Fast Growth-detrimental?

[JennM]

I was just curious about the growth of ball pythons. I have three sisters that were hatched 5-10-09. The smallest has always been a picky eater, skipping meals here and there and fasting for 1-2 months at a time. She is around 500grams. The middle female just came off of a 3-4month fast. She is app 700grams. The largest of the three is a pig. She skipped a few meals over winter but nothing as drastic as her sisters. I've actually skipped over her on feeding days because she's growing so fast. She is 1095g empty as of yesterday.

From 0-6 months they were fed on a 4-5-5day schedule. Now they are offered food once a week...

I know that boas growing to fast shortens their life span drastically...though this is usually due to overfeeding. The largest bp female seems to use every bit of the food (doesn't give much back the following week if you get my drift) She's never looked overweight. Length-weight looks great.

I guess my question is is this a healthy growth rate?

[Kaorte]

almost a year old and 1000g is pretty good, I don't think it is a harmful weight though. My year-old snakes average at about 500-800g.

Ball pythons all grow at very different rates.

[mainbutter]

Being obese can definitely shorten a snake's life.

However:

BMI charts don't work for people in determining health, and they don't work for snakes either. Comparing age to weight is even less capable of determining snake health.

It's not too hard to tell if a snake is obese. It sounds like your snake looks healthy.