Growth Chart

[Icatsme]

I weigh my snakes regularly, and jumbles of numbers don't mean much to me. I'm a visual person, so a graphical illustration means light years more to me. I put together a chart showing the growth rate, much easier to interpret who is growing and who is being troublesome.

The weights used are ones taken the last week of the month, irrespective if they have just eaten or are empty. There's so many questions from people about what kind of growth they can expect from their ball python, I think this helps to show just how variable they can be.



I cut off my axis at 1300 grams and ran it from March07 to May08. Gotta love Excel.

[ZinniaZ]

Hey this is awesome. Thanks for posting this. Since it is quite variable, how do you gauge if your snakes are gaining well? I thought ours was NOT. She had the triangular shape to her body and I was worried about her not taking in enough so we increased her feedings. Is it all just checking body condition?

[nevohraalnavnoj]

Very nice! The one thing I'd like to see is if there's any significant difference in rates between the males and the females. I can't tell from the key which are which.

JonV

[Icatsme]

Hey this is awesome. Thanks for posting this. Since it is quite variable, how do you gauge if your snakes are gaining well? I thought ours was NOT. She had the triangular shape to her body and I was worried about her not taking in enough so we increased her feedings. Is it all just checking body condition?

I check their condition at least once a week when I'm cleaning. I still have a small enough collection they all get personal attention. I like them to feel solid with good muscular body mass. To me, the weight needs to be proportionate with the snake. Some are really slender and long, some are shorter and a look a little on the "husky" side.

Very nice! The one thing I'd like to see is if there's any significant difference in rates between the males and the females. I can't tell from the key which are which.

JonV

Here's the chart with the females in red and males in blue. I personally find my females do grow faster, but I have a more females than males. As my data sample gets bigger with more snakes over time, there might be a correlation. I'll keep an eye on that :-)

[nevohraalnavnoj]

Thanks for all this information, Staci! It's really helpful to see growth rates quantified. In particular, I was trying to eyeball if females go through an exponential growth phase, whereas the males grow at a constant rate.

It appears from your data, and this is just a guess, that both sexes do go through an exponential growth phase with the females being slightly more pronounced. This would make sense, as most animals regardless of sex, go through some type of phase where they are growing at a ridiculous rate.

JonV