Some people are scared of snakes and will panic if they spot one in their backyard, while others see them as a popular pet to keep in the home. But, whether you keep snakes as a pet or are just interested in snakes, you may be wondering, how long do snakes live?
This guide covers the average life cycle of snakes, what factors affect their lifespan, and the lifespan of different snake species. A snake can live as short as two years or as long as 18 years, depending on its conditions and their specie. Let’s take a closer look.
Snakes start from soft eggs but soon grow into an adult, eating prey of different sizes depending on their own size. Their life cycle is versatile because it depends on the snake species, so there is no fixed time to say how long it takes a snake to become an adult.
Female snakes can lay between 5 to 20 eggs in every breeding season, and the time for this season depends on the species and the weather conditions.
It’s important to note that some snakes can give birth to live babies rather than laying them as eggs.
The female snake will protect her eggs after laying them until they hatch at the end of the season. The snake species will determine how long they remain eggs before hatching, from weeks to months. During this time, predators eat many eggs since the snakes can’t do anything to protect themselves.
The little snake simply wriggles out of the eggshell using its body and breaks it with its teeth. A snake’s eggshell is soft and grows as the snake incubates. Immediately a snake comes out, they move around without assistance and can even eat life prey immediately.
Juvenile snakes shed their skin more than adult snakes will.
They will feed themselves and shed their skin many times and remain in this part of the cycle for between a year to five years.
When a snake reaches sexual maturity, it is considered an adult. This can be when they are between 18 months and four years of age, depending mainly on the snake species and how much care it receives as a pet or in the wild. Some adult snakes can live for over a decade, especially those in captivity. For instance, there is a ball python snake that lived up to 60 years Trusted Source www.bbc.com and was still laying eggs. If you have a pet snake, you can help it live longer by considering the factors affecting its longevity in the first place.
With that said, how long do pet snakes live?
Pet snakes can live up to 16-18 years in captivity, and at least 2 years, depending on the species.
Most snakes tend to live for a long time, but if you’re getting a snake as a pet, you should research the type you are buying to know its specific lifespan and condition.
Most pet snakes will live longer than those in the wild, having double the lifespan, because they receive better care and attention. They also don’t have to worry about predators while living in their tank. A pet owner can extend their snake’s lifespan to more than 18 years, depending on how much they take care of them.
A snake should be in a clean enclosure and well-fed. It should also live in the right temperature and humidity, especially when shedding.
Avoid overfeeding your snake and give it the right diet including things that snakes eat in the wild like the Strive Frozen Mice.
Since your snake will live long, it’s important to note that adopting a pet snake is a lot of work and takes a long commitment.
Snakes can be killed by birds of prey, raccoons, cats, and predatory animals. Plus, humans aren’t friendly to them trying to find out how to get rid of snakes, so they face death whenever they approach populated areas or roadways. If you are looking for a way to protect yourself from snakes when in the wild, the best snake gaiters can be an excellent choice.
The main reason a snake in the wild cannot live as long as that in captivity is predation, as they are faced by many other predators even while they hunt.
Aside from predation, snakes that are sick in the wild have no access to medical care, unlike those that are kept as pets. Compared to the common cold for a human, something as simple as a respiratory infection can be treated at the vet, but snakes living in the wild die from it.
Some snakes in the wild don’t have any success in hunting food for a long time, whether because of old age or the environment they are in. Lack of food in the wild causes snakes to die after becoming too weak to hunt. This is unlike the captured snakes that have their food brought to them.
There is such a wide range of answers to “how long do snakes live?” Different factors affect snakes’ lifespan, and depending on how they are taken care of, they can live long or die early. Whether it’s a pet snake or a wild snake, these factors will affect their lifespan.
When snakes undergo stress, they are likely to die from diseases at a young age.
Snakes are susceptible to stress, whether caused by hunting, heat, being hunted and almost being eaten, or loud noises.
