BP stunted growth and feeding?

[jodiiyoung]

My first post!

2 months ago I took in my first ball python. I did a lot of research and was ready to take one in. I found a 4 year old male Mojave looking for a home so I decided to help the guy out.

His enclosure when I got him was not good. He was in a large exo-terra with aspen and 1 half log hide. He had a UTH that was not connected to a thermostat and there was no thermometer or hygrometer or anything. I am also pretty sure he has never been misted prior to me taking him in.

I was told he was eating a small rat every 2 weeks. A couple weeks after letting him settle in I weighed him and he was around 650grams. I felt like that was pretty stunted/small for a 4 year old so I bumped his feeding to 1 small rat every 7-10 days and he takes them no problem. He is roughly 3.5 feet long. He is also going into shed right now for the second time since I had him (he was mid shed when I picked him up) so I assume he is growing.

Just wanted to hear opinions on if I’m doing this right or if I should change anything.

Thanks!

[JodanOrNoDan]

Welcome...

Don't worry, ball pythons don't get stunted. If they were underfed, generally they will eat like pigs until they get caught up to where they want to be and then they will back off. Most of my adult males will eat one small rat every two weeks if they are not being bred, some more, some less. Most adult males also will go off food for 2 to 6 months a year. Breeding animals, I try to get to eat weekly. Keep in mind that boys are usually much smaller than girls. That said yours does sound small for his age. Shoot us a picture and we can get an idea of his build and then maybe you will get a better opinion.

[Bogertophis]

He sounds lucky to have found you, & by the way,

[Craiga 01453]

Welcome to the forum and the wonderful world of snake keeping!!

If you could get a few pics up that would help us help you.
Try to get a few different angles, but a pic rom above with the snake laying on a flat surface will be most beneficial.

I actually just added a 4 year old male to the family last month. He's just under 1,400 grams. So yeah, quite a difference.
But don't let that alarm you. They grow at all kinds of different rates due to a high number of variables.

Oh, and P.S. many of us use the free app tapatalk to upload pics. Super easy.

[redshepherd]

He is a bit small, but not a big deal (like others have said). My 4 year old male who I've had since hatchling is 1100g, never missed a meal! And my 4 year old female (who should be double the size of males) is only 1300~1400g, and she also has never missed a meal in her entire life until very recently... she ate almost weekly. Sometimes they just stay smaller.

A small rat once every 2 weeks is actually within normal range for an adult male, if they were being honest about the feeding times.

There's also no "need" to mist ball pythons. They just need 50%+ humidity (and 60%+ when in shed), so any way that you can maintain that is good- large water bowl or any other combo of methods. The only reason why people mist is just to up humidity. Misting and making the substrate regularly damp actually isn't good for them either, so just as long as the humidity is appropriate.