62 year old BP in ST Louis Zoo Lays a Clutch Without Male Help

Thought this news article was pretty interesting and bring all sorts of questions. Apparently a 62 year BP produced a clutch without being near a male in the least two decades. Also I wonder what kind of BP that is because she doesn't look like a Normal.

https://apnews.com/1b6262dfb39d2d7d7437534080b1748e

62! Yikes, I only really planned for 30-40 year lifespans with my snakes tbh, I need to start training my niece in just in case.

That’s insane. That means I probably saw that same snake on exhibit at some point growing up as a kid as I lived outside of Stl as a child. Obviously little sign of her slowing down much either!


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To my knowledge, the previous record lifespan for a snake was 47 years (also a BP)...62 YEARS!? :O That's amazing! I'm curious to know the rest of the story...did she
actually lay eggs fertilized over 20 years ago? My Florida rat snakes "ladies" keep on laying eggs (some viable) every year, but it's been over 10 years since I got them at
age 1.5 years...the only time they might have been near their brothers was before then with their original owner, which means they'd have been quite immature to mate,
& then to have retained that for this long...? It all boggles my poor brain. :rolleye2: Snakes are amazing creatures, whatever the answers. :snake::snake::snake:

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

To my knowledge, the previous record lifespan for a snake was 47 years (also a BP)...62 YEARS!? :O That's amazing! I'm curious to know the rest of the story...did she
actually lay eggs fertilized over 20 years ago? My Florida rat snakes "ladies" keep on laying eggs (some viable) every year, but it's been over 10 years since I got them at
age 1.5 years...the only time they might have been near their brothers was before then with their original owner, which means they'd have been quite immature to mate,
& then to have retained that for this long...? It all boggles my poor brain. :rolleye2: Snakes are amazing creatures, whatever the answers. :snake::snake::snake:

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Crested geckos are like this too, retaining semen for long periods of time and then laying fertilized eggs later. Now I don't know about 20 years like this BP lol, but it's amazing to me what reptiles in general can do.

According to the article they did genetic sampling on two eggs to find out whether the eggs were reproduced sexually or asexually.

The age of her is absolutely amazing and scares me a little bit... This is another reason why we need to rein in the breeding in our hobby.

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Originally Posted by Mr. Misha

According to the article they did genetic sampling on two eggs to find out whether the eggs were reproduced sexually or asexually.

The age of her is absolutely amazing and scares me a little bit... This is another reason why we need to rein in the breeding in our hobby.

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Exactly, and this is obviously a rare case, but it shows people how long lived these animals are. You run into iisues in the bird community, people buy birds that live 30+ years and end up giving them away because they weren't ready for that commitment.

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Originally Posted by Hugsplox

Exactly, and this is obviously a rare case, but it shows people how long lived these animals are. You run into iisues in the bird community, people buy birds that live 30+ years and end up giving them away because they weren't ready for that commitment.

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30+ years? Try 80+. I have an elderly neighbor who has an umbrella cockatoo and the poor guy's been traded around between several people already and from what I remember he's not even halfway through his natural lifespan, and will most certainly outlive his current owners. The neighbor's tried to talk me into taking him in (as I already have birds myself, a green cheek conure and a flock of chickens) but I know better than to take on an animal that's beyond my capabilities. So who knows where he'll end up in a few years.

Quite sad... :(

Looks like a cinnamon right? Were those even around 62 years ago?

Honestly just looks like a 62yr old wild phenotype that just went through labor as an incredibly geriatric animal photographed in terrible lighting.


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Originally Posted by jmcrook

Honestly just looks like a 62yr old wild phenotype that just went through labor as an incredibly geriatric animal photographed in terrible lighting.


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I'm not at all good at BP morphs but that's what I thought too...thanks. Not that we've ever SEEN a 62 year old BP...:D

I've been following this story a bit (kinda waiting to hear the results on the genetic testing) and I think this particular reporter got the info wrong. The first story I saw out of the zoo said that they'd verified her age as 50 years. Still absolutely incredible, and I so strongly agree that it presents one more argument against the current trend of "I own a BP, therefore I want to breed BP".

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Originally Posted by Caitlin

I've been following this story a bit (kinda waiting to hear the results on the genetic testing) and I think this particular reporter got the info wrong. The first story I saw out of the zoo said that they'd verified her age as 50 years. Still absolutely incredible, and I so strongly agree that it presents one more argument against the current trend of "I own a BP, therefore I want to breed BP".

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I've been wondering about the age too...it's quite a jump from the previous record of 47 years.

Totally agree about over-breeding too. And it's hard to find the "off switch".

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Originally Posted by Caitlin

The first story I saw out of the zoo said that they'd verified her age as 50 years.

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You're absolutely right. I found the original article/post and it verifies the BP to be over 50 years old. Link below:

https://m.facebook.com/stlzoo/posts/10157961578532917

It would be great if someone can reach out to the zoo via FB (since I personally don't have one) and ask if they have an exact age for her.



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The article says the zoo was given the snake in 1961 so that's almost 60 years if that part is accurate.

Snakes to get swapped around and mixed up though ..plus I’m thinking that over the years I bet the odd employee put it in another viv for a day or so when they were cleaning or changing vivs around ..


A few years ago I saw a pet store tank that had a young Royal and a young Boa both with their heads popping out of the SAME hide ...

When I mentioned it to the girl she just smiled and said she put them together to clean up their vivs and they ‘seemed’ to get on .. ‘ - she added that they both like the same temps so they’ll be fine ...





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WOW, I remember when a boa over 40 was the world record holder. But over 60, that's truly amazing!!!!! Time to re-do my estate planning

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Originally Posted by viper69

WOW, I remember when a boa over 40 was the world record holder. But over 60, that's truly amazing!!!!! Time to re-do my estate planning

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I’m still not convinced... unless they can prove it somehow.. blood tests ..

I’m even wondering if it’s a publicity stunt ... just to get more public awareness of the place ??

It’s one thing laying a batch despite not being paired up ... then to be a reported 62 years old but to be both at the same time .. I’m not even sure I’ve heard of too many laying batches after 15 years never mind 62 ...


So many strange facets to this story make me suspicious ..


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Originally Posted by Snagrio

30+ years? Try 80+. I have an elderly neighbor who has an umbrella cockatoo and the poor guy's been traded around between several people already and from what I remember he's not even halfway through his natural lifespan, and will most certainly outlive his current owners. The neighbor's tried to talk me into taking him in (as I already have birds myself, a green cheek conure and a flock of chickens) but I know better than to take on an animal that's beyond my capabilities. So who knows where he'll end up in a few years.

Quite sad... :(

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Right! I got a green cheek myself a little over a year ago, and unless something happens to me, I'll outlive her (again hopefully lol) so I'll never have to worry if someone else is going to take care of her like I have. I think pet stores need to do a better job explaining to folks that, hey this bird/snake is going to out live you. You need to have a plan.