A slight concern.

Hi guys. I'm a little worried about my snake. First, some background:

I purchased Siliast on Sept. 16, '06, at MARs, from Old World Pythons. He was basically a birthday present for myself. Ever since I've had him, he's been a dream; He's a strong, powerful eater, and has never turned down a meal. His husbandry is well-maintained as well; He has two hides, a waterbowl, an ambient temp of around 85degrees, with a warmer side nearing a constant 92, and I tend to keep his humidity between 55%-60%(a little high, but I live in a basement, and it can get a bit dry down here). He's shed in one piece every time and he has never, under any circumstances, given me the first problem.

...However, despite all of this, he only weighs 258grams. That's it. I started him off on pinks, moved him to fuzzies, etc. He now downs 2 adult mice a week. By all accounts, he seems to be a perfectly healthy snake--just small, and that's enough to worry me.

http://rulihe.com/pics/Siliast.jpg

http://rulihe.com/pics/Siliast2.jpg

I took these of him today. He last ate last Thursday, and will be eating again later today. He's active(or, at least, as active as a ball python will be!) and seems to be very healthy. Poops pretty regularly, and eats like a champ. But this snake is nearing two years old, and is so small in size it worries me. And he's always been this way, ever since I first acquired him.

=/ Any advise? I mean, do I just have a dwarf python, or something? I know it's not unheard of. Or am I just overreacting a bit? But I've heard people talk of having yearlings that can weight anywhere from 500-600grams, and Siliast is nowhere near that heavy. Nor am I entirely sure about his length. I can't seem to find a...well, a chart to give me a rough estimate to about how long he should be. I mean, I know all snakes grow at different rates depending of what they eat and when, but I can't even find a guestimate anywhere, if you will. He's definitely bigger than when I first got him, yes(he was hatched in August of '06), but he still looks small, to my eyes.

Advice... take his poo to the vet and look for some internal parasites....

I second the parasite check. To me he looks skinny. He seems pretty long, but has very little girth. How long ago did you move him to 2 mice a feeding?

He's been on 2 mice for a little over a month now. I know he has shed at least once in that time(about two weeks ago, in fact.)

I agree on getting a fecal done..

I love your avatar by the way.

And I'm guessing that the feces in question should be pretty fresh? Which should make this fun because Siliast is a stealth pooper in every way.

And thank you. Kenpachi's grin makes me grin. It works.

If the fecal comes back clean (no parasites) have you considered upping his prey to a small (55g) rat?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by starmom

If the fecal comes back clean (no parasites) have you considered upping his prey to a small (55g) rat?

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The snake is only 250g, I would start a bit smaller using rat pups (30g). A small rat might be a bit big for a 250g'er.

Also he has been eating pinkies for 2 years and he just started on mice. I say give him a little time, but still get that fecal done.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Brimstone111888

The snake is only 250g, I would start a bit smaller using rat pups (30g). A small rat might be a bit big for a 250g'er.

Also he has been eating pinkies for 2 years and he just started on mice. I say give him a little time, but still get that fecal done.

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I have snakes that size eating smalls but he said that his snake has been eating 2 adult mice per week~that's gotta be close to 55g!

I'm gonna agree with everyone else on the fecal. Just get it as fresh as you can. Check every day twice a day. When you find it, put it in a ziplock bag, and store it in the fridge til you can get it to the vet (asap!)

I also have to agree with Jeff on the meal size. The largest meal I give to any of my ball pythons is roughly 10% of their body weight. 2 adult mice should be ok, or a 25 - 30 gram rat.

I assume that you didn't mean that you just went from pinks to 2 adult mice. Were you feeding one adult mouse before? Even at that, the snake should be growing, unless there is something robbing the nutrients... parasites. I have a large girl that had a serious case of worms, ticks, and mites when I first got her. Once I got the parasite issue taken care of, she started thriving. I'm expecting eggs from her within the next month!

Steve

Perhaps since there's some confusion you could be a bit more specific on what his feeding program has been like over the time you've had him.

How long on pinky mice and how many per week?
How long on fuzzy mice and how many per week?
When did he move to adult mice?
Number of mice per week over what time period?

As far as the fecal, call around and find a herp vet that will do a fecal float test for parasites. It can often be done while you wait and doesn't include bringing the snake in to the vet at that time. It usually costs around $30.00.

Check daily and when you find a defecation, scoop it up, pop it into a ziploc baggie and store in your fridge (not freezer). Take it to the vet as soon as you can. If your snake does have internal parasites, do a search here and you'll find threads on what medical treatment is usually done or start a thread. It's best to know as much as you can about that stuff.

It may also be a lifetime of underfeeding (don't skip the fecal float though). One of our females here that we adopted came to us as very undersized. At 18 months she was only 1" longer and the same weight as our 6 month old female. While there's normal variance, Kyna was obviously stunted looking. She had been underfed on overly small mice because her owners were given bad advice by a pet store.

Kyna's feeding program was changed but slowly with no massive prey jumps, just a nice slow progression up in prey size and total volume each week. Eventually she did go to rats from mice. She's now a very normal sized adult female and is in fact in her first breeding year. :)