hes still so skinny and small..

what can i do to help him gain some weight already?! he is conciderably smaller than savanna who has bulked up nicely recently and while hes younger than her (no more than 3mos) both were hatchlings when i got them two months ago, he still gets that dehydrated look even though i see him drink often and he eats like a champ now (he has almost loose skin) while she looks almost fat. is there something i should feed him that would be better? they are both eating either small mice or rat pups depending on what the breeder has. hes eating every 5 days and our husbandry is as close to perfect as its going to get... any ideas or should i just accept hes younger and a male

each snakes grows at his own rate...

all you can do is just keep feeding him every 5 days. just make sure you're not feeding to large of prey, cause he could then be overfed and go off feed unexceptionally.

naw, i know its not too big.. just wondering if there was anything else i could do without power feeding, guess hes just destined to be small for now, he has grown since we got him, just not as much as savanna ;) thanks for your reply

From everything I've read and seen females typically grow larger and at a slightly accelerated rate than males. It's typical of almost all species.

Have you been keeping track of his weight weekly at all? It might be interesting for you to see exactly how much weight he's gaining each week. Once you've done it for a few weeks you can work out a sort of trend, so long as it's consistent I wouldn't worry too much. We used to do this with underweight dogs at the vet clinic, it's all about just finding a happy medium, rapid weight gain can be just as dangerous as being under weight for animals.

yeah adri, i know that.. i worked at a vet too and we did the same for the animals that came in. i have been planning on getting a digi scale and the wal*mart didnt have any last time i went. guess i need to get my butt moving and get one. thanks!

Well, assuming your feeders weigh between 20 and 40 g each, I'd put a good weekly weight gain measurement at around 20-50g per week including water weight.

If you think of it in that regard, it's really not that much... I'd give him another month or so to really plump up... But when they're so small its so hard to notice a difference because the gain is such a small amount!

Again, I wouldn't stress too much, you seem to have really nipped their husbandry in the butt!

I got a baby corn recently. I've been feeding him a big meal every 5 days and he's growing like crazy but still really skinny. I imagine its like most animals where the body sinks all its energy into growth during youth.

i think corns stay slim though dont they? i will keep a better eye on him as far as weight goes, might go tomorrow and get a scale before he eats. ty

Yea they do. But you don't feed them every 5 days their entire lives.

With my BP (who was about 8 mos at the time) I simply bumped his meal size up by adding another mouse and he started to gain. I'm just holding the meal size constant and letting him grow into it.

Either way, just bump the calories up by shortening to 5 days and/or increasing meal size. You'll be able to tell if he starts to get fat because he'll start buckling more when he bends and he'll start to get soft fat deposits on the sides towards his back half.

If he's looking starved you might consider making sure he doesn't have parasites.

Also, make sure you're not feeding too small. I think I got mine at about 5 mos and he was eating small mice.

he is currently eating every 5 days and had a really nice clean (almost totally one peice) shed. he has no mites, so clean in that department too. what hes eating now leaves just a slight bulge at the very most, it could just be that hes taking a bit more time to bulk up.. thanks for you input and response :)

I think bearhart was talking about the possiblity of internal parasites for which a fecal exam would be needed to determine this.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by addsdad

I think bearhart was talking about the possiblity of internal parasites for which a fecal exam would be needed to determine this.

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yes, internal parasites can cause a well-fed snake to not gain (or even lose) weight.

personally if i were you i'd bump up the prey size and let him grow into like mentioned before, ,bp's can take a substantial meal even as babies,3 or 4 months you should be at 2 mice or a baby rat every week

you can get pretty small adult (or "teen-ager") mice. It helps if you can pick through them when purchasing.

thank you everyone.. i will keep a close eye on him and if he has no conciderable rate of growth (when i get the scale) i will take him in. as for feeding, isnt every 5 days ok? thats not quite twice weekly. i do get to select his meals as i get them where i used to work so they allow me to go in the back and get what i like.. so i suppose thats a plus.

