Under weight Female

Hey Guys, my girl is (supposed to be) 8 months, ive had her three weeks, shes fed 3 times for me no issues. She is only 228g. The breeder says she never had any issues eating, but did say he held off feeding her for 2 weeks before i got her to hopefully get her to eat well for me, does that makes sense? Currently she is eating large mice, the last one she ate was 2 days ago and was 21g. Im thinking of moving her to rat pups and bumping the feedings to every 5 days, do you think this is a good idea?

Also note; she doesn't look unhealthy by any means, no loose skin or anything.
Cheers

I wouldn't worry about it as long as she's eating and growing, and doesn't look thin. They grow at different rates.

I would definitely get her switched over to rat pups sooner rather than later.

Feeding every 5 days is up to you. I feed my 2 every 5 days but it's only bc I know there hungry by there behavior. My 275g killer bee wants to eat every 3 but I think that's a bit much so she has to tuff it out 2 more days lol. For switching her prey that is no problem but make sure the pup is about as big around as your snake is. You can also weigh the rodent and feed the 10%-15% of your snakes weight, so at 228g your snake should be eating a rodent about 22.8g-34.2g. I usually do 10% every 5 days, but once in awhile they get one closer to 15%. If I was feeding 15% every feeding I personally would feed every 7 bc they would be eating more.

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If she doesn't seem unhealthy then she's just growing at her own rate. But yeah I would get her on rats as soon as possible and I feed mine every 5 days if they will take it which they pretty much always do.
If I'm not mistaken if they feed on mice they don't tend to grow that quick.

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Originally Posted by chrid16371

Feeding every 5 days is up to you. I feed my 2 every 5 days but it's only bc I know there hungry by there behavior. My 275g killer bee wants to eat every 3 but I think that's a bit much so she has to tuff it out 2 more days lol. For switching her prey that is no problem but make sure the pup is about as big around as your snake is. You can also weigh the rodent and feed the 10%-15% of your snakes weight, so at 228g your snake should be eating a rodent about 22.8g-34.2g. I usually do 10% every 5 days, but once in awhile they get one closer to 15%. If I was feeding 15% every feeding I personally would feed every 7 bc they would be eating more.

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She usually looks hungry at 5 days, poking her head out, looking around, then hits the mouse as soon as i show her lol, she definitely has girthed up since i got her

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Originally Posted by Flood92

She usually looks hungry at 5 days, poking her head out, looking around, then hits the mouse as soon as i show her lol, she definitely has girthed up since i got her

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Then go ahead and feed her every 5 days then. Glad to hear she's eating and growing! If you can buy the pups local then take a scale with if you have one and weigh the ones you buy and IMO you should get ones closer to the 10% range since you will be feeding every 5 instead of 7. My logic for that is you were feeding twice every 14 days and now you will be feeding 3 times every 15 so she will get a extra rat every in 2 weeks so you should keep it on the light end so she is not over fed. One closer to 15% once in awhile won't hurt. This logic of mine of course is my opinion but bps tend to be overfed in captivity so that's why I say keep it on the lighter side of the % rule.

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Originally Posted by chrid16371

Then go ahead and feed her every 5 days then. Glad to hear she's eating and growing! If you can buy the pups local then take a scale with if you have one and weigh the ones you buy and IMO you should get ones closer to the 10% range since you will be feeding every 5 instead of 7. My logic for that is you were feeding twice every 14 days and now you will be feeding 3 times every 15 so she will get a extra rat every in 2 weeks so you should keep it on the light end so she is not over fed. One closer to 15% once in awhile won't hurt. This logic of mine of course is my opinion but bps tend to be overfed in captivity so that's why I say keep it on the lighter side of the % rule.

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I think this sounds great, I have to drive about an hour to get rat pups, as my local store wont bring in rats :( for whatever reason, but i always wanted to move her to rats.
I was happy when i found out the % guidelines so i have something to go by other than her girth. i think we definitely like to spoil them :P no way they are coming across 5-6 rats a month in the wild lol!

My story continues.. I drove an hour to the Rat supplier, as she told me she had Pups. I get there, she had no pups. Only what she said were "between" pups and weanlings. She didn't have a scale so i pretty well eyeballed it and hoped for the best. I get home and weighed one, they are 51g each.

I still have one Adult Mouse to feed, which will be Tuesday (they are slightly smaller than her girth and dont usually leave a belly bump), and hoping by next week she will be up to 280-300g, then these rats will be 17-18% of her body weight. Next feeding i will lay the rat beside her to see size.

Do you guys think 17-18% is too big, should i supplement with a couple more adult mouse feedings till she is over 300g?

Thanks for all the help!

51g is about a small rat. Another thing I did before I bought a scale is take a string and put it around the snakes widest part and then hold it where they meet and then take it off and cut it and then put it around the rat and if it's close then it will be ok. But if the string about fits being 17%-18% I wouldn't feed every 5 days.

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Originally Posted by chrid16371

51g is about a small rat. Another thing I did before I bought a scale is take a string and put it around the snakes widest part and then hold it where they meet and then take it off and cut it and then put it around the rat and if it's close then it will be ok. But if the string about fits being 17%-18% I wouldn't feed every 5 days.

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That is a great idea thank you!
Sorry, i forgot to mention, if she can eat these i would pull back to once a Week

If she has never ate rats before she may refuse them. If they are to big and you wait until she's a little bigger to try rats then I would make sure you have a couple mice on hand just in case she refuses the rat.

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I personally think your snake is way underweight for its age, I like to see between 50 and 100 grams per month of weight gain for the first year from my baby ball pythons.

