Growing too fast?

[slickshadowrunner]

I picked up a het clown male just over three weeks ago. He's from 2011 and weighed 540 grams when I got him. It was obvious that he was not being fed enough, as his feeding records indicated that he had received two small weanlings since August 2, 2014. He did not look particularly malnourished but was obviously hungry. He ate the night of his arrival (in spite of a long trip that day) and his eaten twice more since then (a small rat and two nice mediums). I weighed him after he crapped the other day and he is now 757 grams! 217 grams growth in three weeks!!


So, as good as that sounds (he's in deep shed now and even then looks great), I am wondering whether there is such a thing as too much growth too quickly. I was hoping to breed him this year when I got him (I will definitely be doing it now that he has grown that much) and I know that I will be easing off the food once breeding starts but I want to make sure he's not being harmed by growing so quickly. I will keep feeding him until his future mate (a female clown) is ready (she was part of the same purchase and was also a little small). I just want to make sure I don't harm him by making him grow too fast.

[bcr229]

A 700-ish gram BP should be on one small rat weekly, unless your "mediums" are on the small side. I do offer mediums to my larger BP's but only once every 10-14 days.