When this happens, they quickly get sick, and this causes them to die early. There are just some snakes that get sick regularly, too or have a weak immune system. It’s hard for snakes like this to live long.
The type of snake you are looking at also determines how long it will live. Snakes come in a wide range of species and types. For instance, if you ask “how long do corn snakes live?” The answer will be between 12 to 18 years in captivity, but on the other hand, the ball python snake lives over 30 years in captivity. This is why you should specifically check the specie of snake you are buying.
Even if snakes digest their food slowly, they need to eat regularly to survive. If you want your pet snake to live as long as possible you should first check “what do snakes eat?” How often a snake needs to eat depends on its size and age. If you have a pet snake, the MiceDirect will be an excellent addition to your snake’s diet.
The quality of the habitat where the snake is living also affects its lifespan. If the snake lives in a place that offers optimal temperature, substrate, and humidity, it will live much longer than if it does not have a good environment.
As mentioned earlier, when looking for the answer to “how long do snakes live”, you should consider that there are different types of species out there. You might be curious about their specific lifespans, especially if you’re planning to take one as a pet. Let’s look closely at how long these snakes live.
The popular corn snake Trusted Source Corn snake | Smithsonian's National Zoo Corn snakes are slender, orange or brownish-yellow snakes with a pattern of large, red blotches down their backs. They are most abundant in Florida and throughout the southeastern U.S. nationalzoo.si.edu can live up to seven years in the wild, depending on its conditions. But, how long do corn snakes live in captivity? The answer is between 12 to 18 years. This is much longer than it would have if it was in the wild, and you can prolong this by taking good care of it.
A corn snake can be differentiated from other snakes by its stripes and pattern. They have a stripe from the back of their eye. There is also a large black and white checkerboard design on its belly. It is sometimes called a red rat snake, with an orange, gray, reddish, or brownish dorsal side.
These snakes can live between two and four years in the wild, as their small size makes them die earlier. But, they will live longer if kept as a pet.
A garter can snake can be easily identified by its pattern of yellow straps, with a black, green, or brown body. They are good to have around in gardens that deal with pest control and can be easily taken care of as a pet. You can choose between a common garter snake or an eastern garter snake.
Some species include the cottonmouth, ring-necked snake, black swamp snake, or eastern rat snake. The eastern rat snake can live between 10 and 15 years, but the cottonmouth is limited to 10 years, and this is in exceptional cases.
Another type of black snake that you might see in the wild is a melanistic snake, which are snakes that produce excess melanin, leading to its black color. They stand out from predators and will quickly die young.
Another type of snake that you can keep as your pet or see in the wild is the milk snake Trusted Source Eastern Milksnake Red Milksnake; Red Milk Snake | MDC Teacher Portal One of Missouri’s most beautifully colored snakes, the harmless eastern milksnake often is misidentified as the venomous coralsnake, which is not found in Missouri. education.mdc.mo.gov . The milk snake lives between 7 and 10 years in the wild, but it can live as old as 13 to 18 years when kept as a pet. These snakes are not venomous and come in different colors and patterns.
A popular snake mostly kept as a pet is the king snake, which has a similar lifespan to the milk snake. It can live between 7 and 10 years in the wild, extending to 13 – 18 years in captivity.
The king snake got their name from the fact that they hunt and eat other snakes. The king snake can also eat a venomous rattlesnake without dying, as it has enzymes that break down the venom.
The ball python is one of the most popular species in the world and will live for a long time too. In the wild, the lifespan is between 5 and 10 years, but it grows tremendously in captivity. It can lie over 30 years and older.
Boa constrictors probably live the longest among all the other snake species mentioned above. In the wild, they can survive for up to 20 years because of their size and few natural predators. When in captivity, they can live for over 40 years instead.
With this guide on “how long do snakes live”, you now know the expected lifespan of your pet snake compared to those in the wild and how you can prolong it. Snakes are long-term pets as long as they are taken care of properly, and some live for over 40 years. Take care of your snake to prolong its life as much as possible.
