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  1. #1
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    Question Growth rate question

    So I have a female Pastel Lesser (not that the morphs have anything to do with this question) that was hatched in August of 2016, I bought her in January of 2017. She ate fairly well most of her youth on appropriate sized rats (1 a week), but I was tracking her weight and she sort of plateaued around 500g in roughly May of 2017. I figured she could handle some "power feeding" if not done aggressively, so I started feeding an appropriate sized rat every 4 days. I stopped tracking weight because I knew she was doing fine with growth.

    So here's what I got curious about, she suddenly went on a feeding stop in October of 2017 (not due to husbandry, I'm on point with that), but that was quickly remedied by feeding live as opposed to her typical f/t. I also went back to weekly and checking her weight regularly. She shot up to 1200g from 500g from May to October...She's now around 1400g. She is not showing any signs of obesity in her shape, she's just a big girl.

    Is this just a big girl, or is this fairly common? I've seen 2 year old females looking healthy around 1000g, so why would mine be about twice that? She seldom ever refuses a meal, sure, and I spent a few months feeding extra because she seemed to want it, but is this somewhat exceptional? I expect at this rate she might get to 5000g+, but am I foolish to expect this growth rate to continue?

    I also just bought a male (pastel lesser pinstripe 50% poss het clown) and plan to feed him in the same manner tracking weight as I go to see if perhaps he needs more to continue growth at a decent rate. Is there anything wrong with feeding more often if they are plateauing in growth?

    I'd appreciate some input just to know how normal or rare this type of growth is.
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  2. #2
    BPnet Senior Member cchardwick's Avatar
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    Snakes will grow as fast as you feed them, I've had some incredible growth spurts with some of my snakes when feeding heavily. I tend to go by body condition, as the snake matures if you keep feeding heavy it will eventually stop growing longer and just get fatter. At that point you need to slow down the feeding to let them thin out a bit. A young snake can process food quickly but you don't want an older snake getting obese.

    I also tend to like my snakes on the heavier side just in case they go on an extended fast. I've also purchased snakes that were nearly a year old that were about the size of a hatchling, if you don't feed them much they don't grow hardly at all and with apparently no ill effects. They are really amazing creatures!


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    Nathanhimmerich (12-14-2017)

  4. #3
    Telling it like it is! Stewart_Reptiles's Avatar
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    Size depends on various factors from size out of the eggs which can vary from 40 grams to 90 grams, how fast an animal get stated, some eats within a day of their first shed, some may take 8 weeks, prey size (obviously when you start a 90 grams hatchling the prey size will be bigger compare to the one of a 40 grams hatchling), feeding frequency, skip meals, fast, sadly some people are in a rush and feed their animals heavily to make a fast return leading to possible issues such as fatty liver disease, and finally genetics some animals are pre-disposed to be big reaching 4000 grams while some will never be over 2500 grams.

    Most of my 2016 are in the 700/800 grams but I also have some that are double that, all are fed appropriate size prey once a week but some have skip meals and some never turned one down.

    The bottom line is it does not matter how much your snake weighs in at a certain age what matter is not to underfed, or overfed and you need to pay attention to health and proportions rather than a number on the scale.

    Feed smaller prey once a week and every now and then skip a meal this will result in consistent feeders that are less likely to fast and grow at a normal pace.
    Deborah Stewart


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    Alicia (12-14-2017)

  6. #4
    BPnet Veteran SDA's Avatar
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    Outside of very specific and controlled situations some experienced breeders will do, there is never a good reason to power feed a snake. It is better to slowly get a snake up to a healthy weight than to try and accelerate weight gain or growth by power feeding. A trim snake is far better than a hefty snake.
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  7. #5
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    I appreciate the input, but I'd like to make apparent that she's not overweight. I'll get a picture when she is empty, I just fed her yesterday. She has quite a bit of length for the age also.
    1.0 Pastel Lesser Pinstripe 50% Poss Het Clown 2017
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  8. #6
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    She's ~4 feet and 1400g.
    Last edited by Nathanhimmerich; 12-17-2017 at 09:30 PM.
    1.0 Pastel Lesser Pinstripe 50% Poss Het Clown 2017
    0.1 Pastel Lesser 2016

    0.1 Proven Breeder Human
    0.1 Human Infant

    1.1 Felis Catus

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