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Biology question!

Stygian Faerie

Stygian Faerie

Raaaawr!
I wasn't sure where to put this so I hope it's in an acceptable place...
I was wondering, are snakes born with all their vertebrae and they grow along with it, or do they grow new ones as they get bigger? It was actually my OH that asked me and I realised that I didn't actually know! My thought originally was that they are born with them and they grow with the snake but it's hard to imagine a tiny hatchling growing into, say, a 20-odd foot python with the exact same number of vertebrae as when it hatched out.
Sorry if this is a really stupid question! We tried researching it a little but came up blank. :dunce:
 
Do you have the same number of vertebrae as when you were a baby?

The answer is yes, they are born with that number.

*sleepy megan tone: teasing/playful*
 
i heard they were born with the same number of scales they'll have for the rest of their life too. fun facts are fun!
 
Not really. A zigzag will remain a zigzag. Yes, more colors come in, and sometimes the colors wash out the pattern, but the pattern is still there and still the same.
 
Shiari said:
Not really. A zigzag will remain a zigzag. Yes, more colors come in, and sometimes the colors wash out the pattern, but the pattern is still there and still the same.
Click to expand...
King Ratsnakes change? Some Brazilian Rainbow Boa morphs change (chocolate and what's presumed to be an onto-geneic Calico)? Yellow Ratsnakes and Everglades Rats that develope stripes. That's pattern right?
 
Just off the top of my head, both yellow rats and black racers change pattern, from saddles to stripes in the case of the yellow rat and solid black in the case of the black racer.
 
As Angela said, the OP's question was very broad. I feel like if you meant to say yoy were just talking Corns, you should have said so, seeing as the OP's question was so broad.
 
Obviously racers and some other species are born with different patterns than that of adults, but I figured that since we were in a corn snake discussion forum, that is what we were talking about.

You can see that Owl's color has changed significantly, but the pattern remains the exact same.
fldph1.jpg

fcp94i.jpg
 
Yes, they are born with the same number of vertebrae. Just like with people, more bone is just added on to the existing vertebrae to grow with the snake. Think of it this way: When you are born, you have a humerus (bone that goes from shoulder to elbow) say, 5 inches long. As you grow, bone is added to lengthen and thicken it, to reach an adult length of 15 inches. You still only have the one bone, it's just bigger.

Totally off-topic, but related: A giraffe and a human both have 7 neck vertebrae!
 
Thanks for the input everyone. I guess it's just hard for me to imagine such large vertebrae for say, a 24ft burm or something. I'd love to see some skeletons from different kinds of snakes all lined up next to each other. Fascinating stuff.
 
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