Welcoming myself to the Forum! A quick question as well

[mebigbadbrat]

Good evening to everyone! My name is Nichole and I am studying for Pre-Vet. This is my first post but I have been visiting the site for months then decided I should finally join last week. I have had ball pythons for seven years and even did some rescuing in the past.

Currently I have five ball pythons:
0.1 Normal; Nacho (1800 grams at seven years old)
1.0 Spider; Spaz (850 grams at three years old)
0.1 Blonde Pastel; Ava (1200 grams at three years old)
0.1 Pastel Het Hypo; Dream (285 grams born October 2011)
1.0 Albino; Loci (71 grams hatched 6/18/12)

I also have two dogs, two cats, two bettas, and a crested gecko. I may or may not start breeding my ball pythons this Fall but all depends on timing. Nacho, my normal girl, is the reason I love ball pythons and started rescuing. She was not a rescue but five snakes after her were along with a bearded dragon.

My quick two questions along with some background: I recently purchased all my BPs this year except for my normal, Nacho, and am a little nervous about my soon to be year old's weight. I purchased Dream, a pastel het hypo, from a small collector/breeder who gave me a feeding chart. I believe I purchased her on 6/26/12 or a few days before that. I think she is kind of small for her age but she has ate every time I have offered. She has gained about 15 grams since I purchased her. Not much but not too bad for a month. I fed her an ASF every 5-7 days. For me, she does not come off as a picky eater. Shouldn't she be a little bigger by now? She is 22-23 inches when I measured her today. I have the feeling the chart was altered.

My other question is also regarding weight. When I purchased my spider, Spaz, the lady informed me she had purchased him from Brad Boa in late 2009 as a baby but always had issues with putting weight on him. I paid $100 for just him and drove maybe a hour away. He was my first morph and first spider. He has a slight wobble which only gets worse when he is excited or hungry. She had him in a 10 gallon tank which I know is too small for his size. When I bought him, he was about 700 grams at 3.5 feet long. She mentioned she had a hard time getting him to eat. Well since he has been with me, he hasn't refused any meal. I offer a small rat every week and he eats with no issues. I have noticed though if I feed him every five days, he has hardly a wobble. So within a month of just feeding once a week every week, his weight empty today was 850. Is 150 grams in a month too much or just fine because now he is actually eating? I am not sure if she was just not feeding him or maybe his living condition was not good enough. What do you think?

Just to recap my questions:
1. For a 2011 October baby, is 285 grams on the small size?
2. For a late 2009, does 850 grams sound a little light?

Thanks again and I am happy to join the community!
Nichole

[satomi325]

When I bought him, he was about 700 grams at 3.5 feet long. She mentioned she had a hard time getting him to eat. Well since he has been with me, he hasn't refused any meal. I offer a small rat every week and he eats with no issues. I have noticed though if I feed him every five days, he has hardly a wobble. So within a month of just feeding once a week every week, his weight empty today was 850. Is 150 grams in a month too much or just fine because now he is actually eating? I am not sure if she was just not feeding him or maybe his living condition was not good enough. What do you think?

Just to recap my questions:
1. For a 2011 October baby, is 285 grams on the small size?
2. For a late 2009, does 850 grams sound a little light?

Thanks again and I am happy to join the community!
Nichole

Welcome and congrats on finally signing up!!
All ball pythons grow at their own rate. There is no real 'average weight to age'.
I have a female 12.2011 mojave putting on around 100-130 grams a month. She's 800 grams right now. Other girls her age or older are much smaller. I have a female 9.2011 around 350ish grams, which sounds like what your baby is around.

For a late 2009, 850 does sound small, but there could be a number of reasons behind it. (sex, feeding schedule, prey size, whether or not the snake was a picky eater)

As long as your snakes are eating/defecating all right and they have a good body condition, I wouldn't worry about it.

[mebigbadbrat]

Nikki,

They are all eating great. I do think maybe my smallest girl just wasnt fed as much as I fed her now. Im not too worried as they are mainly just big babies but after reading posts and seeing a lot of 2011 babies over 500 grams I started wondering.

Thanks for welcoming me.
Nichole

[wolfy-hound]

Some bps will be picky eaters in one place and then be great eaters at a new place, despite identical set ups and offered prey. Sometimes it's the opposite. So you can't really tell much about how they ate at someone else's place vs how they seem to be eating for you now.

None of my snakes grow as fast as some people's on here for instance. That's despite me keeping them in similar set ups, at the same temps, etc. My females especially don't grow to over 1000g in a year. I don't mind because I'm not trying to fast grow them(not that I'm saying anyone else is either, just theirs grow faster naturally), so I am unconcerned.

Welcome to BP.net

[PitOnTheProwl]

They all really do grow at their own rates.
I have two male siblings that are two years old and one just hit 550g and the other is 975g

[mebigbadbrat]

Thanks to everyone! I appreciate all that replied. Just wondering how big they will end up by the end of this year. Always interesting and fun to watch them grow.

Nichole

[iCandiBallPythons]

As everyone else mentioned they each grow at their own rate. For example I have a particular female that is 4 yrs old and 1100 grams, eats like clock work. I also have 1 male that isnt quite a year old yet pushing just over 1000 grams. I have an 07 female that is barely 1000 grams and eats like they are going to quit making rats tomorrow, she does tend to lay low egg counts like 4-6 egg clutches. Typically many bp's can gain 1000 grams per year.