I would get your snake off of mice and onto rats ASAP.

If you can't see the body of the mouse or rat inside of the snake then the food item is too small, don't be afraid to feed more than one mouse or rat at a time.

It's not uncommon for me to offer my babies that are less than a year old a rat every 3 to 4 days.

Best of luck

Brian

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Originally Posted by For Goodness Snakes

I personally think your snake is way underweight for its age, I like to see between 50 and 100 grams per month of weight gain for the first year from my baby ball pythons.

I would get your snake off of mice and onto rats ASAP.

If you can't see the body of the mouse or rat inside of the snake then the food item is too small, don't be afraid to feed more than one mouse or rat at a time.

It's not uncommon for me to offer my babies that are less than a year old a rat every 3 to 4 days.

Best of luck

Brian

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I was also thinking she is really underweight, ever since i was reading over the "whats you BP age and weight" i started getting a little worried, but nonetheless she seems happy and doesn't look malnourished, she seemed small when i got her from the breeder, so ill continue to keep trying to get weight on her. Shes put on about 50g in the 3 weeks ive had her, so im feeling better

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Originally Posted by Flood92

I was also thinking she is really underweight, ever since i was reading over the "whats you BP age and weight" i started getting a little worried, but nonetheless she seems happy and doesn't look malnourished, she seemed small when i got her from the breeder, so ill continue to keep trying to get weight on her. Shes put on about 50g in the 3 weeks ive had her, so im feeling better

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Snakes grow at different rates. I'm getting a 0.1 toffino enchi from a very reputable breeder and she was hatched on 10/26/15 and last month he weighed her for me and she came in at 123g and she's 7 months old now. My super pastel was about 300g at the same age. Quite a bit of difference right? But I'm not worried bc I know snakes like people grow at different rates and she is coming from someone that is widely known for his bps.

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Originally Posted by chrid16371

Snakes grow at different rates. I'm getting a 0.1 toffino enchi from a very reputable breeder and she was hatched on 10/26/15 and last month he weighed her for me and she came in at 123g and she's 7 months old now. My super pastel was about 300g at the same age. Quite a bit of difference right? But I'm not worried bc I know snakes like people grow at different rates and she is coming from someone that is widely known for his bps.

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This makes me feel a little better, like i said, she doesn't look underweight, and seems happy, husbandry wise. I just got to reading the Thread about Age's and sizes so it made me question her size, I did get her from a reputable as well. I am not going to power feed her. I just want to make sure she is healthy and happy, ill post a picture tonight

alright, i think the mice i have been feeding are too small. Or i have underestimated the amount she has grown since i got her, i apologize for the quality of some photos.. cell phone
http://i781.photobucket.com/albums/y...pshlettuii.jpg
ribbon is her fattest belly size
http://i781.photobucket.com/albums/y...psawawabtp.jpg
http://i781.photobucket.com/albums/y...psf756zlui.jpg
Mouse she is eating now below
http://i781.photobucket.com/albums/y...psoxemitam.jpg
Mouse beside new Rat
http://i781.photobucket.com/albums/y...psdyqo3sa0.jpg
http://i781.photobucket.com/albums/y...pssx7vhtrd.jpg
http://i781.photobucket.com/albums/y...psm84g6kxu.jpg

So the ribbon fits around the small rat? How tight is it pulled to make them meet and how tight did you put it around your bp? Either way it looks pretty darn close enough to feed her it. My 0.1 killer bee is still on large mice bc I'm waiting till 2 weeks before I have my toffino enchi bp bc she is on rat fuzzies and I can't buy anything other than pinkies and smalls or larger locally so I want to make it worth it when I order online so I can have enough for 4 snakes for about 4-6 months. Hoping the kb will switch to rats ok but seeing how big your snake is she looks about the same size as mine so I'll have to pull out the string again and measure her and see if she's big enough for small rats and try to switch her before I make the order.

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Originally Posted by chrid16371

So the ribbon fits around the small rat? How tight is it pulled to make them meet and how tight did you put it around your bp? Either way it looks pretty darn close enough to feed her it. My 0.1 killer bee is still on large mice bc I'm waiting till 2 weeks before I have my toffino enchi bp bc she is on rat fuzzies and I can't buy anything other than pinkies and smalls or larger locally so I want to make it worth it when I order online so I can have enough for 4 snakes for about 4-6 months. Hoping the kb will switch to rats ok but seeing how big your snake is she looks about the same size as mine so I'll have to pull out the string again and measure her and see if she's big enough for small rats and try to switch her before I make the order.

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i had to pull it a little tight to touch, i couldn't get the darn ribbon to stay still! if it could lay flat there's about a 1/8inch between the ends not pulling at all. when i put it around my bp i had ti tight against her skin, then she slithered right out of it. Im pretty confident she can take it safely, i didn't realize how small those mice were!

Shes been such a good eater, i have high hopes for her switch to rats, Im going to push it back till Wednesday thaw a rat and the mouse and try to scent the rat to help her.

I know how you feel with your local shops..its a pain when they don't have good stock.

You guys are putting WAY too much thought and effort into this. :gj:

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Originally Posted by Eric Alan

You guys are putting WAY too much thought and effort into this. :gj:

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I couldn't agree more Eric.

Brian

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Originally Posted by Eric Alan

You guys are putting WAY too much thought and effort into this. :gj:

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Lol yeah your right but going from a large mouse to a small rat is quite the jump so I figure better safe then sorry.

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There's always gerbils or asf rats (African soft fur). They are a bit pricy though and not every place carries them, but it's more of their native prey. Normal rats work fine "usually".

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