Growing too fast???

I am a new ball python owner (I have had other snakes) and I have a small male who is not so small anymore. As of Monday I have had him for 4 weeks. He shed the morning I got him and he just finished shedding again on Sunday. He has grown at least 2 1/2-3 inches (possibly more..I haven't measured just using the side of his enclosure as a scale) in length and probably about an inch in girth since I got him. He seems relatively happy (crawling up his 40g enclosure at night trying to find a way out:)) and he has not missed a feed since I started feeding live (he refuses to eat f/t...he will strike and constrict them but he will not swallow them). Is there such a thing as a ball python growing too fast?

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Originally Posted by ewelch

Is there such a thing as a ball python growing too fast?

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Yes and no, with more emphasis on the 'no' part of the answer.

As long as they are not being OVERFED resulting in OBESITY, then any growth is just fine.

If your snake is just growing fast but not simply putting on extra fat, then all should be good.

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Originally Posted by mainbutter

Yes and no, with more emphasis on the 'no' part of the answer.

As long as they are not being OVERFED resulting in OBESITY, then any growth is just fine.

If your snake is just growing fast but not simply putting on extra fat, then all should be good.

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I feed him every 5 days. I was feeding him just regular adult mice but since he has grown so much I just (as of Monday) started feeding him jumbo mice.

Here are a couple of pictures. Again this is my first ball python so I don't know what too fat is. All I know is he has gotten really big really fast and I'm worried that I may be overfeeding him and making him too fat therefore unhealthy.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?id...7266&aid=70772

I think 5 days might be a little often, you might just try a 7 day feeding schedule. Feed prey about the width of the snake up to 1.5 the width of the snake, no bigger.. :)

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Originally Posted by purplemuffin

I think 5 days might be a little often, you might just try a 7 day feeding schedule. Feed prey about the width of the snake up to 1.5 the width of the snake, no bigger.. :)

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That's where I'm confused. He is only about 4 months old and I have heard anywhere from 4-10 days as a good feeding schedule for a ball python. I was feeding every 5 days because that's the schedule he was on when I got him. Also, his width is roughly the same size as a jumbo mouse :)

I think you're fine. When they are young, they eat and grow. I feed my little guys every 5 days (mice.) I feed my adults Once a week (small rats.) I feed my big females once every 2 weeks (medium rats.) Your guy sounds like a good eater which is great. I say just keep on keeping on and don't worry too much at this stage. He's young and growing. My 280 gram female fire eats 2 jumbo mice every week. She is an eater and growing just fine.

You'll notice a good "fattening" and growth when you switch from mice to rats. Typically this happens around 450 grams or so.

Keep in mind that as they get older and into adulthood, they will go off feed during the breeding season, so keeping them at a good weight throughout the rest of the year is optimal.

There is a lot of conjecture with youngsters, I usually let the snake tell me when is right typical 'hunting' behaviour is to lay in wait head out of the hide in the evenings and night Keep an eye on him and if you see this after 3 days try every 5 if you don't see it until 4 or 5 days every week. Typically they are all different, there is no reason to keep them on a ridged timetable if you go every 7 day or so and every now and again sneak one in sooner it is fine.

they seem to grow before your eyes sometimes especially when they are small!!

I'll do every 5 days until they hit about 200 grams. Then every 7 days. It's very difficult to over feed a BP because they usually will go off feed at some point in the first year or shortly after. Or they simply decide that they want food less often.

I offer every 5 days until I get a refusal. I then switch to every 7.

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