unusual growth rate

I have an incredible female spider who I think may be growing unusually quickly. I just want to see if this is something normal or if she might be a little odd.

She is an 08 hatch animal who i got from another breeder (catie at Casperson reptiles, great transaction, great animal -- nothing but good things to say) but she has almost DOUBLED in weight in the last 3 months.

Here are her reccords: (minus urinations, sheds, and cleaning). All weights, if given at the same time as a feeding, were taken BEFORE feeding.

6/4 - received from breeder, 632g
6/6 - feed f/t weaned rat (60 grams)
6/8 - poop, 632g empty
6/11 - refuse (heavily in shed)
6/22 - fed . 672g
7/3 - fed
7/7 - poop
7/8 - fed plus given 2 small rat pups (refusals from another animal)
7/14 - fed . 871g
7/21 - poop . 818 empty
7/25 - fed, plus 2 mouse hoppers (refusals from another animal)
8/8 - fed
8/13 - refusal, hit a rat badly and wasn't interested in food for the rest of the evening
8/18 - fed . 980g
8/22 - fed
8/27 - fed . 1085g
9/2 - fed
9/11 - fed, poop, 1195g empty

is this within the normal range? She also exhibits behaviors of a gravid female, on the cool side very often (though in the morning i usually find her in her hide). She is often wrapped around her water bowl. (note she has NEVER been with a male, i'm just explaining the behaviors). The temps are in "normal" range; 90.5-93.0 on the hot side with a cool gradient to ~80. Humidity isn't measured but i do give everyone a good mist 2x a week (everyone is in an animal plastics economy plastics rack) and she's in a 32quart tub. She's got a single hide and a water bowl just like my other female of a similar size.

i have 4 other snakes (3 of them BPs) so i don't have a good enough feel for growth rates to see if this is normal. As you can see, i don't think i feed that often, sometimes i skip feedings (there was a period where i moved in there and no one as fed for over a week prior because i didn't want someone pooping in their bag or regurging because of the stress, then there was the settling in period). I feed smaller meals than i consider normal, they don't leave a lump in this animal at all, she gets small rats. They weigh about 70-100 grams or so depending on the rat.

I acquired an 08 male spider about 3 months ago that weighed 224 grams :( but now he is at 575

trying to bump this back up i think it fell behind the more interesting posts :P

Was it underfed at all? We got a pair of female normals from someone that Connie worked with who had them for about 2 years, only fed them one mouse a month. They were right around 600 grams when we got them, which would have been mid October of last year. They both broke past the 1800 gram mark this month. We also have a pinstripe that we picked up at Tinley last year who weighed 500 grams at the time, and she's also over 1800 grams now.

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Originally Posted by m00kfu

Was it underfed at all? We got a pair of female normals from someone that Connie worked with who had them for about 2 years, only fed them one mouse a month. They were right around 600 grams when we got them, which would have been mid October of last year. They both broke past the 1800 gram mark this month. We also have a pinstripe that we picked up at Tinley last year who weighed 500 grams at the time, and she's also over 1800 grams now.

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She wasn't underfed that I was aware of. When i received her she was in excellent body condition, full and healthy looking and no "triangle" or thin look about her. I just weighed her today when i cleaned her cage and she's 1232 grams its just crazy.

Its nice to know that at lease SOMEONE else has had this happen (and im sure there are plenty of other people too, I just wanted to know about it).

Thank you for your response.

I'd say it's just good genetics. You got lucky and got a quick grower. :gj:

I've also got three girls over here that hatched out in October last year, and all of them are past the 1000 gram mark. All on one appropriately sized meal per week.

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Originally Posted by cinderbird

She wasn't underfed that I was aware of. When i received her she was in excellent body condition, full and healthy looking and no "triangle" or thin look about her. I just weighed her today when i cleaned her cage and she's 1232 grams its just crazy.

Its nice to know that at lease SOMEONE else has had this happen (and im sure there are plenty of other people too, I just wanted to know about it).

Thank you for your response.

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I think she got my cinny females growth genes. Shes well over a year and only 360.

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Originally Posted by sg1trogdor

I think she got my cinny females growth genes. Shes well over a year and only 360.

