bugs or slow grower?

[sandra]

Now, i have been thinking my snake has been healthy but it has come across my attention that my snake is really small. Though he has grown alot since we got him in December(he was about 2 months old when we bought him) but he has only shed twice since then and i have heard that they shed like once a month. I feed him every 5-7 days with small rats. I saw a recent thread that a guy had a similar problem and said it could be bugs. I may be just paranoid, i just don't know. What do you guys think?


I'm not sure the gender, but i say 'He' anyway....

[Stewart_Reptiles]

Does he put on weight or do you keep feeding him and he fails to put on weight?

[sandra]

Does he put on weight or do you keep feeding him and he fails to put on weight?

He has grown, but i feel he should be bigger for how much he eats. Like he is always hungry. so idk, maybe i should feed him every like 3-4 days?

[SRMD]

You need to weigh him, keep track of his weight

[sandra]

You need to weigh him, keep track of his weight

Alright, so how much averagely would a ball pythons weight be at 7-8 months?

[MrLang]

It's too variable to give you a good answer with that. I bought a 10 month old snake that was 150g and a 3 month old snake that was over 300g.

A better question for you to ask is what a good feeding regimen is for a snake of X weight. We need to know what X weight is to give you a good answer.

What is the physical condition of the snake? When it bends, does the crease make 1 or 2 wrinkles or many? Is its body very firm all the way around or kind of flat and soft? Can we see pictures? I think they would help most, especially if you don't have a scale.

[sandra]

It's too variable to give you a good answer with that. I bought a 10 month old snake that was 150g and a 3 month old snake that was over 300g.

A better question for you to ask is what a good feeding regimen is for a snake of X weight. We need to know what X weight is to give you a good answer.

What is the physical condition of the snake? When it bends, does the crease make 1 or 2 wrinkles or many? Is its body very firm all the way around or kind of flat and soft? Can we see pictures? I think they would help most, especially if you don't have a scale.

Well, i dont have a scale..but i will be getting one soon. he makes like 2, 3 wrinkles when he bends. the body is firm

[Andybill]

Well what size prey items are you feeding him? It could be that you are feeding him too small of meals. He could also just be a small guy or like you said a slow grower.

Oops I just checked again small rats... Typically I feed my ball pythons meals that are about 15% their weight in grams. Get a scale and track it.

[travis11]

Looks ok to me. He doesnt look bad, thats for sure. But he can just be growing at his own pace. He will get there.

[RestlessRobie]

He looks fine I have 2 snakes both fed 10-15% body weight on the same day with the only a couple refused meal from bothof them. One was hatched 9-12-11 the other 10-11-11 so just about the same age. My pied girl is a little over 800g and my Black Pewter male is about 450G so they do grow at different rates and size can vary he looks healthy. If you are worried about a parasite you can get a fecal exam done which I would recomend once a year anyway. But as for his weight he looks nice and healthy in the pic you shared