Healthy Baby Weight

So I was looking at KS when I came across this. I've left out the name as I don't want to bash the guy. I am just puzzled:

Quote:

---

'11 Powerball #1

Sex: Male
Hatched: September 20th, 2011
Weight: 87 Grams
This guy does have a head wobble like a Spider, but he eats and defecates fine.

'11 Powerball #2

Sex: Male
Hatched: October 14th, 2011
Weight: 75 Grams
This guy has a slight head wobble like a Spider, but eats and defecates fine.

---

I think if I had babies that old and that weight I'd be thinking something is wrong. All the babies I've had were over 100g in 2 months or less.

What do you think?

I agree. Either the weights weren't updated, or he has been feeding some very small items and/or infrequently.

Seeing as it's right below the hatch date, maybe those are the weights they hatched at?

I kinda thought that, but there are some other people posting similar things. Like an Albino female hatched 7/1/11 but weighs 163 grams.

These are posted today too.

My June 11 Spider is over 600 now. My 2 Het Pieds are in the 500 range.

I can only hope that these people are just posting the wrong data.

I'm pretty sure I know where you saw that, on the power balls, and if I'm right, then yes those are the wieghts at hatching.

As well, if you want the current weights he's pretty quick to reply to an e- mail.

I was leaning towards hatching weight, until I saw he also has a 2010 listed at 436g....

Saw an add for a local female 2010 spider......... current weight 325 grams for $100 ...... asked her in a text why she was so small or was it a mis-type on the weight or year she was born? She got really upset and said she fed her once every 14 days a single hopper mouse..... wow some people........ tried to buy, her seller refused to sell to me because I had no idea how to take care of a ball python lol .......... told her to come check my collection first then sell her to me she still refused wished I could have helped that poor little spider out.... ad is gone and she text me she sold it to a nice local family.... I sure hope so?

There are a few things that could put them at that weight, but feeding them less, or they are bad feeders are at the top of my list. I have a female that was hatched in August and she's only about 125 grams. She didn't eat very well until the last couple months and she was hatched at 45 grams.

I got a bp about a month ago that was born August 2011 and weighed 160g, she already put on 70g since i got her.

Like others have said, they could just be reluctant feeders. Out of a clutch of 10 that I had hatch last July, one male is only 130 grams while all the others are 200 or more.

ALL of his babies though? I looked through and could only count 6 out of 100+ 2011's that were over 100g. His site also says it was updated on March 18 2012.

He's a good guy. I'd straight out ask him what's up with the weights if I were interested. There are many legitimate reasons the weights could be listed as they are.

He's a member here, maybe he'll chime in and say something.

If it is who I think it is then they are hatch weights. If I'm right then this is the same person I bought 5 snakes from in feb. and all were October babies and around the 180-200 gram mark when I got them. If you give him a call he will give you updated weights on them.

Just looked at the post on KS and it is him. Those are definitely hatch weights. Tim is a great guy and I would not hesitate to do business with him. All 5 of the snakes I got from him came healthy, packed well, and are all eating great.

It's possible the feeders are light, or he's feeding more like every 10 days, instead of 7. There's no harm in that, the babies just grow more slowly.

Sorry I have not been around the site lately, as I have been extremely busy at my real job, as well as trying to build a new 2000 sq. ft facility for the snakes, as well as hatching Blood Pythons and breeding Ball Pythons, Corn Snakes, Rhino Rats, etc. etc. That also explains the lack of time to update the weights on my available animals. As many have stated, I answer the phone regularly and answer e-mails fairly quickly. I will answer anyones request for updated weights or pictures. 99% of the weights on my website are hatch weights, as I haven't had time to update over 160 available animals weights. As far as the updated dates on my website, everytime I log in to update an animal as sold, it will show an updated date. That doesn't mean that everything gets updated.

In regards to lighter weights, I do feed all of my available animals every seven days. However, I do feed them slightly smaller meals, due to the fact that I can't grow all of the available animals to 600 grams as fast as possible, or I run the risk of running out of large tubs for them. On top of that fact, while I do feed my holdbacks at a much higher rate, there has always been some questions around the health of the animal by feeding so much. Therefore, I feed my "available" animals at a steady growth rate, so that the customer can make the decision on how they want to feed, and possibly affect health. This is not a race, and even with my holdbacks, I try to put 500 grams per year on a female, which brings her to breeding weight in three years. I believe that is the bast way. I also attempt to get my males to 700 grams by 2 years old, which I also believe is healthy and gives the best result for breeding. Now I do have the occassional exception male that I get excited about and attempt to get to 550 grams in 9 - 10 months for earlier attempts at breeding. I guess that is enough said, as I could ramble about this for hours and pages.

If anyone has any questions, please feel free to call or e-mail me, as I guarantee you I will answer any question or concern you may have. Again, please don't PM me at this time, as my time is a lot more scarce than I would like, as I truly do miss being able to contribute to this board the way I used too.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by aalomon

I was leaning towards hatching weight, until I saw he also has a 2010 listed at 436g....

---

See my post above. I believe that is a perfectly acceptable weight for a yearling. Also, some snakes go off feed longer than others. My animals are offered food every 7 days, period. Some eat, some don't. You can't force them to eat. I have some girls that are 7 years old and just over 1000 grams. Snakes are just like people, some are bigger than normal, some are smaller than normal and the rest are as average as can be expected. With that said, Can I get a female to 2000 grams in 20 months? The answer is yes. Have I done it before? The answer is yes. Do I do that any more? The answer is no. Is that healthy for the animal, or will it shorten her life span or breeding life? Possibly, but that answer has been debated for many years and I don't feel the need to take the chance any longer.

Gosh, I don't know. It seems to be very common: last season I bought a 6 month-old import from a well-known breeder that arrived weighing 90 grams. At least she came with an appetite! I swear all she did was eat for the first year I had her. 18 months later, I still have to dump her out of her feeding box before I pick her up, because she assumes my hand is the fourth helping.

And I just had a conversation with someone considering buying one of my females, and he said all of his 2011 snakes were up around 700 grams. My 2010 YEARLINGS are around 700 grams... my 2011 HATCHLINGS are between 200-300 grams. My two fatties are only at 330 grams. And they look like footballs with heads and flicking tongues.

He said he feeds live every 4 or 5 days. I feed f/t, and I've got grad school going on, so I've only been feeding my babies on the same schedule as the adults, every 10-14 days. But my slow starter male is still up to 200 grams.

(Sorry Tim, it took me a while to realize that you were the breeder responding, not just a slow feeder weighing in.)