How To Tell A Rattlesnakes Age

Very young snakes grow quickly some shed for their first time just a couple weeks after being born. However rattlers especially young ones may shed several. A rattlesnake has a distinctive tail made of hollow interlocking segments of keratin that when they rub together create the signature rattling sound.

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There is no accurate way to determine the age of a rattlesnake.

How to tell a rattlesnakes age. As the young snake grows it sheds its skin usually several times a year. If you re trying to determine the age of a rattlesnake the tail is your best clue. The tip of the tail of a new born rattlesnake ends in a smooth rounded slightly pear shaped button which is the first segment of the future rattle. The only accurate way to determine the age of a rattlesnake is by observation.

Each time a rattlesnake sheds it adds one new segment to its rattle. Rattlesnakes living in the tropics can remain active throughout the year and will shed more often than snakes in temperate areas that spend a significant portion of the year in hibernation. So counting beads is at best only a rough way of determining a snake s age. The easiest way to identify a rattlesnake is by his tail.

Only by observing the birth and growth of rattlesnakes can you tell the exact age of a specific snake but you can sometimes determine the approximate age range of some rattlesnake species by size or color. A popular myth suggests that each rattle section represents a year in the animal s life. Because of this the age of a rattlesnake is not related to the number of rattles on its tail. 1 43 44 one of the differentiating features of males and females is the males have thicker and longer tails because they contain the inverted hemipenes.

A rattlesnake cannot be aged simply by counting the number of rattles on its tail. Despite common myths that you can tell the age of rattlesnakes by the number of segments on their rattles there is no way to tell the exact age of a rattlesnake just by looking at it. The number of rattle segments has nothing to do with the rattlesnake s age. Rattlesnakes are born with a single button and do not develop a.

Also rattlesnakes often loose beads in accidents fights with other animals and sometimes because they just break off. At what age do rattlesnakes get their rattles. It s hard to determine exact numbers but it is an endangered species there. If rattlesnakes always shed their skin once and only once a year you might actually be able to tell how old a rattlesnake was by counting the rattles but they don t.