possible dwarf?

we have had the same norm female ball python at the shop for a year and a half. gets fed every week(adult mice) completely healthy not skinny but only weighs 185 grams. her male sibling is already at about 400-600 grams(i dont weigh them at the shop so not completely sure). she is not for sale as i dont know i this is genetic or not or just a deformity. any ideas?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by uro1001

we have had the same norm female ball python at the shop for a year and a half. gets fed every week(adult mice) completely healthy not skinny but only weighs 185 grams. her male sibling is already at about 400-600 grams(i dont weigh them at the shop so not completely sure). she is not for sale as i dont know i this is genetic or not or just a deformity. any ideas?

---

At 185 grams, she's no dwarf ... there is something wrong with her.

-adam

Odd... maybe she's waiting for a growth spurt? ;)
Is she really short as well?

she basicly stopped growing at 185 grams. she eats well and the vet doesnt know anything lol

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by uro1001

she basicly stopped growing at 185 grams. she eats well and the vet doesnt know anything lol

---

...sounds like you might need a new vet...

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by elevatethis

...sounds like you might need a new vet...

---

LMAO! ... ya think? :rofl:

-adam

possible parasites?

nope negative parasites. my vet is john rossi and hes pretty knowledgeable. he just thinks its a mutation.

Gary Orner who runs the reptile room forum has a similiar female BP that hasn't really grown over the years.
I think she finally maxed at about 400 grams.

He never found out what caused her to be so tiny and grow so slow.

You may want to compare experiences.

There was someone that had a litter of boas with a "dwarf" baby. He was like 1/2 the size of his siblings and as far as I know he is still much smaller than normal. It could be possible. You never know.

Every breeder encounters litters with anomolies ... unless it's genetically reproducible, that's all it is.

-adam

Heres the link to Pip
http://reptiliandreams.com/projects/pip/pip.html

I doubt it will be genetic but you never know.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Pork Chops N' Corn Bread

I doubt it will be genetic but you never know.

---

When you work with and produce these animals in enough numbers to see the wierd stuff that hatches every season you realize that stuff like that isn't genetic ... it's just a "malfunction" somewhere ... the thing that a lot of people forget is that it's natures design to not allow all of these animals to survive and thrive.

-adam

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Adam_Wysocki

When you work with and produce these animals in enough numbers to see the wierd stuff that hatches every season you realize that stuff like that isn't genetic ... it's just a "malfunction" somewhere ... the thing that a lot of people forget is that it's natures design to not allow all of these animals to survive and thrive.

-adam

---

Agreed

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Pork Chops N' Corn Bread

Heres the link to Pip
http://reptiliandreams.com/projects/pip/pip.html

I doubt it will be genetic but you never know.

---

How would something like that be proven genetic anyhow? Wouldn't it be dangerous (at the very least) to try breeding a female that small?? If she would even breed at all. I suppose if someone came across a male with the same kind of "dwarfism".... :confuzd:

However, I agree with Adam. Sometimes things just get messed up, either as a "malfunction" or in the incubation process. It's just a part of nature. It's not something I would even attempt to reproduce.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Pork Chops N' Corn Bread

There was someone that had a litter of boas with a "dwarf" baby. He was like 1/2 the size of his siblings and as far as I know he is still much smaller than normal. It could be possible. You never know.

---

That was Mike Greathouse.
"Pip" the Colombian boa.
Still tiny and doing great. Mike posts updates on Fauna every once in a while about Pip.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by SPJ

That was Mike Greathouse.
"Pip" the Colombian boa.
Still tiny and doing great. Mike posts updates on Fauna every once in a while about Pip.

---

Thats where I saw it at but i figured his web page is better than reading through 13 pages of talk.

BTW Judy, Pip is a male

The snake doesn't look "ferfectly formed" to me...

Anyway the closest experience I have to this is with one of my cats... When we got her as a kitten, some kid from the neighborhood had found her and was playing with her on our porch with my kid cousin... the kitten was obviously a runt and malnurished. 3-4 years later she has reached her full size, equivalent to that of an average 6-month old kitten. I doubt it is genetic and I'd never risk breeding her since she is so much smaller than your average adult female cat.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Rapture

The snake doesn't look "ferfectly formed" to me...

Anyway the closest experience I have to this is with one of my cats... When we got her as a kitten, some kid from the neighborhood had found her and was playing with her on our porch with my kid cousin... the kitten was obviously a runt and malnurished. 3-4 years later she has reached her full size, equivalent to that of an average 6-month old kitten. I doubt it is genetic and I'd never risk breeding her since she is so much smaller than your average adult female cat.

---

About your cat, that is like dwarf b.c.imperator Localities and P. Reticulatus island localities, Lack of available food and genetics have forced them to survive with less food for a certain period of time that eventually, the Island locality is no longer as big as its mainland cousins. Very similar to your cat. But being for a litter of all normal babies and born with that much of a difference in size is not normal, Pip is the runt of the litter as well as your cat may very well have been and lack of food only caused him to reach a certain size when if fed as much as he needed, he would have reached a normal size for a cat. Pip is likely the same way, he will reach a smaller adult size than your average B.c.i. for the litter fed as much.

Here is the mini-kitty next to NERD's The Complete Ball Python... if you have this book you know it's not one of those huge hard covers. :P

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k1...11/kaydee6.jpg

KATIE DOE!!!! (((Purrrr-bite))) She looks great D!

My Cairn Terrier's a runt, too. When we went to get her from the breeder, she was teeny compared to her two siblings. Even now, she's much smaller than our neighbor's Cairn, but she's fine and healthy.