I would say every 5 days would be considered an "aggressive" feeding schedule assuming you are feeding decent sized meals. Probably good for a youngster.

We feed every 5 days until they hit 200 grams, then they go to every 7 days. If you're concerned about his growth a digital scale really is your best friend at this point. As far as the internal parasite issue there's no need to take him in to the vet. Simply contact your vet, let them know you'll be bringing in a sample of his feces for a fecal float. Then the next time he poops, put some in a ziploc baggie, store in the fridge and take it to the vet clinic as soon as possible. Some clinics, depending on their lab techs, can do a fecal float while you wait.

It's hard to make any comments on what to feed this snake having no idea what size he actually is. Just remember they all grow at different rates and patience is needed here. There's no need to push him or expect him to grow at another snake's rate. As long as you determine he's healthy, then just feed him appropriately and he'll get where he's going. I don't think there's all that much difference in growth rates for males and females at this early stage in their lives. It's more likely either his feeding pattern, health, genetics, metabolism, etc.

thanks so much everyone. we plan to go run a few errands today and thats one of them :) i love graphing and charting things so it will be interesting to see how big the snakes and rats are. he doesnt look starved hes just more slim than savanna.. not as fat around. he deficates as well as savanna and is now eating more agressivly, he used to take forever to tag his prey and now its within moments. ill keep you posted on his actual weight later on today if i can find a scale

Since you like keeping track of things, here's a great little program to help you keep up with records for the snakes.

www.degei.com

I just love this program and don't know how I'd manage our collection without it.

Remember when looking at scales to get one that does 1 gram increments and will weigh up to at least 3,000 grams if not more (my 7001DX goes up to 7,000 grams I think). Female ball pythons will easily exceed 3,000 grams in a few years so I went for a scale that wouldn't get outdated too quickly with our girls.

Here's a link to the type of scale I have....(you can find them other places though of course...Reptile Basics also sells them I think)....

http://www.oldwillknottscales.com/in...PROD&ProdID=12

great links thanks so much!! i know i need to get a better scale, right now im using one of those cheepy not digital ones to get at least an approximate weight. tuesday (pay day) ill be sure to pick a better one up!

Also something to consider. Snakes in captivity grow a lot faster than those in the wild. This is usually from the fact that these snakes have a meal every week, and most times its not the same quality or leanness of prey items in the wild.
A snake in the wild may have the chance of eating every week, but that's unlikely, which is why balls are called "opportunity eaters". Also, in the wild, the rats are going to be much leaner, and less fatty than our pampered home grown rats, which keeps the snake fitter; less fat deposits.
It is common for snakes in captivity to have larger fat deposits which can in turn have a negative effect on the longevity and/or health of the snake itself. That doesn't mean that feeding your snake every week a fat pampered rat is bad, its just something to keep in mind. Sometimes pampering isn't always the best thing. In fact, I have to say I'm also guilty of a packed sausage of a snake here myself, before I had more experience in rat sizes.

My whole point is, snakes that grow slower than others shouldn't be thought of as small, sickly or underweight. Snakes are slow growing animals, and giving larger prey items doesn't really benefit most snakes other than the females coming up to breeding season. If your animal continues to look unhealthy, take them to a qualified herp vet, maybe they have parasites or some other serious issue that only a vet can diagnose.

In the mean while, don't worry! He'll grow for nearly 40 years. He's got plenty of time to get fat [not literally] and be content.

Look into the Escali scales they sell on Amazon. Go for about 25 bucks and measures up to 11 pounds in lbs or grams. I love mine.

i would also make sure he's not watching to much tv. see all those skinny people might give him the wrong idea....


seriously though, i have a scale from walmart that cost me $30 and i use it for everything from weight snakes, to portioning meat for burgers. ya can't go wrong with it. i use it as much as i use my temp gun.

Yep a good digital kitchen scale will work or most office supply places have small postal type digital scales. Remember to check craigslist as well as ebay for some good deals.

i got a scale today but like a dummy forgot to get batteries ugh!!! at least i cant weigh them tomorrow.. not like i can handle them today anyway