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ive got a little normal female who i got as an unstarted baby in.... April or May. She was 53 grams. NOW she's 186. She's not growing fast.. She does seem to be doing better on rats now though.

I feed smaller than average prey items usually though. They don't even leave a lump in her and she's a little sausage snake. This is the little one.

http://i438.photobucket.com/albums/q.../FrankyNom.jpg

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Originally Posted by cinderbird

ive got a little normal female who i got as an unstarted baby in.... April or May. She was 53 grams. NOW she's 186. She's not growing fast.. She does seem to be doing better on rats now though.

I feed smaller than average prey items usually though. They don't even leave a lump in her and she's a little sausage snake. This is the little one.

http://i438.photobucket.com/albums/q...FrankyNom.jpg/

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Hm, it's sort-of interesting, because my spider female is also a very good grower, and my original male that I got over 2 years ago is growing slower than molasses in January.
Maybe the spider gene has something to do with it too?

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Originally Posted by blackcrystal22

Hm, it's sort-of interesting, because my spider female is also a very good grower, and my original male that I got over 2 years ago is growing slower than molasses in January.
Maybe the spider gene has something to do with it too?

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its possible. Perhaps we can start a poll in a more frequented section on the forum just to get a general pooling of information?

I'd be curious to see what her final adult weight turns out to be! Maybe she's destined to be a huge girl over 3500 grams.

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Originally Posted by WingedWolfPsion

I'd be curious to see what her final adult weight turns out to be! Maybe she's destined to be a huge girl over 3500 grams.

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omg that'd be the sweetest thing evar. I'd love for her to be HUGE lol.

My pastel male I got in 2007 grew pretty fast. In less than 2 years he has gone from about 14 inches to 50 inches as of today. I wish I had records of his weight gain, I didn't have a scale back then :(
--I also kinda wish he was a girl but there's no hiding those hemi's (particularily after seeing him try to breed my normal male- long story lol and both are 100% male)

Took my normal male 4 years to reach 44in. (noting that he was a HORRIBLE feeder as baby-juvie and now as an adult is a pig)

I am curious, do morphs in general have a tendency to grow faster? I've heard spiders are usually excellent feeders, growers, and breeders.

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Originally Posted by bad-one

My pastel male I got in 2007 grew pretty fast. In less than 2 years he has gone from about 14 inches to 50 inches as of today. I wish I had records of his weight gain, I didn't have a scale back then :(
--I also kinda wish he was a girl but there's no hiding those hemi's (particularily after seeing him try to breed my normal male- long story lol and both are 100% male)

Took my normal male 4 years to reach 44in. (noting that he was a HORRIBLE feeder as baby-juvie and now as an adult is a pig)

I am curious, do morphs in general have a tendency to grow faster? I've heard spiders are usually excellent feeders, growers, and breeders.

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Im actually in the process of making a poll in the BP general section right now for your last question :)

And males will try to breed each other, I've heard of it happening before actually. Perhaps your pastel is just very open minded :P

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And males will try to breed each other, I've heard of it happening before actually. Perhaps your pastel is just very open minded

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Well if he is that open minded or desperate, he shouldn't give me any trouble when I try to have him breed a female. I've heard of it happening, I just never expected to actually see it happen! :weirdface

And cool, I'd love to see the results of that poll :D

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Originally Posted by bad-one

Well if he is that open minded or desperate, he shouldn't give me any trouble when I try to have him breed a female. I've heard of it happening, I just never expected to actually see it happen! :weirdface

And cool, I'd love to see the results of that poll :D

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here's the link to the poll : http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...hreadid=102159

I bet he'll be a good breeder for you. If he's already going through the motions then you're half way there haha. Have you seen any sperm plugs from him? If you pop him you should get some from what i understand. I need to get me another male or 3.. I've got one male and he's much too young to be thinking about making whoopie haha. My poor spider girl would intimidate him too much.

I have no luck popping adults and he was 300-500g (my best guess) when the "incident" occured. I could pop him then and he was already producing plugs. I wish I had a female to breed him too :( (got 2-3 years to grow up my baby spider girl *sniffle)

I bet all 4ft 2 inches of him are crying all alone in his cage, dreaming of female snakes .... maybe even males too...lol

hahaha poor boy.

