Very interesting....So do you think that maybe since the wild balls can eat whenever they want & get that big, that maybe we are not feeding our captive balls enough? My ball (Mila) is rather large; I am 5'10" and she is almost that long, I have had her almost 8 years & do not know her exact age (she was an adult when I rescued her) Before she laid eggs last year by suprise (parthenogenesis) she was a more weighty & healthy looking because I fed her bigger rats, then when she laid her eggs I started researching & found this site & started following "the rules" that most people here live by fiercely & she never gained the weight back that she lost while incubating her own eggs. She looked a hell of a lot healthier before I started to feed her 1 SMALL rat a week...I used to feed her med-large rats no problem, so I am now feeding her 2 medium rats a week and she seems more content & hopefully will get back to looking like her old self. I need to get a scale of some sort so I can weigh her. But she is a big girl.

I really love this site & find useful info, but some people are a little too overbearing when it comes to "the rules" of care and there some questions that I just won't ask here because of that. Just like everything else every snake is different and prefer different temps (like mine), feed, hides ect.
But that won't stop me from coming here because there are people here who do realize that and will have your back when an attack is imminent, as seen in this thread.

HAPPY HERPING!!