Finally Weighed my Yearling...comments?

Eden is approximately 362 grams, which I know thanks to my local pet store having a scale and a converter 😧 So, that being said, how is she doing? Still eating f/t rats. Is she a good weight?

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I'm assuming it is a Ball Python? Around 400 grams in a year, you are feeding ever 14 days I assume?

"Yearling" covers a pretty broad time range. My first bp, who is now about a year old, is about 230g, which I contribute to the fact I had him on fuzzy mice for the first few months I had him. On the other hand, a pair of females I bought as yearlings in October were about 500g when I first weighed them. Not totally sure their exact age, and I suspect I might have been overfeeding them because they're up to 750 now. It seems to really depend on how much you feed them.

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Originally Posted by Ransack

I'm assuming it is a Ball Python? Around 400 grams in a year, you are feeding ever 14 days I assume?

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Yes. Female. year-old in Novemeber. Was eating 2 small mice every other week, now eating small rats steadily for a month.

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Originally Posted by Daigga

"Yearling" covers a pretty broad time range. My first bp, who is now about a year old, is about 230g, which I contribute to the fact I had him on fuzzy mice for the first few months I had him. On the other hand, a pair of females I bought as yearlings in October were about 500g when I first weighed them. Not totally sure their exact age, and I suspect I might have been overfeeding them because they're up to 750 now. It seems to really depend on how much you feed them.

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I'm just concerned because, locally, the yearlings raised by the pros are coming in at 500g!

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Originally Posted by SCWood

I'm just concerned because, locally, the yearlings raised by the pros are coming in at 500g!l

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It's all about feeding. If you put as much food into them as they'll take, they'll pack on the weight. You may face some issues with obesity, but they'll be ready faster I suppose. I watched one of the newer episodes of SnakeBytes and I think Brian said he could get his snakes to up to 700g in their first year (I might be misremembering, someone chime in here?), but I personally wouldn't try for that myself.

Her weight sounds fine. Keep doing what you are doing. Don't try to compare with the sizes of others as their growth rate varies from snake to snake.

Thanks!

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Originally Posted by Kaorte

Her weight sounds fine. Keep doing what you are doing. Don't try to compare with the sizes of others as their growth rate varies from snake to snake.

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I second this^
every ball python grows at different rates. How often you feed plays a big part but as long as the animal looks healthy (not skinny but not obese) that is all that matters. Some people may have larger yearlings because they feed more often to get them to breeding weight faster and some people just have some fast growing snake. I feed rats every 7 days regardless of age. My 7 month female is just shy of 400g, my 6 month male is just over 300g, but I have a 8 month old male that is only under 200g. That male I got as a problem feeder and has continued to be a problem but he maintains his weight and is healthy. There is a chart someone posted from a breeder that recorded the weights of an entire clutch as they grew and averaged them out. It's a pretty decent reference but idk where I saw it

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Originally Posted by aLittleLessButter

I second this^
every ball python grows at different rates. How often you feed plays a big part but as long as the animal looks healthy (not skinny but not obese) that is all that matters. Some people may have larger yearlings because they feed more often to get them to breeding weight faster and some people just have some fast growing snake. I feed rats every 7 days regardless of age. My 7 month female is just shy of 400g, my 6 month male is just over 300g, but I have a 8 month old male that is only under 200g. That male I got as a problem feeder and has continued to be a problem but he maintains his weight and is healthy. There is a chart someone posted from a breeder that recorded the weights of an entire clutch as they grew and averaged them out. It's a pretty decent reference but idk where I saw it

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If I fed rats weekly, I'd be evicted for power feeding. ..

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Originally Posted by SCWood

If I fed rats weekly, I'd be evicted for power feeding. ..

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Why? Feeding once a week isn't power feeding

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Originally Posted by aLittleLessButter

Why? Feeding once a week isn't power feeding

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My in laws got these two from a breeder and claim they were told to feed biweekly. They already think a rat biweekly is power feeding even though it goes along with their weight and mass. If I were to switch it to weekly they would definitely kill me.

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I feed my 7 mo. old 1 rat pup every 6 to 7 days depending on how big the pup is,and how hungry he is. Believe me he lets me know he's hungry. I am not worried about his weight cause he looks good and i watch him closely. As long as he grows at a normal rate its good. I just moved his food up in size from small rat pups to large rat pups. I have a large reptile store near me, so i can get whatever size i need at the time. If i tried to skip a meal, except when hes in shed, he would probubly try to eat me. I was never kidding when i call nugget a reptile vaccume.

