3 yr old Bp weight

[MONTY PYTHON FAN]

This question came up in another thread. I have two regular ball pythons that are approximately three years old. Both are males and weigh 343g and 377g.

I feed them one to two rat pups each weekend.

Do I need to feed them larger prey items? Are they underweight for their age?

[Purrrfect9]

If they both are truly 3 years old, then yes, I would say that they are severely underweight. I have a 1 y/o that is 600grams, a 1400 gram 2 1/2 year old female, and a 1100 gram 2 1/2 year old male, and a 2,200 4 1/2 year old male. the 2k gram male gets 1 med rat aweek, and everyone else gets 1 small rat a week. just a qeustion, how long are your BP's because they might not really be 3 years old

[MONTY PYTHON FAN]

28" and 30"

[starmom]

Can you verify their ages? Have you had them since they were wee ones? If so, then they are very underweight and length might not be an indicator as they could have been stunted by lack of food (I think I heard of this happening on this and other forums....)

I would feed them 10-15% of their body weight maybe every 5 or 6 days to start to get the weight on. I would also take them to a vet for a fecal check-- parasites might be an issue....

[MONTY PYTHON FAN]

Can you verify their ages? Have you had them since they were wee ones? If so, then they are very underweight and length might not be an indicator as they could have been stunted by lack of food (I think I heard of this happening on this and other forums....)

I would feed them 10-15% of their body weight maybe every 5 or 6 days to start to get the weight on. I would also take them to a vet for a fecal check-- parasites might be an issue....

I purchased them myself from the petco/petsmart/petland {can't recall exactly} about three years ago. They've grown of course and admittedly I have not till recently been feeding them every week. I was feeding them both every two to three weeks, and obviously not enough. They do seem very healthy in all other respects.

I'll go with the increase in food weight on the 15% rule you suggest.

Thanks

[waltah!]

I would definitely bump up the prey size and frequency. I would say don't go too crazy all at once though, as they may go off feed on you if you increase everything too much. My 1 yr old males are between 550 and 900 grams right now (for comparison)
Good luck!

[starmom]

Sounds good and please share with us your excitement as they grow and thrive!

[JenH]

My 3 07 males are between 600-800gms. Two have been eating weans and small rats for 6 months or so and the other is a mouse eater. Last weekend he ate 4 small mice....

If they are eating every week, they should have gained more then that. When did you move them up to rat pups?

[grunt_11b]

I have an 08 thats 400g.. Good luck on upping the prey size.. Oh and keep us updated on their progress..

Alan

[MONTY PYTHON FAN]

WOW!!! Thanks everybody! These numbers are really shedding some light on my situation. I began feeding f/t rat pups this summer. Prior to that it was f/t adult mice @every 2-3 weeks, usually two each.

I really appreciate this forum and its members.