Fast Weight Gain?

[ThyTempest]

Hey everyone,

I am worried that my bp may be gaining weight a little too fast. She was a rescue that the vet says is probably 2-3 years old, but she is only about 25 inches, and at the time of the vet visit, 450 grams. That was 3 weeks ago, and when I measured her yesterday (after 3 feeds from vet appt), she was 560 grams. This seems like very rapid weight gain, but others say that they have yearling bp's that can push 1000g. She has been eating two adult mice every 5-7 days.

Thanks

[starmom]

I would be feeding her only every 7 days. I don't know what you mean by 5-7 days....
Maybe you could try to put her on rats. My bias
Also, balls gain weight rapidly; and yours has catching up to do
Consider every 7 days and consider a small rat for prey (or rat weaner, depending on the gram size of each.)

[ThyTempest]

Rats are less convenient for me to get, more expensive, and I have 10 adult mice already, 2 of which are preg and 3 others have pinkies from last week. Also, rats vs mice should not make a difference. By 5-7 i mean she ate the first time with me, then 7 days later she fed again, 6 days later she fed again, 5 days later she fed again, and then 5 days later is today. We want feed day to be on Sunday's anyway if we stay on a 7 day schedule, so depending on what people say, we may stay on a 7 day schedule strictly.

[starmom]

Well, *this* people suggests every 7 days for an adult ball python. Babies under approx 200g are fed every 5 days. Feeding more often can lead to refusals. Remember, they are opportunistic feeders...

[SatanicIntention]

I had a rescue who came in at 3 years old and 780g gain approx 1500g from May 06 to December 06 on 3(sometimes 4 if I had an extra) mice a week. It's normal You should see about a 100g+ weight gain per month.

She's now about 5-6 years old and 2400g(and gravid with Pastels for the second year in a row).

Good luck with her! And believe me.. Mice get the job done just fine.

[nevohraalnavnoj]

Figure a 600/700 gram BP that just moved up to 50-70 gram small rats gains about 200-280 grams per month without defecating. I would guess they hold onto about 75% of that weight so that would be at least 150 grams a month. Sounds like you're doing just fine.

JonV

[frankykeno]

Austin, I've seen more than one of our rescues that once they are in a healthy environment, eating good quality prey on a consistent basis, well they just seem to suck every bit of nutrient out of that prey that they can. They often seem to gain more off the same volume of prey than one of our well kept snakes. I'm not sure why, perhaps just nature's way of allowing them to catch up and finally grow appropriately after a long time of poor care and poor eats. Likely you'll see some quick shed cycles too as the snake puts on some weight and starts to grow again in both girth and length. We've had a few that came in well undersized for age and every one of them is now well into the normal range for their gender and age. They really are very resiliant creatures.

[ThyTempest]

She has pooped for me twice, once just before the vet, at the same time she had the only shed I know about. That was 3 weeks ago. She just pooped again a few days ago. She has passed urates with both poops as well as one in between. I didnt see any urine until I set up a blacklight so the light did not disturb her when I was in and out of the room at night. Now that she has settled in for nearly a month, she is starting to thermoregulate more willingly and is exploring the tub on occasion. Anyway, the blacklight showed the popular pee spot, so I am making sure to check it better now. Also, I switched brands of aspen and this stuff is more white and less yellow, so it should be a little easier to spot.

Also, she came with mites, and we treated with PAM 3-3 1/2 weeks ago, and did not see any more evidence until yesterday, when I was moving her to put newspaper down for feeding, there was one on my hand. I did a full clean of the tub on Saturday and retreated then, so I am not too worried about it.

Anyway, I think we decided to keep her on a 7 day schedule now, since we wanted to feed on Sunday nights anyway. With that said, if it is not going to hurt her to feed on a 5 day schedule, we may end up doing that later in the summer as we have about 35 pinkies right now....unplanned pinkies from prego petstore feeders.

[frankykeno]

Sounds like you have things well in hand. She's do fine on an every 7 day and gain the weight nicely and in a healthy manner for you. I hope you took pics of her when she came in because you'll be pleased to see her change over the coming months (and we'll be thrilled to see her progression too of course).

Good job with her. One of the side benefits of rescues is you learn so much from them. Sometimes with the easy 1-2-3 snakes your learning curve is one way, take in a rescue, deal with all their issues and so forth - boy they teach you tons in a very compressed time period. We may give them a lot with a better life and a good future but I think we owe them a debt of gratitude for what they teach us as keepers.

[ThyTempest]

Agreed. At the same time though, I feel like she has not been much more work than one would have been from a breeder. My sister and her boyfriend kept her for about a month before I got home from college, so they did the brunt of the work. She ate easily for them and me, does not seem to be bothered by her small case of mites, nor was she fussy at all during shed. Right now, as far as I can tell, is that she hates it when I take away the newspaper after feeding. I usually give her an hour or so after her last prey to settle in and find a spot, typically under the newspaper, coiled in the aspen kind of like a burrow. I take the paper out and she makes her way back to the hide, and I usually turn the light off early if it is before 9pm (9am/9pm light cycle). Anyway, I like having her around, though I think I am getting too obsessive for my other critters and the people around me. I am really trying to contain my inner herp addict.