Ever notice a burst of growth in your Ball Pythons???

[EyeLashViper]

:shock: Have any of you guys and gals ever seen noticeable growth in your pythons after a heavy feeding session? I have my pythons on rats now and it is almost scary how they actually seem to put on some size after feeding. I was just looking at Switch and Apok - both of whom just ate two medium rats about a week ago and they ( the snakes ) are really putting on some serious thickness! Both of them look about as thick as a soda pop can in their midsections....!!! it is really wonderful to see them growing like this...I had heard rats will put on size on a snake but seeing is believing. :shock:

I guess rats are really nutritious for a snake - they must pack some serious calories, much more than a mouse. I mean Trinity, Apok, and Switch are no longer allowed around my neck any more because they are just getting too big. the only exception to this is my runt of the litter, Cypher...he is small for a Ball Python and I doubt that he is going to get much bigger....so he can still perch on my shoulder....these other Ball Pythons of mine are starting to get like St.Bernards or something...heh heh heh... :wink:
EyeLashViper

[Cody]

Yep, In the last 3 feedings with Pelota, every meal she eats, the thickness she is afterwards, she keeps. It's weird. Before feeding...she's her usual skinny self. And then afterwards, she's like the thickness of a banana. Thing is, after a few days of digesting, the size is still the same. And I haven't even switched her to rats yet. Of course, she's still a small growing snake(gonna be half a year old December 8th), but yeah. It's weird watching them grow right before your eyes.

[EyeLashViper]

Oh I love it though !!!!.... it makes me feel really good to see them gaining size and thickness....it is like you said, they keep the size gain after feeding. It is really weird but totally cool dont you think?

EyeLashViper

[Cody]

Yep, I'm glad she's gaining weight, girth, length, etc. I was worried at first, because a few months or so ago I weighed her and she was only 150 grams. I asked on here if that's normal, and someone on here(cant remember now) said it's probably fine, but they have some bp's of the same age that were like 3-400 grams. So I was always weighing her to see if she's gaining some weight. Last I checked was about a month ago and she was 220 grams. I'm sure she's a bit over that now.

[Schlyne]

Yeah, it amazes me how much bigger Issa has gotten since I got him..he's growing fast

[First_time_herp]

Yep, In the last 3 feedings with Pelota, every meal she eats, the thickness she is afterwards, she keeps. It's weird. Before feeding...she's her usual skinny self. And then afterwards, she's like the thickness of a banana. Thing is, after a few days of digesting, the size is still the same.

Link is the same way. But of course I havn't switched to rats yet either.

[Ginevive]

Yup, once hey get on rats, they'll pack on the pounds (or grams, hehe) real fast.
Goblin is as fat as a pop can, as u can see from my signature. I am actually trying to feed him less (once every 2 weeks now) because he was getting so fat that you could see white in between his scales.

[sk8er4life]

geez! thats pretty fat! my girl has jus outgrown mice(in my opinion) and i showed my dad this and he said in his opinion he hasnt even came close to outgrowing mice(which he knows hes wrong!)

[hhw]

I heard that somewhere around 75% of prey weight gets added directly to a ball python's body mass. That's pretty darn efficient.

Ippo was around 150 grams when I got him at the beginning of July, and he's about 550 grams right now while having been cut down to being fed every other week for the last few months.

My two biggest females that I got in early August were originally 800 and 500 grams, and are now both over 1500 grams despite my rat shortage earlier this fall.

I should also note that the 500 gram female reached 1000 grams on a single gerbil and several mice. I don't believe in rats being any more nutritious than mice, although you need a heck of a lot of mice to add up to the same mass in rats.

[sk8er4life]

yea thats true! cuz u could have a mouse the smae girth as a rat but sometimes the rat is longer