# Ball Pythons > BP Husbandry >  Do snakes stop growing ever?

## mattchibi

My Female BP is 3 years old and only about 30 inches long.  Weight unknown but shes pretty small.

Does she still have room to grow to her potential of 4 - 4.5 feet ?  I heard that snakes usually have growth spurts at a younger age and they do most of their growing during their early years.  Can anyone clarify ?

----------


## 2kdime

They slow down considerably but never truly stop from my understanding

I'm going to say your underfeeding pretty bad

----------


## RyanT

Nope. If they're shedding, they're growing. And they never stop shedding.

----------


## RetiredJedi

> Nope. If they're shedding, they're growing. And they never stop shedding.


Well dang, if that 's the case then a BP should get pretty big.  If a BP can live 20-30 years and *NEVER* stop growing then I'm in trouble.  I told my wife they are normally 4 feet long on average.  I can see maybe getting fatter as they get older but can they really grow longer?  I know there some videos out there of some pretty long BPs but those aren't the norm.

----------


## TheWinWizard

The growth rate slows tremendously, but they still grow.

----------


## mattchibi

> They slow down considerably but never truly stop from my understanding
> 
> I'm going to say your underfeeding pretty bad


Unfortunately, it wasnt my doing.  Just got this bp 3 weeks ago.  apparently she wasnt eating regularly for the last 3 years, and she wasnt being heated correctly.

Hopefully she grows more for me, shes on a regular feeding schedule finally and seems happy

----------


## JLC

> Nope. If they're shedding, they're growing. And they never stop shedding.


While it is true (so far as I've ever heard) that they never actually stop growing, it is not true that shedding indicates growth.  They can shed for multiple reasons, not just outgrowing the old skin...primarily, the old skin just gets worn out and needs to be replaced from time to time.  As mammals, our skin replaces itself constantly...theirs has to be done all at once.

----------


## AK907

> Unfortunately, it wasnt my doing.  Just got this bp 3 weeks ago.  apparently she wasnt eating regularly for the last 3 years, and she wasnt being heated correctly.
> 
> Hopefully she grows more for me, shes on a regular feeding schedule finally and seems happy


As has been said, they never truly stop growing, but after the first couple years they slow down tremendously.

That said, being that your ball wasn't fed properly during her first few years, she may not ever reach her full potential, but with proper feeding, she will grow. I wouldn't get my hopes up and expect her to ever be a monster, 4,000g ball, though.

BTW, love your avatar. If only that weren't photoshopped...  :Very Happy:

----------


## xdeus

My oldest BP is a 26 year old female.  Although she has the largest head out of all of my Balls, I have others that are wider/longer.  You can probably measure the annual growth rate of adult snakes in centimeters or less, so I wouldn't be too concerned about your snake growing up to be a 15 foot monster Ball.  They will pretty much reach their adult size after three to five years if fed consistently.

----------


## Hydrolicious

Is there a chart of average growth rates available somewhere on the web?

----------


## meowmeowkazoo

> Is there a chart of average growth rates available somewhere on the web?


I don't believe there is.

Growth varies tremendously between individual snakes, so a chart wouldn't really be reliable anyway.

----------

