Quote Originally Posted by rabernet View Post
Never heard of such a thing - but I know that Joanna (frankykeno) rescued a 2 year old female who was very small from not being fed well - and now she's breeding this year - she rebounded quite well, once she was vet checked and put on a proper diet.
I can't see how a few years of underfeeding would keep them small. Wouldn't it be just plain slowing down their growing, not stopping it for good.

We adopted two girls this past year. Both around 2-3 years of age and barely 500 grams. They had a tell tale triangular underweight look to them, thin, really soft, loose skin, stuck shed and eye caps. They were being fed a small mouse once a week.

Since we've been feeding them an appropriately sized meal weekly (baby rat no bigger around then their widest point), they have both put on a couple of hundred grams and finally look like normal young ball pythons. We haven't stuffed them or power-fed, and they defecate in small amounts. As far as we can figure, they are using just about all the food for growth.

They are a rounded well developed shape, firm to the touch, stronger and actually have gotten developed more color, getting darker.