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BurmesePythons!
02-14-17, 09:39 PM
Hi all! I'm new to this forum. I own a female 2016 albino burmese python. She is about 5 and a half months old and only around 3'3. I've only had her for about 3 weeks but her previous owner said she fed her appropriately sized rodents weekly, but burmese pythons are supposed to reach 7-9 feet in their first year (especially females). At the rate she is growing, I'm not sure how that is possible. Right now, I am starting to feed her small rats every 5 days and she is in shed right now so thats a good sign, bu if anyone has an explanation for her size as well as if I should worry and what I should do to get her bigger, please comment.

Thanks!

GyGbeetle
02-15-17, 12:01 PM
I got my yearling at less than 4' in length (just over 3') back in October. I got her from a pet store that is sort of known for not feeding their animals appropriately. Best as I can tell, for the 6 months he had her, he was most likely only feeding her a rat a month, who knows what size each feeding. She's now about 6' and getting pretty girthy, 4 months later. Healthy as can be. I've heard that a lot of breeders do not feed their snakes as frequently to keep them smaller and more manageable, until they are able to sell them. Whether that's true or not, or even consistent in the trade, I couldn't tell you. I'm pretty sure that's what my albino burmese female went through with that pet store though, no doubt in my mind. And she's growing normally now, so I know there wasn't anything medical preventing her from growing.

BurmesePythons!
02-15-17, 12:11 PM
Thats good to hear! Thanks!I really hate when pet shops try to control the size of the snakes like that :(

Tsubaki
02-16-17, 02:28 AM
Have a Burmese python that refused to eat a lot during his first year, this guy i had to feed extra for a while to get him to catch up a bit, because he was really lacking. (Ate 5 meals in about a year, he's still difficult) With this girl I would just stick to a normal feeding schedule, she isn't that far behind and will catch up. She doesnt even have to be behind at all, she could easily grow 2ft in half a year. Try not to stick to "xx snake has to be xx size in xx time" too much. Every snake grows at a different rate, some grow nice and evenly, while other don't seem to grow at all or only in one direction (girth or just length) and then suddenly it seems like they grew a foot overnight. Even the ones being under fed briefly can catch up, without overfeeding.

GyGbeetle
02-16-17, 09:21 AM
Have a Burmese python that refused to eat a lot during his first year, this guy i had to feed extra for a while to get him to catch up a bit, because he was really lacking. (Ate 5 meals in about a year, he's still difficult) With this girl I would just stick to a normal feeding schedule, she isn't that far behind and will catch up. She doesnt even have to be behind at all, she could easily grow 2ft in half a year. Try not to stick to "xx snake has to be xx size in xx time" too much. Every snake grows at a different rate, some grow nice and evenly, while other don't seem to grow at all or only in one direction (girth or just length) and then suddenly it seems like they grew a foot overnight. Even the ones being under fed briefly can catch up, without overfeeding.

This is very sound advice. My lavender albino tiger retic was eating consistently, but was behind in size from her male counterpart, another tiger retic (he's a month older). And literally, one day we opened her enclosure, and she was 6 feet long. She's not yet a year. It was shocking to say the least. She just had a growth spurt.

As long as you're feeding her now, and keeping her hydrated, she'll grow when she needs to. I wouldn't sweat it. Be thankful she's handable now :) Pretty soon she's going to far surpass your height and then you'll be wondering what happened (just like kids. I used to complain that my son didn't talk, and now he never shuts up).

BurmesePythons!
02-16-17, 01:09 PM
wow, thanks for the advice! will do!

bigsnakegirl785
02-16-17, 11:51 PM
Yup definitely agree. If you get a snake with the mindset that it's fallen behind in growth and needs to be X size, you'll end up with an unhealthy snake. I'd move the Burm to a 7 day feeding schedule with appropriately sized meals. Any less than 7 days and the snake is not getting enough time to digest its meal and won't be making the most use out of its food.