Till 2009, the reptiles were kept in a smaller enclosure and as a result they had stunted growth
Size matters! At least, when it comes to the size of reptile enclosure, as has been proved at Kankaria zoo in Ahmedabad. A pair of Indian Python snakes has demonstrated an incredible rise in growth rate since they were moved to a bigger space in 2009, reported zoo officials. Moreover, they also had 36 babies over since then!
Till 2009, the reptiles were kept in a smaller enclosure and as a result they had stunted growth. However, that changed when the central zoo authority of India issued a notification in 2008 and the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation, acting on it, shifted the reptiles in the local zoo to a bigger enclosure.
"After shifting the reptiles to the new enclosure, the Indian Python snake pair has grown to around 17 feet each," said RK Sahu, Director of Kamala Nehru Zoological Park. "The babies' growth has also been incredible. When they were kept in smaller enclosures, their growth remained stunted. Now, the babies born in 2015 are 8 feet to 10 feet long, while the babies born in 2017 are 5 feet to 7 feet long. Moreover, the large space is allowing them to roam around freely. We have designed the enclosures in such a way that they get both rough and smooth surface."
Agreeing to the fact that enclosure size contributes to the growth of reptiles, Rajendrasinh Jadeja, Coordinator of Sundarvan, said: "The size of enclosure decides growth rate of the reptile. Smaller space limits the animal's movement and subsequently its growth. After 2008's guideline by the central zoo authority, the change has been brought in the zoo. The change in growth rate has to be credited to the size of the enclosure."
There are three enclosures for Indian Python snakes at the zoo, of which two are dedicated to house the snake babies. And they seem to be overcrowded. In 2015, 18 babies were born and in 2017, the pair had 16 babies. The AMC has given four babies to Rajkot Municipal Corporation zoo. However, as the babies are growing fast, space constraint is a major cause for concern for the zoo authorities, as they have yet to find them new homes.
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