Extreme stunted growth

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Deborah

As plump as she is I doubt she is 3 years old.

A 3 year old underfed BP eating a hopper a month would not look that plump.

---

I agree... she could've easily been mislead on her DOB as well.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Deborah

As plump as she is I doubt she is 3 years old.

A 3 year old underfed BP eating a hopper a month would not look that plump.

---

She was in the care of the breeder I got her from who I know what feeding her well, she had her for 2 weeks. She said she was thin, but not emaciated.
I chalked it up to that she's been fed good since leaving her first home.

I think it's VERY possible that her age was also a lie.

I have an early 2012 bee that was an extremely hard starter and refused 99% of food for a long time. It got to the point where I was considering force feeding her. Then one day it just clicked in her head that she needs to eat. Once she started feeding she plumped up very quickly. Here's a couple pics to show how dramatic the change was.



March 13th 2013
http://imageshack.com/a/img69/1952/03ww.jpg
April 24th 2013
http://imageshack.com/a/img191/331/d6o7.jpg

Lovely little girl, but I'll pretty much guarantee she's no 2010.

I've seen and dealt with many underfed and neglected snakes over the years, and trust me if she was that far malnourished she'd be skin and bones. I recused a normal that was 135 grams at 8 months old, and he looked like a pencil with shar-pei skin. This girl is very nicely rounded and well proportioned, if small. My guess is she's probably a 2012. I know breeders can "maintainence" feed and keep a ball python small but well proportioned for up to a year. But beyond that year mark, it starts to show. They tend to get long and look skinny. This girl really doesn't.

If it were me, I think I would keep her meals small but frequent for now, just to kind of sound her out, she how she handles it. The normal male I got at 135 grams stayed stunted for the better part of a year, even though he was eating regularly. I suspect it just took his body a while to catch up to where it should have been. When we rehomed him, he was up to 850 grams and looked amazing.

Best wishes for you and her.

Gale

I think im gonna go with what Gale said. She is small, but def proportioned. A three year old snake only fed a hopper mouse once a month would def look much much thinner.

sent from my incubator

Just wanted to give an update. She has eaten twice for me so far. First time was hesitant and ate it overnight, second time was a nice strike and coil. I have high hopes for this girl, she is one of my favorites currently. Oh and I named her Callisto.

Here is her next to our new super pastel lesser female we got today, with flash. Both are in quarantine in the same room
http://imageshack.com/a/img689/6505/d3op.jpghttp://imageshack.com/a/img853/5703/2m7b.jpg
http://imageshack.com/a/img703/7727/uuwi.jpgWithout flash. A bit too yellow for her actual color.
http://imageshack.com/a/img39/6667/3axv.jpghttp://imageshack.com/a/img199/6752/2o1b.jpghttp://imageshack.com/a/img202/7126/yq84.jpg
http://imageshack.com/a/img849/5594/t0e3.jpg