BP weight question

[gwentennyson]

Good morning everyone!

Is is there a chart or anything that tells us what weight your BP is supposed to be at a certain age?

the guy I got my BP from was new to the BP game and he told me Leo was about a year old and was eating mice fuzzies every week and sometimes every other week.

It's been 6 weeks since I've had Leo. We upgraded him to RAT fuzzies and he has been eating one for every week (except when he was in shed).

I finally got got a digital kitchen scale to see how much he weighs and the scale said 136g... That seems kinda small for a year old, doesn't it? I'm worried that we've been unintentionally under feeding him! He last ate a rat fuzzy on Thursday... Should I feed him another one today? Sorry for the rambling, I'm just really worried!

[AKA Dave]

Yeah, that's a bit small. I'm surprised you don't see backbone if he's a year old and that weight. I have two BPs that are less than a year old and weigh a bit over 200g now. They're on F/T mice once a week. Mice are about as big as the snake is round. Seems to be the generally agreed upon standard unless you want to start weighing prey items. I don't think it'd hurt to give him another, then move to larger items every week.

Dave

[Stewart_Reptiles]

Now is 136 grams small for a year old? Yes but since he was only fed mice fuzzy every week or every other week it was basically being underfed fed. Out of the eggs they can take a hopper and quickly move to adults, fuzzies are not for BP.

Now the only thing you can do is get him on the right track and as far as charts well there is no chart because every BP grow at a different rate, weight differs based on weight when hatching, how fast the animal is started, feeding frequency, prey size, skipped meal etc,so weight can very well vary from double to even triple between individuals of the same age.

Weight is a number what matters is that the animal is healthy, looks good (well proportionate and not emaciated) and is fed adequately.

For young animals hatchling and juvies feed a prey equal the animals girth size once or twice a week, as they get older and their metabolism slows down and an adult male will not require anything larger than a 75 grams rats and a female will not require anything larger than a 150 grams rats once a week.

Feeding smaller preys will also allow those adult to feed with consistency.

[SRMD]

Try feeding a rat pup which is one up from a fuzzy, every 5/7 days.

[gwentennyson]

Yeah, that's a bit small. I'm surprised you don't see backbone if he's a year old and that weight. I have two BPs that are less than a year old and weigh a bit over 200g now. They're on F/T mice once a week. Mice are about as big as the snake is round. Seems to be the generally agreed upon standard unless you want to start weighing prey items. I don't think it'd hurt to give him another, then move to larger items every week.

Dave

Hi Dave,

thank you! Yeah when I first got him he looked small (short) for a year old. I was never sure if he really was a year old. I never noticed his backbone and no one else ever did. Everything else with him has been great-he had a perfect shed so yay! He doesn't look underweight so it's really puzzling. Either he is underweight or he's not really a year old and the guy I got him from doesn't know anything... I'm going to go ahead and feed him another rat fuzzy today and next week, I'll move him up a size in rats. I'll definitely be monitoring Leo's weight much more closely.

Thanks again!

[AKA Dave]

Sure thing, but pay attention to what Deborah and SRMD said too. They both have more BP experience than I do.

Dave

[gwentennyson]

Now is 136 grams small for a year old? Yes but since he was only fed mice fuzzy every week or every other week it was basically being underfed fed. Out of the eggs they can take a hopper and quickly move to adults, fuzzies are not for BP.

Now the only thing you can do is get him on the right track and as far as charts well there is no chart because every BP grow at a different rate, weight differs based on weight when hatching, how fast the animal is started, feeding frequency, prey size, skipped meal etc,so weight can very well vary from double to even triple between individuals of the same age.

Weight is a number what matters is that the animal is healthy, looks good (well proportionate and not emaciated) and is fed adequately.

For young animals hatchling and juvies feed a prey equal the animals girth size once or twice a week, as they get older and their metabolism slows down and an adult male will not require anything larger than a 75 grams rats and a female will not require anything larger than a 150 grams rats once a week.

Feeding smaller preys will also allow those adult to feed with consistency.

Hi Deborah,

Yeah, he looks fine. No one has said anything about him looking underweight and I haven't been able to notice anything. I will be feeding him once more later today. I have started a chart to help me monitor his growth. Thank you so much!

[Stewart_Reptiles]

Hi Deborah,

Yeah, he looks fine. No one has said anything about him looking underweight and I haven't been able to notice anything. I will be feeding him once more later today. I have started a chart to help me monitor his growth. Thank you so much!

If it is the case than he is likely not as old as thought, if he was a year and only fed pinkie mice by his previous owner he would be skinny looking.

So like I said the important is really to have a well proportionate healthy looking animal and if he is than the rest is just a number and you are doing a good job

[PitOnTheProwl]

They all grow at different rates. I have an Albino female that is 1500g and one that is almost 500g................... They are both 3 years old and hatched at the same time.

[Jamiesniper]

That is on the small side, I have a few that are less than a year old and the smallest is 415g,

Saying that, my first BP came to me as a non feeder (I had corns for 2 years) and he was 185g at a year old, he's fed pretty well since, minus an 8 month fast, and now he's well over 1200g.

As long as he's eating for you and looks healthy, he's doing well


0.1 Spotnose, 0.1 Fire 0.1 het pied, 1.0 het pied, 1.0 Lesser, 1.0 Pastel, 1.0 Normal