Aging Snakes?

[Yvette]

Is there a way to tell if a snake is old? Like dogs get grey & slow.
I have a Desert King Snake who's about to become 11 yrs. old.
Is that old for a snake? I have alway wondered that.
How old is too old in snakes?

[Ophiuchus]

I don't think there's really any way to tell a snakes age, especially once they've reached adulthood. I mean, common sense might tell us that a larger snake is probably older than a smaller one, but thats not always the case. Like people, every individual in a particular species has different growth rates and whatnot. Some snakes have "big" genes and will get very large, while others may never reach the "average" accepted size for that species.

And also, there's not really characteristics that define the "senior years" of snakes, unlike many mammals who start getting white/grey hair.

11 yrs is probably the "peak" of adulthood for most colubrids, which average around 20-something yrs old. So your kingsnake is definitely no baby anymore, but he shouldn't be at deaths door or anything either.

I'm not sure what you mean by asking "how old is too old". Do you mean, when are they too old to breed?

[_Venom_]

Probably means too old to be handled and active/strong.

[Lexcorn]

Nope, I would say that 11 years is not old for a King Snake.

I own an Okeetee Corn who is now 17 years of age & he is still in good shape & rather interested in the ladies!

That's the difficulty with determining the age of any snake that you have not either bought as a hatchling or bred yourself, how do you know the actual age?

Some indicators are a reduced capability to produce fertile eggs, however, you are not specific if your enquiry is with reference to breeding.

Lex