Weight Issues

[mebigbadbrat]

Hi everyone. So I was going to sell my pastel het hypo girl but I am started to worry about her weight. I purchased her in June from a breeder as a hold back. Love her colors and she is very laid back adventurous girl but I am worried that she isn't a right weight.

Dream was born 10/28/11. So she is close to a year old at 340 grams as of tonight!!! Very small. She is maybe 18-20 inches long. Not thick at all.
Here is her weight from me all empty:
Breeder told me before purchase she weighted 300 grams. Bought 6/26.
-6/26 weight 275 grams
-7/29 287 grams
-8/6 299 grams
-9/13 385 grams
-10/6 356 grams
-10/18 340 grams

Sorry about my weird dates. I aim for weighing at least once a month. She eats mice and asf every week (twice a week) but doesn't seem to gain anything. If anything she is losing weight and I don't know why. I have her eating schedule as well. The longest gap of not eating was June 17 -July 9th. I know before I bought her, she was in shed then I waited a week for her to settle in before offering her some food with me.

Housing: I have her in a 20 long gallon tank with a humidity of 45-50% but if sprayed around 60ish. She is on aspen with her hot side at 88 and cool at 82ish. I have a blanket on top of her tank to keep the heat and humidity in as I know tanks are a pain to do but I haven't had the extra cash to get a rack.

Here are some pictures of her (sorry they are big. Not sure yet to make smaller):
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Thanks
Nichole

[The Serpent Merchant]

I have a pastel female that was born 9/2/11 and as of yesterday she weighed approximately 900 grams and 38"

I have a male pastel that was born 10/7/11 as as of yesterday he weighed approximately 780 grams and 37"

They all grow at their own rate but that seem pretty low for a year old snake. How big are the rodents you are feeding her?

[mebigbadbrat]

That's what I thought. Her food is always 15% of her weight. So I usually grab something around 50 grams twice a week.

I even have a friend breeder a city over from me who looked at her and said she looks good but small especially for her age. I see everyone's else posts on here and it makes me worry a little. I understand everyone grows at different rates but I feel like she should be over 500 grams at least by now at a year old. My little albino male who in June this year is 122 grams. Before all too long he will pass by her.

Ideas? I thought maybe about trying something besides mice. All the rats around here are too big for her though. =(

Thanks
Nichole

[The Serpent Merchant]

She doesn't look underweight, she just doesn't seem to be growing. Your feeding her enough food so she might just be a really slow grower. I've heard of other peoples snakes that were this small at a year old. It isn't common... but it isn't unheard of either.

I would just keep offering food like you have been. She looks nice and healthy so that's all that really matters.

[mebigbadbrat]

I looked up her breeder who still has some of her siblings left and they are all small. Less than 350 grams at a year old. Do you think I should offer her maybe a third mouse every other week? She by no means feels skinny. I have had rescues in the pass and she is no where small like them. She is just a really slow grower. I even thought about maybe trying a tub for her alone to see if maybe she feels a little insecure in the tank. But I am not sure of that either.

[katiekat]

I would up her temps to 90 on the hot side and feed 20% every two weeks. This may sound strange but it worked for my 2010 rescue who weighed 225g at 1.5 years of age. I was advised to do this by someone who's been in the business for 30+ years, and was basically told that my rescue may have an over stimulated metabolism for some reason so feeding frequently may be whats causing her not to gain at relatively normal rate. As of now my lil dinker rescue is 800g and is still on the two week schedule. Not sure if thats the actual science behind it or what but it has worked for me..

[mebigbadbrat]

Hmm. I may try that out. I do know that she could probably eat at day 3 then day 5 then day 7 as she acts hungry but I don't want to over feed her or her to throw it up.