Can he still be Growing?

[Jeromy]

I got my first Ball from a friend whose son (the 2nd owner) was going to college and couldn't take him with. So I have had him since Oct and he has shed roughly every other feed. Well I feed him on Monday and the next morning he was in his soak and his belly is pinked out (this will be his 4th shed in four months). When we picked him up we were told that he was fed only ever 8 to 12 weeks or so. we started him on a large rat a week till he refused then bumped him to a Jumbo every other week. He has filled out but by no means is fat and he is a happy camper now.
He is between 6 and 8 years old and right at 4ft. Can he still be growing?

oh yeah, I haven't had him probed either so he may be a she although the previous owner were told he was a male

[Sarin]

As far as I know they never really stop growing, just slow down a lot.

By the way.. I feed my 2003 normal female a medium rat every 10 days and she is 2600 grams... I think you should go down a size or two. Just my opinion though.

[Jeromy]

As far as I know they never really stop growing, just slow down a lot.

By the way.. I feed my 2003 normal female a medium rat every 10 days and she is 2600 grams... I think you should go down a size or two. Just my opinion though.

I was thinking the same thing, I am a little paranoid i might be giving him to many calories, dont want him to get fat! His feeding response is sick fast so i have still been giving him jumbos, but I just might take your advice. Thanx

[BPelizabeth]

Talk to Irish Anaconda...he has a female over 4300 grams...lol

[Kaorte]

Pretty sure ball pythons never stop growing.

If he was being fed every 8-12 weeks, he probably has a lot of catching up to do.

[MitsuMike]

I was thinking the same thing, I am a little paranoid i might be giving him to many calories, dont want him to get fat! His feeding response is sick fast so i have still been giving him jumbos, but I just might take your advice. Thanx

Can they get over weight and fat?

[Sarin]

Can they get over weight and fat?

If you feed them too much and/or too often, yes.

[Jasnik]

I have been having a similar situation with my Ball. We adopted him/her from a family who didnt want it anymore. They were feeding him once a month on a medium rat and to be honest although we have never had a snake before he did look a bit scrawny. We soon realised that he was starving and had some catching up to do.

After some helpful advise on this site we began feeding him every two weeks instead and his feeding response has been amazing. He has filled out and seems a healthy happy snake from what I can tell. We have had him for four months now and he is currently going through his 4th shed, which lead me to the same questions as the OP. The previous owners had him/her for 7 years before us, so he is no baby.

How often is an adult Ball supposed to shed?

[BPelizabeth]

Im still pretty new but this is what I have learned. Again they tend to continue to grow or "maintain". They can become over weight and a good sign of that is when you can see between their scales. Feeding every week is a usually schedule that ppl have their snakes on. Typically more than that if they are young. I would tend to agree with the other poster who stated...they probably have quite a bit of catching up to do.