Snake not growing

[sirchaosofgb]

We've had Chaos since September and i've noticed he's not much bigger now than he was then. I recently changed him from fuzzies to small mice and since he's a picky eater i had to switch him from F/T to live...we estimate him to be around 9-10 months old. Not sure on the age since he was a rescue. He's around the size of a quarter maybe a little more around the fattest part of him. He had an injury of a broken spine when i got him and he's healed up fine. I'm just concerned about his growth. His length is 18 inches long. Any suggestions? He was my first BP and since he came from a bad situation i just want to make his life a happy one. Am i being an over protective mom?

[Slim]

A scale is a valuable tool in the snake keepers kit bag. Recording his weight at least monthly will help you track and evaluate his progress. Comes in very handy during any feeding strikes as well.

As for his growth, they all grow at different rates, and there really isn't a rule of thumb. As long as he's eating (F/T or live), sheding and pooping, he should be fine.

[sirchaosofgb]

Thank you. I do have a scale...somewhere. LOL

[Egapal]

We've had Chaos since September and i've noticed he's not much bigger now than he was then. I recently changed him from fuzzies to small mice and since he's a picky eater i had to switch him from F/T to live...we estimate him to be around 9-10 months old. Not sure on the age since he was a rescue. He's around the size of a quarter maybe a little more around the fattest part of him. He had an injury of a broken spine when i got him and he's healed up fine. I'm just concerned about his growth. His length is 18 inches long. Any suggestions? He was my first BP and since he came from a bad situation i just want to make his life a happy one. Am i being an over protective mom?

People suck at judging weight and size. Get a scale. You haven't given us enough information to say definitively what the problem is but I can guess. I would guess that your snake should be eating young adult mice (in the 20 gram range). I am further guessing that you are not feeding often enough. At 9 to 10 months I would be feeding 15% of the snakes body weight every 5 days.

[jcoylesr76]

my thoughts were the food is not enough, to small and not often enough, just a non-important comparison, mine where born in October 2011 and already have been eating adult mice regularly x2 a week roughly.

ETA: with the injury you mentioned, it may stunt his growth some as well.

[sirchaosofgb]

my thoughts were the food is not enough, to small and not often enough, just a non-important comparison, mine where born in October 2011 and already have been eating adult mice regularly x2 a week roughly.

ETA: with the injury you mentioned, it may stunt his growth some as well.

I figured that he wasn't eating nearly enough! So he should be eating every 5 days not once a week like i was told. So i will change his weekly feed. Do you all feel that having a broken spine will contribute to slow growth? I always suspected that it would. Thank you for your help.

[jcoylesr76]

i am no expert on it, but any animal i have had that was injured seemed to slow down on their growth, but just off the top of my head thinking about it, a snake with a broken spine would be harmed more following more suggested feeding schedule while it was healing, so there is the need to reduce the meal size to sustain the animal while it heals, thus slowing its growth rate. if the animal is healed fully, i would not see any issue trying to return it to a more "standard meal size. my male spider mojave is the tiny one weighing in today at 140g full after a adult mouse on monday. which he took easily.

[Daybreaker]

I figured that he wasn't eating nearly enough! So he should be eating every 5 days not once a week like i was told. So i will change his weekly feed. Do you all feel that having a broken spine will contribute to slow growth? I always suspected that it would. Thank you for your help.

Some people feed once a week with no problems, but I too feed my younger/growing ones every 5 days. I believe his problem was the size of the feeder that contributed to his slow growth: hatchling BPs can take small mice from the get go (mice fuzzies are too tiny) so I think small mice are way too small even if he's a smaller guy. I would get him on larger mice or at least rat pups and go from there.

When you get your scale I do the 10-15% rule: feed a feeder that is that percentage of your BP's weight.

[AK907]

Edit: Beaten to it by Daybreaker.

I figured that he wasn't eating nearly enough! So he should be eating every 5 days not once a week like i was told. So i will change his weekly feed. Do you all feel that having a broken spine will contribute to slow growth? I always suspected that it would. Thank you for your help.

Fuzzie mice for a ball python? Yeah, that is far too small of a meal even for 95% hatchlings. Most can easily eat rat fuzzies right out of the egg, which are several times the size of fuzzy mice.

Although I'm sure his back injury could have played a part in his stunted growth, from the facts that have been presented I believe that the main reason he isn't growing is because of not being fed properly. I would bump up his prey size (15% of his body weight every 5-7 days is adequate).

Under/over feeding is a common mistake amongst new owners. I wish more would take the time to ask questions like you have. Good luck!

[enchantress62]

Hello to the poster. It's interesting that you started this thread since I was going to post the same thing. My baby is six months old and although she's grown a little she isn't much bigger then when I got her. She's perfectly healthy, eats a medium f/t mouse a week, is currently in shed, and I've checked and rechecked the husbandry and it's fine. So why isn't she growing more? I tried feeding her 2 mice a week but she wont eat the second one and she's too small to eat a larger size. I've tried a f/t hopper but she turned her nose up to it too. I'm sure she's not sick so I'm not worried yet. I think your snake is like mine and just growing slowly especially with a back injury, healed or not, that would definitely have an impact on it's growth.