New ball python over a year old and only 166 grams!

[zina10]

Many breeders feed "maintenance". I personally do not like to "power feed". Of course, power feeding means something different to every one it seems. I don't like to push their body to reach adult hood size super fast.

I know from other species that this is most unhealthy because sometimes certain structures of the body will grow faster then others, potentially creating problems later on. Not sure if its the same in snakes, but aside from no arms or legs, their body functions much the same then other animals in many ways.

I look at it this way. I cannot force a snake to turn out bigger then it was genetically pre disposed by feeding it more or faster. I can make it fat. I can make it reach that size quicker. But it won't magically get bigger then it was meant to be. Nor do I want to force the body to be "ready to breed" before it should be. A lot of different systems in the body have to be "mature" to successfully (and safely) breed, not just the size.

The thing with breeding Ball Pythons morphs is this though, the longer you wait, the less profit you make on the babies. Each year the price for any certain morph tends to fall, as more are bred. That is why many people want to get their female up to size asap. and breed them asap.

Since profit is not my priority, I can grow mine slower and breed them when I feel they should be ready. I want my females at least 3 years old and the males 2 years old. But that's just me.

All that said, 166 gr at a year old IS rather small. But I have gotten yearlings at 250gr to 300 gr more then once and all of them grew nice and problem free. All of them reached a good size (without hurry).

I'm fairly sure I know which breeder you are talking about, and I have gotten wonderful animals from them. If the weight was listed, and correct, the breeder wasn't trying to hide it.

Just be open, email and ask whether there is a reason the male is so small. Whether he was a late starter, refusing meals, only taking certain food items or whether that is the way he grew him up on purpose. Never hurts to ask, this way you will know what you are dealing with


edited to say: I guess you already asked, didn't see that while I was replying.