captive care. 

If you could say the species and lifespan I would find it useful.

thanks

Andy


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## Thrasops (Apr 15, 2008)

This has been the subject of other posts so I shall copy and update my answers from those:

I have a lot of animals over the age of 15 now (in fact a lot of my collection was purchased between 1998 and 2006 so some of them are much older than that, and I have some animals here that were purchased around 1995 too).

Age of senescence varies a lot between species, obviously. It seems to depend a lot upon their metabolism and behaviour and whether the snakes brumate or not (tropical arboreal Colubrids like Flying snakes and Bronzebacks that are active at a high rate of intensity seem to live far shorter lives than temperate Colubrids such as rat snakes and king snakes; there is a fair bit of evidence that long brumations at cold temperatures extends lifespan by a huge amount in some cases - up to 10 years in some rat snakes for example).

Senescence in snakes is quite easy to see (and very upsetting); it is accompanied by rapid loss of body tone, general slowing down, lowered ability to eat large prey and probably impaired vision or other senses. I have seen it a few times now in very old animals (such as a Dione's rat snake that lived to 25, although I have a male older than that now with no sign of slowing down yet, and a very old Japanese rat snake I own that is somewhere between 28 and 30). At this point I stop brumating them and make sure to feed them smaller, easier to manage prey items and just try to keep them comfortable - once they hit this stage they only have a year or so left usually.

In rat snakes I do not really notice this stage until after their 20s; it can occur earlier in other species.

My oldest animals at the moment are

Japanese rat snakes (_Elaphe climacophora_) - some of these are nearly 30
Russian rat snakes (_Elaphe schrenckii_) - again in their late twenties, I have others around 25.
Dione's rat snake (_Elaphe dione_) - I have a male here that has exceeded the previous record set by the female mentioned above).
Horseshoe whip snake (_Hemorrhois hippocrepis_) at 25 years old.
Corn snakes I got in 2002.
_Philodryas baroni_ from 1998 and 2002.

Worth noting as well that some pythons and boas can easily exceed 30, sadly I sold off most of those around 2010.

I've been asked why snakes live so long, I have a few theories, some are based on solid evidence and others on conjecture:

Brumate them if they would do so in the wild, there is a lot of evidence it does improve longevity. This has been shown in at least _Thamnophis_, _Notechis_ and _Crotalus_, and frankly I think it is obviously the case for most temperate species like rat snakes, and the mechanisms of things like spermatogenesis and oogenesis often rely on it. Grey rat snakes in Canada that brumate 4 months a year live on average 10 years longer than those in Maryland that do not brumate (30 years vs 20 years).

Drop night temperatures, give their metabolism a rest. Being kept consistently warm is probably not good for temperate species in the long run.

Give them room to move. Deterioration of muscle tone due to being kept in too-small enclosures is often quite obvious. You can often tell which snake has been kept in a small tub and which has been kept in a larger enclosure just by handling it.

Don't over-feed. Obesity is not a good thing for any animal, and is all too common in snakes. This links in somewhat with the above point. Little and often is better for most Colubrids in my opinion.

I'd like to say provide things like UV but in all honesty most of my snakes began in my care without being provided it, I only started providing it comprehensively to my collection around 2008-2010, so none of my longer lived animals had it before then. However it is beneficial to their health so cannot hurt and it is tied to lowered stress so I would guess it is a factor.


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## loxocemus (Sep 2, 2006)

i had a brief experience of a very old couperi, geoff clarke estimated it @22-24yrs old if i remember right, he sent it to me because he knew i had couperi and big cages. i used 6x3x2's but when i unboxed this old man i thought jesus wept this cage isn't big enough, he was enormous, just a friggin monster. his lifespan was ended due to complications after an intestinal surgery ( i had to euthanize him it was an awful experience). but if you didn't know he was ill you would think he was half his age from his appearance.

rgds
ed

ps i recently read of a US keeper that has a Spalerosophis diadema thats 26yrs old and still going, it has cataracts in both eyes, this is not uncommon in very old snakes.


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## loxocemus (Sep 2, 2006)

the Saint Louis Zoo has a female @62yr old ball python, she laid a clutch of eggs at this age despite not being with a male for 15 years, i think 3 eggs made it to term but i don't know the neonates fate. (parthogenesis was obviously assumed) (62-year-old python lays seven eggs without being near a male python for more than 15 years | You (news24.com) )

the most common cause of death in captivity, in my opinion, is obesity. i remember a lifetime ago reading about a zoo's census of its boids (or i just paid attention to the boid section) anyway the author noted the oldest snakes (inc wc origin) tended to be the thinnest snakes, sometimes to the extent of looking skinny. (I'd love to know what that 62yr regius's feeding regime was over the decades, id bet dollars to donuts it was a small/med item every 10days or so, no if ands or buts ie no preventive attention paid to refusals or fasts)

rgds
ed

ps "old age" is not a cause of death, old age causes either a disease or susceptibility to a disease, systemic or otherwise, eg simple organ failure. age itself is not a biological cause of death but rather complications caused by advanced age like a compromised immune system.


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## Elly66 (Feb 27, 2021)

Our first corn snake lived for just over 24yrs old.


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## Malc (Oct 27, 2009)

I had a 21 year old Royal that up until the point where he died having had an adverse reaction to the anti-biotics administered for an abscess that formed after taking a rat backwards was as active as he was from when I got him as a hatchling. 

I too agree that over feeding is one of the prime causes of lethargic and early death in reptiles.


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## Demonique (May 5, 2007)

loxocemus said:


> the Saint Louis Zoo has a female @62yr old ball python, she laid a clutch of eggs at this age despite not being with a male for 15 years, i think 3 eggs made it to term but i don't know the neonates fate. (parthogenesis was obviously assumed) (62-year-old python lays seven eggs without being near a male python for more than 15 years | You (news24.com) )
> 
> the most common cause of death in captivity, in my opinion, is obesity. i remember a lifetime ago reading about a zoo's census of its boids (or i just paid attention to the boid section) anyway the author noted the oldest snakes (inc wc origin) tended to be the thinnest snakes, sometimes to the extent of looking skinny. (I'd love to know what that 62yr regius's feeding regime was over the decades, id bet dollars to donuts it was a small/med item every 10days or so, no if ands or buts ie no preventive attention paid to refusals or fasts)
> 
> ...


I contacted the Saint Louis zoo last year and asked about the royal and her eggs, she was still alive and two babies hatched but one did not survive.

The royal will be 64 some time this year

Sent from my SM-A505FN using Tapatalk


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## loxocemus (Sep 2, 2006)

that's awesome, thanks for that update, do you know if they confirmed parthenogenesis or not....

64years old, its mind blowing, and worrisome, how many regius are currently in circulation...

rgds
ed



Demonique said:


> I contacted the Saint Louis zoo last year and asked about the royal and her eggs, she was still alive and two babies hatched but one did not survive.
> 
> The royal will be 64 some time this year
> 
> Sent from my SM-A505FN using Tapatalk


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## NickAB (Aug 25, 2021)

I still have a wild-caught male royal that was part of a shipment seized by HMC in the mid 1980s. I think I was asked to re-home it in 1985 or '86. It was a small adult when first received, so probably around 4-5 years old. I've had it for around 36 years, so it must be about 40 now. Like many wild-caught royals it still doesn't enjoy being handled but tolerates it. It still feeds well on warm defrosted rats provided they are moved with feeding tongs to invoke a strike and seems to be in good condition despite its age.


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