I have seen extensive information on the origin,variants,behaviour,and Enclave exploitation of deathclaws,but I have never once heard how long they live if you never blow thier heads off. Would anyone know the natural life expectancy of a deathclaw? Please,it's been driving me crazy!

I'm afraid I have no idea; Jackson's Chameleons (what they were supposedly made from) only live about 5-10 years... but I'm guessing their giant cousins would live a lot longer.

Quite a while I suspect, depending on the specific cocktail of DNA they're made of, If there's some alligator or some other long living reptile mixed in there. Then again chameleons are amphibians right? :shrug:

they live untill they see me

+1

for me there are none left , they packed thier bags and left :bolt:

I heard, they have a short life span and thats why ther's so few, i reckon the

Enclave

experimented on them.

No, they're reptiles.

Deathclaw origin is the result of pre-war experimentation on Jackson's Chamelions, as has already been mentioned above. They don't vary as far as the species goes, Deathclaws had fur in Fallout: Tactics, but this can be considered an inconsistency. They are very aggressive, agile, and deadly (though you only need to play any of the Fallout titles to learn that). The Enclave performed post-war experiments on Deathclaw specimens to try and augment their intelligence with a strain of F.E.V. This was very successful, albeit too successful, as the intelligent Deathclaws learned of their purpose to be used as weapons by the Enclave, and then played dumb, leading the Enclave to believe they wouldn't become an uncontrollable threat. This unique deathclaw pack was sought out and exterminated. Since then the Enclave have introduced a mind control system to tame the Deathclaws, which you see in Fallout 3.

As for life expectancy, this has never been covered. But they are very fertile, and are loyal to their packs. Add that to their toughness and aggression, and you get a very adaptable and survivable combination.

Personally I like the explanation that that the furry ones are a separate experiment with the same goal: To creat a close-combat "monster" that is controllable. Only these were using mammal DNA. After the war, people called both kinds deathclaws.

Considering Tactics' other continuity insanity, it's easier to just write-off most of the game.

Well, scales, fur and even feathers are all basically made of the same stuff. It's no stretch at all to imagine that some Deathclaws may have just mutated a tiny bit and started growing fur over parts of their bodies instead of scales; after all, that's what happened before in natural evolution. Our distant ancestors were mammal-like reptiles.

personnaly i dont think they live long after reaching matureity, look at thier size compared to accessable food sources, a creature like that would need to eat huge amounts daily to survive and for a carnivour that simply is not available in the significantly reduced populace of the wasteland.

They would be feasible, but just in very small numbers. The available food supply would support maybe one Deathclaw for so many square miles. Just like real world predators, the hunting territory for each one would be very large. Of course then the Capital Wasteland would have only one or maybe two Deathclaws in the entire 15 square miles of the game world. I think I would actually like that. A Deathclaw encounter would be a very rare thing, and something to be remembered (and feared). Make them much stronger and tougher too, to compensate for their rarity..

Indeed, the existence of midwestern splinter faction of the Brotherhood is probably the only aspect of the game that should be taken into account... and only because the existence of one is mentioned by Rothchild in Fallout 3. Microforte got practically everything concerning the setting wrong.

Fallout 2 seemed to imply that Deathclaws can live a while, that is if you consider those talking Deathclaws in Vault 13 a good source of information.

Normal Male Deathclaw 5-10 years
Normal Female Deathclaw 10 years
Furry Male Deathclaw 10-20 years
Furry Female Deathclaw 20 years
Intelligent Male Deathclaw 15-30 years
Intelligent Female Deathclaw 30 years
Elderly Deathclaw (increase maximum lifspan by 25%)
Ghoulified Deathclaw (only one known case) Unknown lifespan
.
this is my take on their lifespans...

Fallout: Tactics is not considered canon. :nono:

technically you are correct. but for the sake of conversation they should be mentioned IMO...

Considering their toughness, I wouldn't be surprised if they lived just as long as a human, if not longer.

that sounds valid since human lifespans would be drastically shortened in a post apocalyptic wasteland and Deathclaws are an apex predator perfectly suited for their environment. They could meet somewhere in the middle with Deathclaws living to a ripe old age and humans dying young...

No they are reptiles. Chamaeleo jacksonii xantholophus. just FYI

Unfortunately I would have to consider the time it takes for a deathclaw female to reach maturity to be considered a "Mother DeathClaw" and for there to be an "Alpha Death Claw" since we see these in NV. Another problem is I don't have any idea as to their growth rate and how quickly they mature from hatchling *that right?* to full blown Death Claw advlt.

Maybe 80, max. Given that they don't run around and get shot, which is what they tend to do.