How big will he get?

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Originally Posted by rufretic

A lot of good comments in here I wanted to touch on.



I agree, genetics are 100% responsible for potential growth. Then comes feeding habits. A snake that has the genetics to get 7' over it's life span should eventually get there if it is not restricted from food, a lot of food will result in reaching it earlier but will also potentially shorten its life span. On the other hand, a snake with the genetic potential to get to 4', will never get to even 5', no matter how much you feed it, extra food will only increase how quickly it gets to it's genetic potential. I have a pastel desert ghost that I received at about 2 years old and was 700g. She quickly showed me she wanted more food so I gave it to her. She has grown longer than any of my other bp including ones that are well into adulthood and she is only a little over 3 and is now 2700g. There is no question in my mind that this is an example of large bp genetics. I have a few other females that eat just as much as her and they honestly have not grown half as much as she did this past year. She is just a genetically larger snake, you can even see it in her head, it's larger than all my other females including the ones that are much older than her and some are even stockier but she still has a lot of filling out to do.



Honestly, this is the way to do things. Feeding more with some and less with others is ok. No need to push for extra growth or get stressed because your bp skips a meal. Let them eat how much they want, ones with faster growing potential will may want to eat more and imo it's ok to feed your bp until they are satisfied within reason. But if they eat more, don't try to feed them at their normal weekly schedule if they don't show interest. Basically, let them decide to eat how much they want as long as they are healthy, no reason to restrict or push food. With that said, I guess there is the odd case of having a bottomless pit feeder, my personal favorite, and if your lucky enough to have one of them, you will need to stick with a schedule. Just feed them maybe a little larger than average prey size and weekly. They are also the ones that can get that extra rat when one of your others refuse as long as the first rat wasn't too large.



The breeder didn't know, he just went with the average which is fine. If someone is interested in how big their bp will get, nobody can say for sure so it's best to just go with the average.



This is another good point, they never stop growing, just slow down. So you never really can say when they are maxed until close to their death. If a snake with the genetic potential to get huge is on a restricted for its first 5 years, you better believe if it starts getting fed more, it's still gonna get huge.

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That is a EXCELLENT post !!!

Explains this wonderfully. Many people seem to think how much (and how fast) they feed their animal will result in a "monster".

I see that a lot in large breed dog breeds, too. Always bragging about the "4 mos. old/90 pound monster pup" that will be a "monster" adult. No, that pup will still only get as big as it was supposed to, only a lot faster. Which results in skeletal growth problems, tendons and ligament issues, etc. Not good at all.

Just thought I'd "bump" this once again, Something like this (explanation of growth/vs food/vs time/vs maturity) should be a sticky!

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Originally Posted by rufretic

You miss quoted me lol. But I here ya, have not seen Mr. Sully around here in a while. Welcome back [emoji4]

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Rufretic what a great post you made.. It would take me a day to write up such a informative and well spoken post hahahaha.. Yes im back for a few months now that the snow and -15 degrees is here. Lucy i sent you a pm the other day but sometimes the notifications dont work on this Taptalk thing. [emoji1360][emoji1360]


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Originally Posted by zina10

That is a EXCELLENT post !!!

Explains this wonderfully. Many people seem to think how much (and how fast) they feed their animal will result in a "monster".

I see that a lot in large breed dog breeds, too. Always bragging about the "4 mos. old/90 pound monster pup" that will be a "monster" adult. No, that pup will still only get as big as it was supposed to, only a lot faster. Which results in skeletal growth problems, tendons and ligament issues, etc. Not good at all.

Just thought I'd "bump" this once again, Something like this (explanation of growth/vs food/vs time/vs maturity) should be a sticky!

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Great point Lucy.. My male Pit had 1.5 years of tendon issues from 6 months to 3 yrs because of what i think was the high protein diet i fed him. My female were fine on the same diet. Maybe a genetic problem for him. After 3 years and all the vets telling me $5000 surgeries "MIGHT" help him he healed all by himself. I think it was fast growth and the tissue and tendons ect.. couldn't keep up.


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Originally Posted by Mr Sully

Rufretic what a great post you made.. It would take me a day to write up such a informative and well spoken post hahahaha.. Yes im back for a few months now that the snow and -15 degrees is here. Lucy i sent you a pm the other day but sometimes the notifications dont work on this Taptalk thing. [emoji1360][emoji1360]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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Tapatalk drives me crazy !! LOL.

I do use it, but as you can see, not very smoothly :rolleyes: Never saw that notification. I think it shows you a "new" one but if you don't click on it right away, it won't show "new one" next time you open the app?

Or else I missed it otherwise.