Weight concern

[Sarabi]

Greetings,
I am a new snake owner. I received my ball python (normal, 3 month old, female) through the mail (from Snakes at Sunset) on April 25. Her name is Sarabi. She appeared to be very healthy and happy. I fed her a hopper mouse about a week after I received her, she took it and ate it with very little trouble. However, I weighed her, for the first time, today and she weighed 64 grams (2.2 ounces). According to research I've done, that is the average weight of a 1 month old python. Should I be worried? If so, is there anything I can do to increase her weight in a healthy way? Thank you.

[redshepherd]

That's the size of a hatchling, straight out of the egg. For now, just offer her a hopper mouse every 5-7 days and she will gain weight!

[Craiga 01453]

First off, welcome! Congrats on your first snake!!

Hatchlings are usually in the 65-90 range from what I understand. So your snake is on the small side, but I wouldn't worry.

Was the snake eating well prior to you purchasing it?
As long as she's eating now, I would agree with redshepherd on this one and say offer every 5-7 days. Keep track of her weight and up the size of her prey when the time is right and you should see her grow fairly quickly.

Good luck, keep us posted!

[Stewart_Reptiles]

64 grams is the average weight of an hatchling out of the egg, now for the rest there is no average at 3 months or older because it will essentially depends on a few things.

Weight out of the egg.

Type of prey started on out of the egg if the animal is very small under the average of 50/70 grams out of the egg the prey will obviously be smaller than they usual hopper.

How fast the animal get started out of the egg some will eat the next day after their first shed some will take 6 to 8 weeks.

Feeding frequency and prey size thereafter.

At 64 grams your BP was either not well started or was very small out of the egg. I assume you have no feeding records from the breeder?

This is not a problem so long the animal eats for you.

Stop focusing on weight and focus on overall body proportion instead once the animal catches up.

[Sarabi]

Thank you, everyone, for your responses. I really appreciate it. I'm a big animal lover and believe in taking very good care of any animal I own/look after. Thank you for helping me do this! I'll let you know how it goes.

P.S. Sarabi (that's my python) says "Thankssssss."

[Sarabi]

Craigafrechette,

Thank you for your response and the 'Welcome!' I love animals, but have never owned a reptile before, this is all new territory for me. So, I kinda freaked when I looked at the average weight for a 3 month old ball python--146 grams--while Sarabi (my python) weighed 64 grams.

I had contacted Snakes at Sunset and they told me that she was eating, but didn't have a record of her meals. You said that it looks like Sarabi is on the 'small side.' Does that mean I should expect her to grow more slowly or not get very big?

You mentioned to up the size of her prey, when needed. Should I simply go by the largest part of her girth? Or is there another indicator that I should take into consideration?

I apologize for all the questions. I've done my best to educate myself--through books and YouTube videos--about ball pythons and their care, however I seem to have new questions everyday. Haha. I really appreciate your time and you sharing your knowledge and experience.

[cron14]

Craigafrechette,

Thank you for your response and the 'Welcome!' I love animals, but have never owned a reptile before, this is all new territory for me. So, I kinda freaked when I looked at the average weight for a 3 month old ball python--146 grams--while Sarabi (my python) weighed 64 grams.

I had contacted Snakes at Sunset and they told me that she was eating, but didn't have a record of her meals. You said that it looks like Sarabi is on the 'small side.' Does that mean I should expect her to grow more slowly or not get very big?

You mentioned to up the size of her prey, when needed. Should I simply go by the largest part of her girth? Or is there another indicator that I should take into consideration?

I apologize for all the questions. I've done my best to educate myself--through books and YouTube videos--about ball pythons and their care, however I seem to have new questions everyday. Haha. I really appreciate your time and you sharing your knowledge and experience.

Just because she is off to a slow start doesn't mean she won't become a voracious eater. I've had my BP for nearly three years and he's always been a fairly picky eater so he was a slow grower. The speed of their growth when they're young all depends on how consistently they feed. Basically what I'm saying is theres no way of telling right now whether you'll have a fast or slow grower. Also, as others I'm sure will suggest, make sure husbandry is spot on (I think they're a bit more forgiving than people suggest but I don't have anywhere close to other experience) . BPs are known to go off feed if the husbandry is off which is why I ditched aquariums for an AP T-8.

