Female Health

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Originally Posted by joepythons

I know its a possibility and thats why i said could be stunted

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Not according to anything that I've ever read on reptillian physiology. What's your source?

-adam

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Originally Posted by Adam_Wysocki

Not according to anything that I've ever read on reptillian physiology. What's your source?

-adam

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My source is my experiances in my begginings of buying poorly fed ball pythons that never reached half there normal sizes.Of course they ate everything i placed in there cages,just never grew and i was told it was from them not being properly fed before i bought them.In other words they were stunted.Once again thats why i stated if it was me i would pass on that snake.Now back to you Adam:rofl: :rofl:

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Originally Posted by joepythons

My source is my experiances in my begginings of buying poorly fed ball pythons that never reached half there normal sizes.Of course they ate everything i placed in there cages,just never grew and i was told it was from them not being properly fed before i bought them.In other words they were stunted.Once again thats why i stated if it was me i would pass on that snake.Now back to you Adam:rofl: :rofl:

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Do you still have them today? How long did you give them before you postulated your theory?

If they were given a sufficient amount of time to feed and grow and they did not, it sounds to me like there was something else wrong ... husbandry maybe? ... internal parasites perhaps ... It's not physiologically possible for a ball pythons growth to be "stunted" like the growth of mammals can be. The mechanism for growth in a ball python is completely different.

Eventually, an underfed animal will attain it's predetermined size.

And the "back to you Adam" really wasn't necessary ... if you'd rather not have this discussion, that's fine ... no need to be a ricky about it.

-adam

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Originally Posted by Adam_Wysocki

Do you still have them today? How long did you give them before you postulated your theory?

If they were given a sufficient amount of time to feed and grow and they did not, it sounds to me like there was something else wrong ... husbandry maybe? ... internal parasites perhaps ... It's not physiologically possible for a ball pythons growth to be "stunted" like the growth of mammals can be. The mechanism for growth in a ball python is completely different.

Eventually, an underfed animal will attain it's predetermined size.

And the "back to you Adam" really wasn't necessary ... if you'd rather not have this discussion, that's fine ... no need to be a ricky about it.

-adam

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I was joking geee:D .I had one for a little over a year and he eventually died.The other lasted 2yrs and then died.They were both cleared by my vet of no bugs or the such and my setups and temps were at the same levels i use today.

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Originally Posted by joepythons

I had one for a little over a year and he eventually died.The other lasted 2yrs and then died.

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Joe, I've got bad news for you ... they weren't "stunted", they were dying.

Had they survived and thrived, they would have grown to their genetically predetermined size.

-adam

If I had a really big femle and bred her to a male would the babies be big like would they grow up to be big like the mom?


-Andre

I'm going to go ahead and second the thing about "stunting" just not being possible with ball pythons....

I acquired an '04 female this past january that weighed in at 600 grams. She has more than doubled her weight since, tipping the scale at 1400 grams currently.

Same goes with many other species of reptiles. I used to work at a pet store that often took in animals in bad shape...with proper TLC and no other preexisting conditions, they bounce back and grow to normal adult size.

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I acquired an '04 female this past january that weighed in at 600 grams. She has more than doubled her weight since, tipping the scale at 1400 grams currently.

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I would assume the females are undersized. I don't know about the one I'm adopting, but I believe the other is an '04. What were you feeding your 600 gram female that she doubled her weight so fast?

edit:
Yes, my 340 gram female was born 05/04

I can only speak from our experience with two female BP's. Saoirse came in as a WC adult extremely thin at only 690 grams. Even though she subsequently fasted that first winter with us for 5 long months, she's very steadily gaining weight and in fact could likely breed this year though we've decided to hold her back and give her another season just to be on the safe side. Kyna came to us at 18 months having been continually underfed her whole life. She was just an inch longer and the same weight as our 8 month old female BP we also had at that time. We too believed at that time that she would likely be somehow "stunted". Not so - with proper feeding and care she's growen in leaps and bounds and will be put with our male this year in hopes of a clutch. Both these females show every indication of becoming nice large females that will in no way show any long term ill effects of their previous poor care.

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Originally Posted by Griggs2121

I would assume the females are undersized. I don't know about the one I'm adopting, but I believe the other is an '04. What were you feeding your 600 gram female that she doubled her weight so fast?

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1-2 small small rats a week!