Growth Issue

[Dxw425]

Hi all, i have a female ball python i purchased from petsmart (i know noth the best idea, but i work there and i had to get her when i saw her). I bought her probably a week or two after she was shipped to the store as a hatchling, so i wold say she couldve been a month old max at the time of purchase. I got her back in Feb. making her about 8 months old now. I have her housed in a 40Gal breeder, with multiple hides, plenty of water, a cold side at a constant 85 with a hot side at 93. She has a UTH, everything is timed and automatic so her temps stay just about perfect all the time. Her humidity is a lttle on the low side, but i spray the tank multiple a few times a day and it stays about fine. She has never had a bad shed, and has only skipped one meal when she was in deep shed. She is a great feeder, has never given me any issues with F/T. They told me she ate fuzzies so thats what she got the first week, but after that i increased to medium mice and now even up to small rats. She has been fed every monday no exceptions until recently. Seeing that she was about 5 months old and not gaining wight i started to increase her prey size and switched from mice to rats. Right now she eats 1 small rat every 7 days (every monday) for two weeks, with one week off. The reason i take her off for a week is she seems to be a little fat a the second week, but after she digests she seems to be healthy. The issue is that aster her 5th rat now, ( i just weighed her after she took a massive dump) she is still only 292 grams. I dont want to power feed her but it seems like she isnt gaining weight hardly at all. She has definitely grown in length and weight, but from what ive seen everywhere else its not even close to what is typical. Is it possible she has parasites?

TLDR; my 8 month ball python weighs 292 grams empty, and shes feeding regularly on small rats. Whats going on?

[Kibbleswhites]

Sounds like she is doing just fine to me?????

[bcr229]

How much do these "small rats" weigh? A 300 gram ball python should be on weanling rats, a small rat would be a bit big.

[Willowy]

Some don't grow as fast as others (same as humans! ). As long as she's eating well and gaining steadily she'll grow as fast as she's meant to grow.

[PitOnTheProwl]

My only other questions are: What is the surface temperature of the glass the UTH is attached to and what are you regulating the UTH with?

[Dxw425]

How much do these "small rats" weigh? A 300 gram ball python should be on weanling rats, a small rat would be a bit big.

They usually weigh between 37-45 grams, a little large yes, but she hasnt had any trouble getting them down and its the smallest option available to me. For some reason the only rats we carry are pinkies fuzzies and small. The only other place i around only has live and id prefer not to go live since shes so good with F/T

[Dxw425]

My only other questions are: What is the surface temperature of the glass the UTH is attached to and what are you regulating the UTH with?

The UTH is on a thermostat, both zoomed. It is programmed to come on at night when the daytime basking light goes off. It stays at 85 on the glass

[Alexio]

I have two females I would say that are roughly same age and roughly same weight as yours. If you have a young bp eating f/t rats your alredy way ahaed of other people.

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