hes still so skinny and small..

he is currently eating every 5 days and had a really nice clean (almost totally one peice) shed. he has no mites, so clean in that department too. what hes eating now leaves just a slight bulge at the very most, it could just be that hes taking a bit more time to bulk up.. thanks for you input and response :)

I think bearhart was talking about the possiblity of internal parasites for which a fecal exam would be needed to determine this.

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Originally Posted by addsdad

I think bearhart was talking about the possiblity of internal parasites for which a fecal exam would be needed to determine this.

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yes, internal parasites can cause a well-fed snake to not gain (or even lose) weight.

personally if i were you i'd bump up the prey size and let him grow into like mentioned before, ,bp's can take a substantial meal even as babies,3 or 4 months you should be at 2 mice or a baby rat every week

you can get pretty small adult (or "teen-ager") mice. It helps if you can pick through them when purchasing.

thank you everyone.. i will keep a close eye on him and if he has no conciderable rate of growth (when i get the scale) i will take him in. as for feeding, isnt every 5 days ok? thats not quite twice weekly. i do get to select his meals as i get them where i used to work so they allow me to go in the back and get what i like.. so i suppose thats a plus.

I would say every 5 days would be considered an "aggressive" feeding schedule assuming you are feeding decent sized meals. Probably good for a youngster.

We feed every 5 days until they hit 200 grams, then they go to every 7 days. If you're concerned about his growth a digital scale really is your best friend at this point. As far as the internal parasite issue there's no need to take him in to the vet. Simply contact your vet, let them know you'll be bringing in a sample of his feces for a fecal float. Then the next time he poops, put some in a ziploc baggie, store in the fridge and take it to the vet clinic as soon as possible. Some clinics, depending on their lab techs, can do a fecal float while you wait.

It's hard to make any comments on what to feed this snake having no idea what size he actually is. Just remember they all grow at different rates and patience is needed here. There's no need to push him or expect him to grow at another snake's rate. As long as you determine he's healthy, then just feed him appropriately and he'll get where he's going. I don't think there's all that much difference in growth rates for males and females at this early stage in their lives. It's more likely either his feeding pattern, health, genetics, metabolism, etc.

thanks so much everyone. we plan to go run a few errands today and thats one of them :) i love graphing and charting things so it will be interesting to see how big the snakes and rats are. he doesnt look starved hes just more slim than savanna.. not as fat around. he deficates as well as savanna and is now eating more agressivly, he used to take forever to tag his prey and now its within moments. ill keep you posted on his actual weight later on today if i can find a scale

Since you like keeping track of things, here's a great little program to help you keep up with records for the snakes.

www.degei.com

I just love this program and don't know how I'd manage our collection without it.

Remember when looking at scales to get one that does 1 gram increments and will weigh up to at least 3,000 grams if not more (my 7001DX goes up to 7,000 grams I think). Female ball pythons will easily exceed 3,000 grams in a few years so I went for a scale that wouldn't get outdated too quickly with our girls.

Here's a link to the type of scale I have....(you can find them other places though of course...Reptile Basics also sells them I think)....

http://www.oldwillknottscales.com/in...PROD&ProdID=12