My little runt Cypher

:? Well, my little male Cypher doesnt appear that he is ever going to be a "huge" Ball Python....he eats well and is otherwise healthy but I doubt that he is going to attain the size of my other Ball Pythons....he is about two years old and is roughly about two and a half feet long. My other BPs are well over three feet long ....is it normal for some BPs to just be smaller than average?? I love the little guy ....there is nothing wrong with him - he just aint a real huge BP at all.....he does love to try and escape though....he busted out twice last year until I figured out how he was doing it and put the lockdown on him....good little ol Cyph.......


EyeLashViper

He might just be the runt of his litter or something. I think I got the runt of the litter. My bp is 4 months old, 21+ inches, but she seems underweight. She's full bodied and fat, but she only weighs like 150 grams. Dunno why...she seems lengthy for her age, nice and fat and muscular, but the weight doesn't add up.

But yeah, just like humans, I think ball pythons can be of all shapes and sizes. Nothing to worry about of course. :)

What you are feeding your bp has alot to do with the size he/she will attain. Rats vs Mice. Smulkin has a pic somewhere that demonstrates this perfectly .....

There's the rats vs mice issue, there's the quality of food that the prey gets (and quantity, and exercise), and then there's that particular ball python's growth pattern. Most of the size issue seems to have to do with feeding patterns and food makeup, but some ball pythons don't quite reach 4' and others do get over 6', so some variation is normal.

I have a runt Bp. Ashes was actually an '02 male, but he is just now only a tiny bit bigger than my '03 female. Ashes was your classic Petco snake; scrawny, not feeding, had shed pieces all over, when I rescued him from his buyer. He was terrified of mice because one had bitten him at the store probably. He did not eat for months after I got him last year. Then I started offering f/t mice, moved around just a little in front of him, and he timidly began to strike again. and would eat them if I walked away and covered his cage with a towel.
Fast forward to the present day, where he now eagerly coils around f/t ratlings as soon as I offer them! He is fat and does not look like a weakling anymore, but he did grow much, much slower than he should have. here's a pic of him last June, when he was starting to fill out and look good.

https://ball-pythons.net/modules/cop...0328/octas.JPG

Wow, what a beautiful pattern. :drool: Glad to hear he's come around. :D