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Originally Posted by blue roses

I feed my 7 mo. old 1 rat pup every 6 to 7 days depending on how big the pup is,and how hungry he is. Believe me he lets me know he's hungry. I am not worried about his weight cause he looks good and i watch him closely. As long as he grows at a normal rate its good. I just moved his food up in size from small rat pups to large rat pups. I have a large reptile store near me, so i can get whatever size i need at the time. If i tried to skip a meal, except when hes in shed, he would probubly try to eat me. I was never kidding when i call nugget a reptile vaccume.

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And that's the thing, I haven't seen much of a difference but MIL says they're growing too fast. Granted they're getting a little wider but they've only shed once since I started rats

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Originally Posted by scwood

if i fed rats weekly, i'd be evicted for power feeding. ..

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smh

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Originally Posted by PitOnTheProwl

smh

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It's true. And the MIL is convinced that she can see them growing too quickly and wants to space the feedings at every 3 weeks!

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That's not what I was shaking my head at....................
I wish people would learn the what the term new phrase they learn means.
Power feeding is not feeding weekly or multiple meals that your reptile willingly eats.

I feed once every 5 days or so. I feed an appropriate sized meal and my babies ALL grow fairly quick compared to what I've seen in this thread. My August hatchlings are already pushing 300 grams. I am 100% in agreement with Brian from Snakebytestv claim of 700grams in the first year. Hell, if I had the time now to feed how I normally feed my babies, they'd be way bigger by now, but for now it's once every 5-7 days. I don't consider any of them obese either. They are nice and healthy.

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Originally Posted by SCWood

If I fed rats weekly, I'd be evicted for power feeding. ..

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Most people feed their non adults every 3-5 days depending on prey size. Then once they're up to near adult size once a week is fine. Feeding weekly is NOT power feeding. Feeding large prey item every 2-3 days is. Even a smaller prey item every 3 days is fine.

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Originally Posted by PitOnTheProwl

That's not what I was shaking my head at....................
I wish people would learn the what the term new phrase they learn means.
Power feeding is not feeding weekly or multiple meals that your reptile willingly eats.

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I do wish she knew too I think she is paranoid. She really loves her snake but she is also scared because she's had a big snake before and it was a bad experience.

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Originally Posted by TheSnakeEye

I feed once every 5 days or so. I feed an appropriate sized meal and my babies ALL grow fairly quick compared to what I've seen in this thread. My August hatchlings are already pushing 300 grams. I am 100% in agreement with Brian from Snakebytestv claim of 700grams in the first year. Hell, if I had the time now to feed how I normally feed my babies, they'd be way bigger by now, but for now it's once every 5-7 days. I don't consider any of them obese either. They are nice and healthy.

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That sounds reasonable. She is healthy I just think it wouldn't hurt.

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Originally Posted by Johnk

Most people feed their non adults every 3-5 days depending on prey size. Then once they're up to near adult size once a week is fine. Feeding weekly is NOT power feeding. Feeding large prey item every 2-3 days is. Even a smaller prey item every 3 days is fine.

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My fiancee and I decided that we are just going to feed a small rat once a week when she is not home and see how it goes for the next month. If it doesn't go well, i.e. somebody puts on too much weight, we will slow down again but for now I am considering this a feeding experiment to see how it affects the growth without adverse effects. I'll most likely start keeping a log.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by PitOnTheProwl

That's not what I was shaking my head at....................
I wish people would learn the what the term new phrase they learn means.
Power feeding is not feeding weekly or multiple meals that your reptile willingly eats.

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Originally Posted by TheSnakeEye

I feed once every 5 days or so. I feed an appropriate sized meal and my babies ALL grow fairly quick compared to what I've seen in this thread. My August hatchlings are already pushing 300 grams. I am 100% in agreement with Brian from Snakebytestv claim of 700grams in the first year. Hell, if I had the time now to feed how I normally feed my babies, they'd be way bigger by now, but for now it's once every 5-7 days. I don't consider any of them obese either. They are nice and healthy.

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And here she is, eating away
http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15...d2ca85297c.jpg
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