Helathy weight gain?

[ZinniaZ]

I was wondering what an average weight gain is for a yearling ball python. We brought ours home april 5th. She had weighed in at 250 grams on march 27th. She is 12 months old, born early may 2007. I weighed her today at 377 grams. Is this a good weight gain? Too much? She basically eats every five to seven days.

[cinderbird]

That sounds really low to me, assuming she's eating consistently.

my girl is a 3/07 hatchling, and she weighs about 700g. she weighed under 300g when i got her in september of 07. she eats every 5 days, one appropriately sized prey item (1 weaned rat).

have you had her checked for parasites? what are you feeding her? (fuzzies, pinkies, hoppers, and is it rats or mice?)

[Jay_Bunny]

Wow, my '07 girl is over 500g, and she is fed every 7 days. I would suspect internal parasites if she is only gaining that little amount. Schedule an appointment with the vet and get her tested.

Did you get her April of this year? She could be younger than advertised. I know that when we got Sadis in August of 07, she weighed in at 90g. Now she weighs 517g. Thats 427g in 9 months.

[ZinniaZ]

I can bring in a sample to be tested but she is actually gaining a ton compared to her growth records from her breeder. She was 250 at the end of march, beginning of april and prior to that she seemed to gain lightly. She was 110 grams in july of 07, 145 in august, 205 in november, and 250 in march. Her gain in the two months I have had her is much more than she gained in her first year. In the less than two months here she has gained 120 grams. In any two to three month period the first year, she gained thirty to fifty grams. From looking at the growth chart that was posted in the growth chart thread, I am actually reassured that her growth rates are within the range of normal. She seems to be in a big growth spurt right now.

I will definitely have a stool sample done. But her breeder seems to be quite conscientious and she seems really healthy to me.

We feed as big of mice as we can find but still have not found any that equal her girth size. I weighed her today to be sure our mice were the right size and they are not. The mice we have average 25 grams. So she needs bigger ones. My plan is to feed her every five days until her body looks a little more filled out, get her checked for parasites, and keep track of her weight and the mice weight.

[littleindiangirl]

I would look into buying frozen rat weanlings to feed her. Just because rats and mice are so hard to come by at the perfect size.

Def sounds like she can be upped in prey size.

[ZinniaZ]

The other factor may be that she was small when hatched? I don't have her beginning weight. But the first weight she had was July 19th and that was 110 grams. She was two and a half months oldd by then. I don't know what weight she started at but that seems to be a lighter weight for that age.

[ZinniaZ]

I would look into buying frozen rat weanlings to feed her. Just because rats and mice are so hard to come by at the perfect size.

Def sounds like she can be upped in prey size.

Part of the problem is she isn't very keen for frozen thawed just yet. In the six or so weeks we have had her, she has refused the frozen four or five times. After two refusals, I went and bought live mice but they were teeny. What I have found though is that if I give a live mouse then a frozen thawed often she will eat the frozen one, so she is getting the right combined weight. I am hoping that she will eventually be happy with frozen so that we can stock up on exactly the right size food. I am still just glad she is eating anything. She only refused live once and she was getting ready to shed. We have to get the right prey size for her though. I may have to breed rats so we have a good supply.

[snakelady]

That does seem small. My 10/07 girl is over 500 grams.
Was she a twin or slow starter maybe?

[ZinniaZ]

Her feeding chart shows a steady intake of food. A few refusals-- like maybe a half dozen in the time before she came here. But that was an entire year's worth of feedings so that doesn't seem too bad. I don't know what an average baby weight is... She was 110 at 2 and a half months.

[ADEE]

Just about all my mid 07' snakes are well over 700grams. The late 07's are around 500g. the smallest 07 i have was hatched in nov and hes 300's.. but again he was a very late baby and is a picky eater. Everything here eats every 7-8dys.