A lot of people go on a 10-15% body weight rule when it comes to feeding. That means the prey being fed is 10-15% of the snakes body weight. I did this for a little while but then started to eyeball it. Since I feed live, I can usually pick out the rat I want to purchase even though I don't necessarily know the weight. Largest part of her girth is a safe bet, especially if yours takes F/T. Since mine is established, I like to feed a larger meal once every 2-4 weeks and have had no issues. (Don't do this with your baby) Welcome to the forum! Everyone on here is awesome and has helped me a ton since I started on this reptile journey.

P.S. Don't go off averages you see on the internet. Every snake is different and will grow at their own rate. To some my 1,100 BP may seem small for a three year old but to others he's the perfect weight. Body composition is the most important factor.

[Craiga 01453]

Just because she is off to a slow start doesn't mean she won't become a voracious eater. I've had my BP for nearly three years and he's always been a fairly picky eater so he was a slow grower. The speed of their growth when they're young all depends on how consistently they feed. Basically what I'm saying is theres no way of telling right now whether you'll have a fast or slow grower. Also, as others I'm sure will suggest, make sure husbandry is spot on (I think they're a bit more forgiving than people suggest but I don't have anywhere close to other experience) . BPs are known to go off feed if the husbandry is off which is why I ditched aquariums for an AP T-8.

A lot of people go on a 10-15% body weight rule when it comes to feeding. That means the prey being fed is 10-15% of the snakes body weight. I did this for a little while but then started to eyeball it. Since I feed live, I can usually pick out the rat I want to purchase even though I don't necessarily know the weight. Largest part of her girth is a safe bet, especially if yours takes F/T. Since mine is established, I like to feed a larger meal once every 2-4 weeks and have had no issues. (Don't do this with your baby) Welcome to the forum! Everyone on here is awesome and has helped me a ton since I started on this reptile journey.

P.S. Don't go off averages you see on the internet. Every snake is different and will grow at their own rate. To some my 1,100 BP may seem small for a three year old but to others he's the perfect weight. Body composition is the most important factor.

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[Sarabi]

Just because she is off to a slow start doesn't mean she won't become a voracious eater. I've had my BP for nearly three years and he's always been a fairly picky eater so he was a slow grower. The speed of their growth when they're young all depends on how consistently they feed. Basically what I'm saying is theres no way of telling right now whether you'll have a fast or slow grower. Also, as others I'm sure will suggest, make sure husbandry is spot on (I think they're a bit more forgiving than people suggest but I don't have anywhere close to other experience) . BPs are known to go off feed if the husbandry is off which is why I ditched aquariums for an AP T-8.

A lot of people go on a 10-15% body weight rule when it comes to feeding. That means the prey being fed is 10-15% of the snakes body weight. I did this for a little while but then started to eyeball it. Since I feed live, I can usually pick out the rat I want to purchase even though I don't necessarily know the weight. Largest part of her girth is a safe bet, especially if yours takes F/T. Since mine is established, I like to feed a larger meal once every 2-4 weeks and have had no issues. (Don't do this with your baby) Welcome to the forum! Everyone on here is awesome and has helped me a ton since I started on this reptile journey.

P.S. Don't go off averages you see on the internet. Every snake is different and will grow at their own rate. To some my 1,100 BP may seem small for a three year old but to others he's the perfect weight. Body composition is the most important factor.

Awesome! Thank you. Right now, I have a terrarium that is supposedly made for snakes. I'm hoping I'll be able to keep the temperature and humidity levels fairly stable. It's going well, so far. I looked at photos of AP T-8 enclosures. How do they get ventilation?

[cron14]

I did aquariums/terrariums for the first year and a half and decided to ditch them because I could not keep the humidity up for the life of me . Some people make it work but ever since I've had the T-8 I have a much more stable climate and don't have to worry about misting a few times a day. The T-8 basically comes with slits in the wood that allows for ample ventilation for a BP. If someone hasn't said it already, make sure your heat source is hooked up to a thermostat and, once you're able to get the humidity stable, you should be good to go. If you're having issues with humidity, I believe there is a sticky in the husbandry page that details how to modify aquariums/terrariums so that they keep heat/humidity up. When I first got my BP, I didn't know about this site and was doing everything wrong. Thank God I didn't have any issues. So kudos to you for seeking the right info. Everything I've said I learned from people on this site and they've always been more than willing to help.