How big should my ball be by now?

[Rakshasi]

I don't post here much, because many of my own questions have been asked by others, and have been answered. I finally have something to ask!

Does anyone here have a ball python that's growing rather...well...slow?

My guy has barely gained a few inches since I got him back in March. He was born in July 2005. So, he's 1 year, 3 months. Can you guys post a picture or two (size comparison with something like a half dollar, tape measurer, etc would be greatly appreciated) of any ball pythons you have that are around his age?

Could it possibly be that he is just not as old as the person that sold him to me claimed? He's only about 2' long, maybe a few inches longer. I haven't been able to accurately measure him.

He goes off feed on occassion. I feed once a week, and he often eats twice, skips a week, then eats twice, skips once, and so on. He's been to the vet (like any animal i acquire), and everything's checked out perfect. His temps are fine, too. Not sure what else I could add to this, but I'm more than willing to answer any questions.

This isn't an important issue, as he's rather chunky, and never goes off feed for very long at all. I'm just wondering if he should be bigger by now, and what the general growth rate is of ball pythons. My cornsnake and kingsnake grow like weeds!

Thank you so much in advance!

[joepythons]

I don't post here much, because many of my own questions have been asked by others, and have been answered. I finally have something to ask!

Does anyone here have a ball python that's growing rather...well...slow?

My guy has barely gained a few inches since I got him back in March. He was born in July 2005. So, he's 1 year, 3 months. Can you guys post a picture or two (size comparison with something like a half dollar, tape measurer, etc would be greatly appreciated) of any ball pythons you have that are around his age?

Could it possibly be that he is just not as old as the person that sold him to me claimed? He's only about 2' long, maybe a few inches longer. I haven't been able to accurately measure him.

He goes off feed on occassion. I feed once a week, and he often eats twice, skips a week, then eats twice, skips once, and so on. He's been to the vet (like any animal i acquire), and everything's checked out perfect. His temps are fine, too. Not sure what else I could add to this, but I'm more than willing to answer any questions.

This isn't an important issue, as he's rather chunky, and never goes off feed for very long at all. I'm just wondering if he should be bigger by now, and what the general growth rate is of ball pythons. My cornsnake and kingsnake grow like weeds!

Thank you so much in advance!

Raven, every snake grows at differant rates.So basicly it would not really help you determine how big your snake "SHOULD" be by looking at others in pics.I will ask you this though,what are you feeding him? The size of the rodent does control the snakes growth.In other words if you are feeding him a rat fuzzy and your feeding your corn snake a small rat of course you corn is going to grow larger sooner.Reason is the corn snake is getting more food.

[wildlifewarrior]

Like joe said, if you are feeding something small and haven't moved him up, he is going to grow slower, i just moved my male from 2 adult mice to small rats and he has begun to put on weight like crazy, never mind a little bit of length. I have heard people say males grow slower and than females and such, i don't know for sure if this is true, but ya never know, some animals may convert food to weight while others convert it to length.


~mike

[bigballs]

i have a male pastel thats around 8 months old and weighs over 600g and i have a female that is over a year and is 725g. so i dont know if the slow growing male theory is true but in my situation is definately is not.


but growth rate does depend on what and how your bp is eating so if youre feeding appropriate sized rodents weekly then your bp should be growing fine.

[Rakshasi]

Like I said, it's not a big deal. I was simply wondering. Thanks for your replies, everyone!

I kind of figured that each snake would have a different growth rate. It's like that with humans, dogs, etc. I'm not worried about him at all, because he's got a great looking, muscular body, and has clean vet checks. Just a shot in the dark out of sheer silly curiousity.

He's eating a full grown mouse per week. I tried switching to rats of similar size, and he won't touch them. Next feeding I'm going to try again. I feed frozen/thawed, so when I got my last batch of frozen feeders, I put some of the rats in with the mice in hopes of their two scents combining to try and fool him.

Thanks again!

[SnakeySnakeSnake]

SnakeySnakeSnake was born July or August of 05 and he eats every week with a vengeance. Last I weighed he was only like 470 grams or so, and that was in october, so 1 year and 2 months old.

On the other hand, Mr Burns went from 90 grams in March/April to 550 grams in October. I think snakey weighed like 300 at the time so the variance was huge.

Just depends on your snake. My gut grows faster than my friends, guess there can be a parallel ?

[Sadie]

Just make sure that you're feeding prey as big around as he is. If he's skipping meals, I wouldn't think he's hungry, but one mouse seems too little for a 2005. My 2005 boy is up around 750 grams and eating small-medium rats weekly. Have you weighed your boy?

[frankykeno]

They all do grow at different rates that's very true. Have you ever tried offering him a second f/t mouse during his weekly feed? Does he show any indication of continuing to actively hunt for a long while after he eats his mouse? Does he seem very hungry days before he's due to eat again (not just 24 hours or so before but days and days before)? How does the biggest part of the mouse (usually it's hips/butt) compare to his largest empty girth?

[kurgan]

Monty is a couple of months older than your guy, for some before and after pics see here:
http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/s...305#post442305

Your little fellow does seem a bit small for his age but I'm no expert - I imagine increasing the size of your prey may help a lot. He seemed to rocket in growth when I made the jump to weaner rats.