I have a dwarf BP...?

Wow; this is weird. My '02 male, Ashes, seems to be a dwarf. He eats regularly and has no internal parasites, and is kept at optimal conditions. But he is still only around 2 feet in length; it seems that he has not grown much in a year!
Maybe he is a dwarf? He has a great appetite, feeding on hopper rats, and a nice muscular body structure. But he still seems to be smaller than he should be.

wow, my bp ist about 8 months old and he/she is 30" already

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Originally Posted by Ginevive

Wow; this is weird. My '02 male, Ashes, seems to be a dwarf. He eats regularly and has no internal parasites, and is kept at optimal conditions. But he is still only around 2 feet in length; it seems that he has not grown much in a year!
Maybe he is a dwarf? He has a great appetite, feeding on hopper rats, and a nice muscular body structure. But he still seems to be smaller than he should be.

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"Dwarfism" is a genetic condition. Without breeding him to find out what's behind his genetics, he is technically just a "smaller" ball python. I've found that there is a pretty extreme variability to sizes among both male and female ball pythons.

For example, I have a 1999 male pastel that is well over 3000 grams and a 1999 hypo that is 1,100 grams ... both are fed on the same schedule and are free of internal parasites.

-adam

Adam, do you intentionally keep smaller snakes out of your breeding schedule?

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Originally Posted by IamKaervek

Adam, do you intentionally keep smaller snakes out of your breeding schedule?

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I don't breed any animals that are not physically ready for the stess that breeding puts them through. The animals well being ALWAYS comes first.

-adam

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Originally Posted by Adam_Wysocki

I don't breed any animals that are not physically ready for the stess that breeding puts them through. The animals well being ALWAYS comes first.

-adam

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OK, so size and sexual maturity aren't independant with regards to breeding readiness. Thanks.

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Originally Posted by IamKaervek

OK, so size and sexual maturity aren't independant with regards to breeding readiness. Thanks.

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Is that what I said?

-adam

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Originally Posted by Adam_Wysocki

Is that what I said?

-adam

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So you would breed an adult ball python that doesn't appear to have "normal" growth, but has reached sexual maturity based upon age? Would you only breed him with a female of similar characteristics? Does it depend upon the smaller snake's sex?

Maybe I didn't phrase my original question well enough: Do you intentionally keep smaller, apparently "dwarfed" snakes (not necessarily proven dwarves), out of your breeding schedule entirely, regardless of sexual maturity?

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Originally Posted by IamKaervek

So you would breed an adult ball python that doesn't appear to have "normal" growth, but has reached sexual maturity based upon age? Would you only breed him with a female of similar characteristics? Does it depend upon the smaller snake's sex?

Maybe I didn't phrase my original question well enough: Do you intentionally keep smaller, apparently "dwarfed" snakes (not necessarily proven dwarves), out of your breeding schedule entirely, regardless of sexual maturity?

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You are assuming that I have "dwarfed" snakes?

-adam

how about just answering the question, hypothetically or not? Or you could just ignore me. At this point, we're kind of defeating the purpose. You make it sound like I'm accusing you of something - looking for conflict, perhaps? Bored?

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Originally Posted by IamKaervek

how about just answering the question, hypothetically or not? Or you could just ignore me. At this point, we're kind of defeating the purpose. You make it sound like I'm accusing you of something - looking for conflict, perhaps? Bored?

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I was just trying to understand your question. I don't feel that I typed anything indicative of wanting to start a conflict.

Had you stated "hypothetically" in your original question I would have definitely responded differently.

I'm sorry that I failed to understand what you were asking.

-adam

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Originally Posted by Adam_Wysocki

You are assuming that I have "dwarfed" snakes?

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No, I never assumed that. But, having bred snakes for longer than I've been alive, I figured you might have some experience with similar abnormalities, whether they were health-threatening to the snake or not.

I said "would you[...]," which tends to lean towards the side of speculation, not accusation. I didn't ask if you breed the dwarves that you do have, but rather would you breed such snakes. Either way, a simple "If I had dwarves, I would [...]" response would have sufficed, not a bunch of rhetorical questions and a merry-go-round Q & A session waiting for me to phrase the question in a fashion that you found ideal.

You said earlier that a snake isn't necessarily a dwarf unless it's been bred and proven, and this led to my question of whether or not you've done that in the past.

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Originally Posted by Adam_Wysocki

I was just trying to understand your question. I don't feel that I typed anything indicative of wanting to start a conflict.

Had you stated "hypothetically" in your original question I would have definitely responded differently.

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"Do you intentionally keep smaller, apparently 'dwarfed' snakes (not necessarily proven dwarves)[...]"
You've never had a snake that was smaller than normal, even if it reached the age of sexual maturity, and made a decision as to whether or not you'd breed him/her?

See, there's no insinuations there. No accusations or attacks at the quality of your breeding stock - just a simple, "what if" question.

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Originally Posted by Adam_Wysocki

I'm sorry that I failed to understand what you were asking.

-adam

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And I'm sorry if I didn't phrase it more clearly.

</frustration>

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Originally Posted by IamKaervek

... a simple "If I had dwarves, I would [...]" response would have sufficed ...

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I see. Sorry about that.

-adam

Curiousity (and hypothetical OF COURSE, lol): Say you have a dwarf female- 3rd winter, eating consistently, healthy, but small at 1300 grams. Would it be healthy for her to breed?

So basically what you guys are getting at is.......Is there a minimum length that would be unhealthy for a female ball python to breed?

Say there is a female that is 1500 grams and only 2.5 ft (30 in) long.... she would be at least 1500 grams and weight 500 grams per foot......but would the lack of length impair her ability to carry and lay eggs properly? What if she was less than 2.5 ft long but still met the 'weight requirement'?