The "Wall"

[Bistem]

I have heard in the past of a hypothetical "Wall" in the growth of BP's at around 1000 gr. Only one of mine has hit this weight and I was just pondering on this. I realize that these animals grow slower as they age but am also curious as to everyone's opinions on this. Did you see this wall with all of your animals or only some, or only a few? My one BP that is 1024gr now has been rocketing up in weight. She just took another large for her meal yesterday.
It isn't a big deal to me if she slows the gain a little bit but curiosity just got me thinking this morning as to what the percentages are of those that do slow dramatically vs any that shoot right on past this size.

[Bistem]

Her weight gains since I got her shows how fast she has been going up.

April 28, 2018 19:07 1024.0
April 21, 2018 15:42 928.0
April 14, 2018 10:33 910.0
April 07, 2018 18:25 874.0
March 31, 2018 18:49 914.0
March 24, 2018 13:10 846.0
March 17, 2018 13:01 724.0
March 10, 2018 15:08 692.0
March 02, 2018 19:18 644.0
February 24, 2018 15:37 665.0
February 17, 2018 15:45 636.0
February 10, 2018 13:19 594.0
February 03, 2018 12:16 566.0
January 27, 2018 13:37 562.0
January 20, 2018 17:36 524.0
January 13, 2018 18:48 540.0
January 06, 2018 13:07 478.0
December 30, 2017 16:56 438.0
December 23, 2017 21:07 433.0
December 16, 2017 15:52 412.0
December 09, 2017 18:52 400.0
December 03, 2017 14:19 388.0
November 25, 2017 18:22 336.0
November 18, 2017 11:07 320.0
November 12, 2017 13:58 306.0

[Alter-Echo]

From my understanding and experience, it's not so much a wall as it is a small hill. When most balls reach 1000gs, they tend to start eating less and going on fasts, hence they slow down in growth. Most will come out of this funk after a while though, and start making gains again, and some never slow down till much later, more like 2000g.

[EL-Ziggy]

I don't keep BPs so I can't comment on "the wall" but it looks like she's gained over 700g in a little over 5 months. That's a pretty rapid growth rate. How old is your girl and how often do you feed her?

[Wharf Rat]

My older ball python is 2575 grams, my smaller girl, just over a year old is around 800 grams. I've seen ball pythons over 3000 grams. There is no "wall" that I'm aware of although they do slow down their growth with age.

[Craiga 01453]

I don't keep BPs so I can't comment on "the wall" but it looks like she's gained over 700g in a little over 5 months. That's a pretty rapid growth rate. How old is your girl and how often do you feed her?

I noticed that too. I've had Tyson for about 15 months and he's gained less than 700 grams. He's not much over 800 grams now. He eats every week, well almost, he IS a BP after all...

He's on small rats weekly, but the largest of the last order I placed. I'm getting some mediums within a few weeks. I'm curious to see if he hits a growth spurt like he did when I switched him to rats...

But anyway, OP, that seems like some pretty quick growth. What are you feeding and how often? In your thread you said she took another large...large rat?

[Bistem]

I don't keep BPs so I can't comment on "the wall" but it looks like she's gained over 700g in a little over 5 months. That's a pretty rapid growth rate. How old is your girl and how often do you feed her?

Her hatch date was 10-25-16. I feed a small rat every week on Sundays. I weigh every week on Saturday.

[Bistem]

In your thread you said she took another large...large rat?

I dont buy larges when I order from Rodentpro. I do have some mediums but she gets the largest small rats I have on hand once a week. The mediums are in the freezer for later.

[Bistem]

This is her BTW. Mystic Potion, Orange Dream

[EL-Ziggy]

She's gorgeous!