Extreme stunted growth

A couple days ago I made a post about this pewter girl I was going to pick up. I've been looking for a pewter and I knew when I saw her picture I had to have her. I was told she is 347g.

The person I got her from is a local breeder. She told me she got screwed on when she had first bought the pewter. She paid $400 for her and was told she was over 1200g. Well of course I didn't pay what she paid because she's so small.

So I pick her up yesterday. Upon seeing her I thought her head looked a bit big for a 2013 (which I was assuming she was), and that she appeared overall more mature.

The breeder asked if I want to know the year and I say yeah of course (thinking maybe she might be a 2012). Get this.....SHE IS A 2010! She is THREE years old.
I stood there in shock and then started laughing, thinking she was pulling my chain, and saying "nuh uh...no...that can't possibly be true" etc.
Well, it is true. The first owner fed her 1 hopper mouse once per month.

I still feel in shock. I can't believe the ignorance, the laziness, the neglect people can put on a poor animal!

Here is the original picture I was sent of her. Perfect pewter in my opinion, EXACTLY what I was looking for.

http://imageshack.com/a/img692/5052/fqzg.jpg

Here is her after getting her home. She's very deep in shed, poor picture quality. I'll take more once she sheds and settles in.
http://imageshack.com/a/img96/6377/lxaz.jpg

Good news is... you have her now :)
She is beautiful!!

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 4

Wow!!! So tiny for three years old!! She is a beautiful pewter tho.

sent from my incubator

I wonder if she'll grow like a weed now that you have her!

Wow, that is small for 3 years old!! She's very pretty though!

I have a 1 year old normal I bought from a kid who was going away to college. When I got her she was like 140g! I have had her for about 2 months and she's up to 400g and eating like a pig.

Wow that's crazy 3 years old at 332.. My lesser did that in around 3 months let alone years. I bet she will devour now that she will be feed properly

Yes I'm very much looking forward to seeing her grow properly. I have 2013 babies bigger than her.
I record everyone's growth/feeding/shedding already but I'll keep an extra close eye on hers. It'll be very interesting to look at her stats compared next to someone of similar size, but very different age

are there health issues to be expected?

just a few days ago i watched a video by perhistoricpetsTV on how to control growth of reticulated pythons by controlling the amount of food.

still, the weight is seriously off. a hopper mouse per month is just not enough, not even if you want the snake to grow slowly.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Pythonfriend

are there health issues to be expected?

just a few days ago i watched a video by perhistoricpetsTV on how to control growth of reticulated pythons by controlling the amount of food.

still, the weight is seriously off. a hopper mouse per month is just not enough, not even if you want the snake to grow slowly.

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Besides being very small for her age, I haven't noticed any health concerns. Active, plenty of tongue flicking. She's not "thin" by any means, just very very small.

Yeah I've heard of controlling the size of the snake by minimalistic feeding but I agree this goes way beyond that.

I will start her on a smaller sized prey item than I normally would for a ball her size. I'm thinking a small sized weanling ~30g every 5 days and move onward from there.

Oh BTW she's been checked for any internal parasites (the breeder I get her from does a fecal check on all new arrivals and continues periodically) and she's clean. Of course in quarantine still though

As plump as she is I doubt she is 3 years old.

A 3 year old underfed BP eating a hopper a month would not look that plump.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Deborah

As plump as she is I doubt she is 3 years old.

A 3 year old underfed BP eating a hopper a month would not look that plump.

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I agree... she could've easily been mislead on her DOB as well.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Deborah

As plump as she is I doubt she is 3 years old.

A 3 year old underfed BP eating a hopper a month would not look that plump.

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She was in the care of the breeder I got her from who I know what feeding her well, she had her for 2 weeks. She said she was thin, but not emaciated.
I chalked it up to that she's been fed good since leaving her first home.

I think it's VERY possible that her age was also a lie.

I have an early 2012 bee that was an extremely hard starter and refused 99% of food for a long time. It got to the point where I was considering force feeding her. Then one day it just clicked in her head that she needs to eat. Once she started feeding she plumped up very quickly. Here's a couple pics to show how dramatic the change was.



March 13th 2013
http://imageshack.com/a/img69/1952/03ww.jpg
April 24th 2013
http://imageshack.com/a/img191/331/d6o7.jpg

Lovely little girl, but I'll pretty much guarantee she's no 2010.

I've seen and dealt with many underfed and neglected snakes over the years, and trust me if she was that far malnourished she'd be skin and bones. I recused a normal that was 135 grams at 8 months old, and he looked like a pencil with shar-pei skin. This girl is very nicely rounded and well proportioned, if small. My guess is she's probably a 2012. I know breeders can "maintainence" feed and keep a ball python small but well proportioned for up to a year. But beyond that year mark, it starts to show. They tend to get long and look skinny. This girl really doesn't.

If it were me, I think I would keep her meals small but frequent for now, just to kind of sound her out, she how she handles it. The normal male I got at 135 grams stayed stunted for the better part of a year, even though he was eating regularly. I suspect it just took his body a while to catch up to where it should have been. When we rehomed him, he was up to 850 grams and looked amazing.

Best wishes for you and her.

Gale

I think im gonna go with what Gale said. She is small, but def proportioned. A three year old snake only fed a hopper mouse once a month would def look much much thinner.

sent from my incubator

Just wanted to give an update. She has eaten twice for me so far. First time was hesitant and ate it overnight, second time was a nice strike and coil. I have high hopes for this girl, she is one of my favorites currently. Oh and I named her Callisto.

Here is her next to our new super pastel lesser female we got today, with flash. Both are in quarantine in the same room
http://imageshack.com/a/img689/6505/d3op.jpghttp://imageshack.com/a/img853/5703/2m7b.jpg
http://imageshack.com/a/img703/7727/uuwi.jpgWithout flash. A bit too yellow for her actual color.
http://imageshack.com/a/img39/6667/3axv.jpghttp://imageshack.com/a/img199/6752/2o1b.jpghttp://imageshack.com/a/img202/7126/yq84.jpg
http://imageshack.com/a/img849/5594/t0e3.jpg