Feeding Concerns....Please help me!

[littleindiangirl]

Hun, for her to be over a year old, she is very small.

From the picture and the size reference next to the mouse, she looks to be a little over a few months old, when in fact if she was 6 months old LAST April. For her to be around a 1 1/2 old... I would expect her to weigh close to if not over 1000 grams. She looks to weigh about 250 grams...

I would slowly increase the rate she is eating, from once every two weeks, to once a week, to maybe even 5 days. Check and double check your husbandry, and most importantly take her to a qualified Snake vet for an exam and a fecal check for parasites.

An experienced reptile vet will be able to help you move her prey size up with recommendations without shocking her body and possibly hurting her.

I don't expect she will grow to a normal size, since she is well past her baby stage. I have no experience with snakes that old and so small, I'm just assuming. Please keep us updated!

[frankykeno]

I do have limited experience with chronically underfed ball pythons. The ones we've rehabbed so far have done extremely well on a program of slowly moving them up in weekly prey volume. So far everyone of them is well into the normal range for their gender and age.

[moonbeam]

Hun, for her to be over a year old, she is very small.

From the picture and the size reference next to the mouse, she looks to be a little over a few months old, when in fact if she was 6 months old LAST April. For her to be around a 1 1/2 old... I would expect her to weigh close to if not over 1000 grams. She looks to weigh about 250 grams.......

Now I am VERY concerned! I posted 2 sep pics. Naga was the one w/out the mouse and Neela was the one with the mouse. Naga is the youngest of the 2. She is the one who is supposed to be approx 15-18 mths. Are you trying to tell me that Neela (the one eating the mouse) looks to be only a few months old? If that's the case, pictures are deceiving! Neela is def older than a few months and much bigger than Naga.

As for Naga (the youngest, w/out the mouse), she has def grown in the year that I've had her. BUT if you're telling me she should be larger than I must be doing something wrong. She was eating weekly for what seemed like forever. Then she lost interest and went down to every other week. I'm the concerned one who wants to urge her to eat more often. I hope I can, especially if I'm being told she is too small!

[littleindiangirl]

It's very difficult to tell from pictures unless there is something to verify the size, like a pop can, dollar bill etc. To better give us an idea, you could buy a scale. A kitchen scale, mail scale, it should weigh in grams, since this is what we use when we discuss snake weights.

You can buy them from walmart, target etc. It doesnt have to be expensive, just measure in grams. It will help us to narrow down exactly the build and size of this snake much better than pictures and let you know what is normal for certain ages. At least for me it's easier.

Also, I did not know they were two different animals. I had no size reference in the first pic.

[sneakerpro]

Is there any particular scale you would recommend, or are they all pretty much the same?

[littleindiangirl]

Meh, I got my scale off of Ebay. I dont even know what brand it is, cost like 20$. Works pretty good.

[missi182]

I would say avoid starfrit, I bought two and both crapped out. Try to avoid scales that use 9v batteries (the square ones) because the connections quit easily in the wires connected to the battery. Taylor kitchen scales are pretty good, they weigh up to 11lbs and I bought one from walmart, and use cell batteries that last a long time

[SatanicIntention]

My scale is a digiweigh or something of that sort. Weighs up to 35lbs in 5g increments. Love it It uses a 9V battery but I've had it for 2-3 years and it's still on the same battery.

[missi182]

Ive always had bad luck with those batteries...both of the starfrits I bought had that kind of battery, but they could work just fine for others and I just have terrible luck!!

[Mike Cavanaugh]

Becky,

If you don't mind me asking, why do you choose to feed only mice?

Mike