Is my ball python underweight?

[LittleVixen]

I've been looking at the usual weight vs. age of ball pythons, and I am worried my baby may be a bit too small. I fully understand that there is no across the board weight/age ratio, so I figured I would get opinions. He is a pastel lemon ball python. I do not know his hatch date, I forgot to ask. I bought him at a reptile expo on November 17, 2013. I weighed him just now and he is 71g. When I brought him home, he was 61g, I believe. I have been feeding him small fuzzies every week, and he has been eating wonderfully. He seems to be perfectly healthy, VERY active, I just don't know if he is too small.

[Archimedes]

Move him up to rat pups and you'll see him gain weight quick for you.

He does sound a bit small. But he should definitely be above fuzzies. So getting him on rats will help.

[200xth]

I've been looking at the usual weight vs. age of ball pythons, and I am worried my baby may be a bit too small. I fully understand that there is no across the board weight/age ratio, so I figured I would get opinions. He is a pastel lemon ball python. I do not know his hatch date, I forgot to ask. I bought him at a reptile expo on November 17, 2013. I weighed him just now and he is 71g. When I brought him home, he was 61g, I believe. I have been feeding him small fuzzies every week, and he has been eating wonderfully. He seems to be perfectly healthy, VERY active, I just don't know if he is too small.

Only gaining 10g from Nov to now is not much growth. I would imagine he is being underfed. Good news is, it's very easily correctable and once the feeding is sorted out, he'll take off on growth.

When you say fuzzies, do you mean rat or mice fuzzies?

At 71g, I'd be doing hopper mice every 4 days until he was big enough for adult mice. Then adult mice for a few feedings and at ~125g I'd switch him to rat pups every 5 days (rat pups on the smaller side to start).

[bumblebee1028]

Welcome to the site!

They do grow at different rates, but only 10 grams in 2 months is pretty low. I don't know if you've seen the feeding guideline, but a lot of people feed 10-15% of snake's body weight every 5 days (or every 7 days if you prefer) until they are 500 grams. So as Archimedes said, bump up his prey size, and he should start growing better! If you still have fuzzies left, you can feed multiples until you use them up as long as they add up to the 10-15% of his body weight (for example, if he would be on a 20 gram rat pup, you can feed 2 10 gram fuzzies instead).

[LittleVixen]

I am pretty sure they are rat fuzzies. I had brought him into Arizona Reptile Center, a really great reptile store around where I live and they gave me what they said was the right size for him. He is my first snake, so I am still trying to figure it all out.

Thank you guys so much for the tips! Im glad I asked now rather than wait longer ^.^

[LittleVixen]

I just weighed out what I normally feed him, and it is right in the 10%-15% range of his body weight. I will feed him more often and maybe that will help. Would feeding him prey bigger than 10-15% of his body weight make him sick?

[Archimedes]

It could, so better not to risk it. Going to a 4 or 5 day schedule will help him get his weight up.

[LittleVixen]

It could, so better not to risk it. Going to a 4 or 5 day schedule will help him get his weight up.

Okie Dokie ^.^ Thanks!

[200xth]

Would feeding him prey bigger than 10-15% of his body weight make him sick?

It depends on how big and how often.

10% to 15% is a guideline, that is all. If you feed your snake a 20% meal, it's not going to explode.

[jxl]

Well there are two general guides. Feed 10-15% of snakes weight for pray size. Or use anything that is not wider than the widest part of the snake.

And yeah gaining only 10g in 2 months seems slow weight gain. Feed every 5-7 days. And as i've noticed they gain weight faster on rats.



Also here's a chart of prey size for mice and rats By the weight you specified either he needs rat fuzzies or mice hoppers. He could even munch on a smaller weaned mouse.