Healthy weight gain, how much is too much?

[kiiarah]

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Hi guys, I have been monitoring Shesha's weight since I got him two months ago. When he came home he weighed 92 grams at about one month old. Now at three months old he weighs in at 155. It's really amazing how quickly he is growing and I just thought I should try to get an idea of what is considered too much gain too fast so that I know what to expect, and whether he is being fed properly. I read somewhere that many bps are actually overweight so I am a bit scared to base any comprisons off pictures online alone. I actually managed to find a growth chart with average weights by age and the listed average was 145 grams, so it seems like he is doing well, but I sometimes worry about not knowing the correct feeding schedule/amnt. He is fed once a week and each time he gets a rat between 10-15% of his weight. He has only pooped once since I have had him but had also shed once. Any guidelines or pointers would be very reassuring. Thanks!!

[rlditmars]

It sounds like you are doing things right. Don't fix it if it isn't broken. As your BP grows the 10% to 15% ratio will probably not apply. I think a 2000 gram girl would struggle to swallow a 300 gram rat. A good gauge that many people use is to feed their snake a prey item that is roughly equal to the diameter of the largest part of their body.

In my experience I went with rat pups up to about 350 grams. Rat weanlings up to about 650 to 700 grams, and then rat smalls. As Shesha is a male, he may be able to stay with rat smalls throughout the remainder of his life unless he becomes very large. Most people will use mediums for their females because they tend to be larger than males and with breeding, require more calories due to follicle and egg development.

I hope that helps.

[kiiarah]

That is very helpful, he just took his first pup last feeding (it was on the smaller side at only 20 grams) but I always weigh them out individually and bag them individually and just go up in size as he gets larger so I think it will work out well. He had been eating the fuzzies but when I compared at the reptile show the fuzzies just seemed way too tiny for him. It is funny because when I got him just two months ago a pup would have been way too big. Just hard to believe how fast these guys grow! He hasn't gained too much length, but his width compared to the day he came home is staggering. lol