My ball is growing!!

[ed4281]

From side to side she is 20 inches long and weighs 500g. She gets a small rat once a week and has never missed a meal ever, she loves to eat. Should I cut back to every 10 days? or do they grow like kids, get a little chubby then grow in length.

Her brother from the same clutch is 32 inches and 480g he's always been consistant. He eats the same and gets the same care.

What are your thoughs?

[stevepoppers]

Well, it's not like I know anything, but Ralph Davis says he feeds all his ball pythons once a week and I hear he's a genius when it comes to them. I think as long as they take it once a week, it's fine to feed them once a week. I think you can scale back if you want to, but it's not necessary.

[A.VinczeBPs]

Feed once a week, appropriate sized meals.

If they eat every week I don't see the problem.

It only gets to be a problem when they are fully grown and get fat, which can male males get lazy and females make slugs. But yours is still small, it won't have that problem for a while.

[Kaorte]

500g is not full grown. My 8 month olds are about 500g.

When your snake gets around 1500g you could scale back to every 7-10 days if you want.

I would continue to feed every 7 days or you are going to have some -very- hungry snakes.

[jjmitchell]

I offer everyone a ratty every 7 days, let it be their option. Most eat, some skip, some are very consistant and some are hit and miss

[ed4281]

Cool thanks to you all for your advice. I am still going to feed every 7 days, I guess she is just a stuby giral.

[cboocks]

What is the normal weight for fully grown balls?

[pavlovk1025]

What is the normal weight for fully grown balls?

Thats a silly question. Thats like asking what the normal weight for an adult is. Theyre all different. I have a 5 year old that is 2000 grams, a 4 year old that is 1100 grams, a 3 year old that is 1700 grams....it's all random, depending on how well they eat and what not.

[severe_bomber]

Thats a silly question. Thats like asking what the normal weight for an adult is. Theyre all different. I have a 5 year old that is 2000 grams, a 4 year old that is 1100 grams, a 3 year old that is 1700 grams....it's all random, depending on how well they eat and what not.

My 3.5 year old, 3.5 foot long BP weighs in at 685g. Seems incredibly light compared to your 3 year old. Is that right? I have asked the question on here but was just advised to buy some scales which is fine, but having done that and weighed him, I still dont know if he's underweight or not! I fed him 2 large mice (rather than one) for the 1st time at the weekend which he ate quite readily...

[j_h_smith]

Thats a silly question. Thats like asking what the normal weight for an adult is. Theyre all different. I have a 5 year old that is 2000 grams, a 4 year old that is 1100 grams, a 3 year old that is 1700 grams....it's all random, depending on how well they eat and what not.

That's not a silly question. They asked a question that they did not have the answer to. Sure, go ahead and answer the question, but you don't have to make the person feel inferior. A simple explanation like you started with your second sentence was perfect. If you could have answered their question without that first sentence it would have been a great response.

Jim Smith