Is it true?

I've been away from home for the past few years. While I was gone my mother was left in charge of my Ball Python and she did not feed her consistently (every 2-3 weeks). As much as this upsets my mom is a very busy women that is working constantly. She would always forget about my snake. Anyway, now that I'm home my snake is getting the attention she needs.

So my question is:

Can underfeeding a ball python from the age of a year up untill 4 years, stunt her growth?

(She is now eating consistently, every 5 days)

definately,
if your body does not have adequate nutrition for long periods of time it is going to put all intake of food into maining life. Growth is at the bottom of the list of priorities.
The snake is lucky to be alive, 3 years is a long time to be underfed and can weaken the immune system and so much more, it could have easily become sick.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kryptonian

definately,
if your body does not have adequate nutrition for long periods of time it is going to put all intake of food into maining life. Growth is at the bottom of the list of priorities.
The snake is lucky to be alive, 3 years is a long time to be underfed and can weaken the immune system and so much more, it could have easily become sick.

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Just keep her on the 5 day schedule 'til she puts the weight on then move to a 7 day schedule she'll be fine, I would recommend a vet visit for an annual well check :)

So she won't reach the size that most ball pythons reach?

She seems very healthy now.

I think only time will tell (not that it will help right away) :( If she's got ok length and it's just a weight issue, it can be easily remedied since she is now eating regularly. If she's just altogether small she may just end up a smaller female, topping out at just around 3 ft or so for the rest of her life. The generally accepted weight and growth for balls is to gain a foot/year for the first 3 years and at least 500 grams for each foot. I've taken in a couple adult females before (a 5 and 6 year old) that should have had full grown weight and length but did not due to previous owner care. They were ravenous (go figure :O) and with regulary weekly feeding they were able to put on some good weight and have since gained a little length too. So I wouldn't say all is lost just yet :) Hope any of this helps?

I had a Ball python that I was told wasnt eating and was going to Die, so the pet store told me they wont sell it....it hadnt ate in almost a year he said....the snake looked very sick. Ribs showing, dehydrated.

I paid full price for her, with no guarantee after begging them to sell her to me. Well I force fed her, I also tube fed her. 5 years later, she was 5 foot long and quadrupled in length.

So maybe theres hope.....3 years seems long time though, because my ball was only like a year and a half old.

Either way good luck with your Ball....keep feeding every 5 days until she puts on weight. :gj:

Just a side note, whereas there is an 'average size' for ball pythons, they can vary as much as people can. Being underfed may contribute to her being smaller, or perhaps she'll catch back up. There is always the possiblity that she was intended to be small to start out with.

I am not sure myself what the correct answer is, but one time I read a post (I can't remeber if it was here or on a different site) and a person asked a similar question. One person responded saying that underfeeding a snake at their young age will stunt their growth. The rest of the pages was filled with everyone else telling him he was probably wrong and noone esle had heared that before and that once you start feeding it enough it will grow up fine and normal. Other posts to stories where their sanke didn't eat and was too small for it's age, but once it started to eat properly they all grew up to normal sizes. So i've never had the experience so I wouldn't know, but the other post basically say it should be fine in the long run.

Thanks for all the input.

I have hope for her but I'm not going to be ignorant about it and expect her to all of a sudden, grow like a maniac.

since I came home and started feeding her she has grown TREMENDOUSLY, in length and in thickness. I guess I'll just have to hope and see.