It just takes pratice, sometimes boys like to just hold em in though. My boy is 400g and i can get one peene out at a time, he just isnt a big show off. As long as i get ONE though, i'm like "ok, you're a dude, sweet." I've got a 1400g female I can pop, although the last time i did she was 1000g. Every once in a while i pop her just to make sure i still can. I'm sure she'll get to a point where i can't though.

I'd rather probe than pop an adult anyway. It is way easier, just a quick poke in there and I know what I got ;)

So, babies are very easy to pop! But snakes over 1000-1200g, can't do it lol. Plus I'm afraid to push too hard and hurt them if they don't wanna show me.

Do you have any males at all to breed to your intimidating (lol) spider girl?

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Originally Posted by bad-one

I'd rather probe than pop an adult anyway. It is way easier, just a quick poke in there and I know what I got ;)

So, babies are very easy to pop! But snakes over 1000-1200g, can't do it lol. Plus I'm afraid to push too hard and hurt them if they don't wanna show me.

Do you have any males at all to breed to your intimidating (lol) spider girl?

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Lol there are some young males (200 grams or less) that i've sexed for people who as soon as i even get near their vents its like "OMG EXTEND. LOOK AT ME. I AM MALE. LOOK AT MY PEENS. I AM SEXYMAN." its the funniest thing ever.

See? im afraid to probe, lol. Im just afraid i'll hurt someone. I've seen it done, but ive never done it myself.

My little male is a pastel, so at some point im hoping for some bees, but I may give her another year if i dont move. i've got no room for a hatclhing rack or an incubator where i'm at so everyone will get another year most likely. I actually plan on picking up at least one male and a breeder sized female by the end of the year. i'll have 3 breeder sized girls and 2 males. I've got a pastel, I'd love to pick up a fire or an Enchi. My normal female is super light and i think she'd throw some incredible fires. I'm all about selective breeding :)

Lol, some boys do love to show off.

Your breeding plans are cool. I'd love to breed for bumble bees but I have a 2-3 year wait, kinda sucks. I was thinking of picking up a breeder size normal female early next year so that that season I can breed her with my pastel. I figure getting her in Jan. or maybe Feb. should give her some good time to settle in for the winter (not to mention plenty of quarantine time).

Plus if I can do that, I'll get practice with eggs and hatchlings (hopefully) before I go for what I really want!

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Originally Posted by bad-one

Lol, some boys do love to show off.

Your breeding plans are cool. I'd love to breed for bumble bees but I have a 2-3 year wait, kinda sucks. I was thinking of picking up a breeder size normal female early next year so that that season I can breed her with my pastel. I figure getting her in Jan. or maybe Feb. should give her some good time to settle in for the winter (not to mention plenty of quarantine time).

Plus if I can do that, I'll get practice with eggs and hatchlings (hopefully) before I go for what I really want!

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I'd love to try one clutch this year, if i move before its "too late" in the season I will try but i live in less than a studio apartment with 2 cats, a few other snakes and a very phobic boyfriend. Theres no way i could do that to him. The apartments we're looking at are 2 bed room or 1bed + den and the smaller room would be my office/art room/snake room. But i dont know if moving everyone again would be a problem. It will be a few months before we move and i just worry she'd reabsorb follicles. She may make some nice pastels though, she's super bright and super clean.

here is a pic of her around 1000 grams. Those colors are 100% accurate on my screen.

http://i438.photobucket.com/albums/q...ook/snake3.jpg

Now that's a normal!!! Bright clean colors are exactly what I want for breeding normals (and that super reduced pattern is killer). I'd love to see what kind of pastels would come from her, so does my pastel male :rolleyes:

Although I have to wait a while, I will have a good deal of time to prepare for the needs of babies. I only have room for 1 more snake atm, all my reptiles live in my room. I really need to build a rack before I get more than 5 bps.

Maybe my pastel will have a try at her, shes at 1430 grams empty right now so she'll be up to size, but i dont know if he will. I may get another male before the end of the year though.

I love her, shes my favorite snake. I use her in the educational shows i do since i trust her around people, especially kids. She's handled often and is very calm. She's turned a lot of people on to snakes.