Burm too small??

[BURMS]

Hi all, I have a 1 year old female albino burm which i feed a medium rat (90 grams) every week. I just measured her and she is about 4'7! If i am not mistaken, that is extremely small for a obe year old burm. She is not a dwarf and is happy and active always she has a 40 gallon terrarium with 2 big hides and 2 big branches. Why is she so small??

Any help is appreciated,

Thanks!

[trailblazer295]

A 40g tank sounds too small. Is it a breeder? Sounds like she needs a cage upgrade.

[Krj-2501]

Too small for her age - according to whom?

Just because - a mainland brum can grow to 8 in less than 2 years - doesn't mean they should. In fact it may be better for the her health(in the long term) for her to grow a bit slower.

So long as she looks like she has the right girth(i.e. not too skinny or fat) for her size, and she is healthy - you should be fine.

Although if you are still a bit worried about her weight and size - try giving her larger prey (large rats).

[dave himself]

First off are you sure it's a female?, I've known a few people who've got the wrong sex snake even from big breeders, mistakes can happen. Second she could just be a small burm and it's in her genes. People read about burms reaching 18ft on a regular basis, which can happen but is more of a rarity than the norm.

[BURMS]

Thanks all for your comments, Dave, the breeder told me that the mom was 18ft and the dad was 16ft. She has good girth for her size but I'm still a little worried. Shouldn't she be at around 6 feet by now?

[dave himself]

Thanks all for your comments, Dave, the breeder told me that the mom was 18ft and the dad was 16ft. She has good girth for her size but I'm still a little worried. Shouldn't she be at around 6 feet by now?

As i said she could just be a small burm, there's no guarantee what size these snakes will get to when we get them. If she's eating, going to the toilet, and is healthy I wouldn't worry about her size :)

[Krj-2501]

Agreed - just because her parents were very large does not mean that she will also be large. It is very possible she could be a normal sized Burm as an adult.

Also typically burms do not reach sexual maturity until they are about 3 years old. For female- they tend to be about 10 feet long, for males - they tend to be about 7 feet long.

[bigsnakegirl785]

Individuals also grow at their own rates, even within a clutch. You could feed every baby exactly the same, and still have a huge variety of size.

As others have mentioned, as long as she's eating appropriate meals and has good body tone, she'll be fine. I agree with Krj-2501, that a slower growing snake is generally healthier (as long as they aren't undersized due to an illness).

We as keepers have an unhealthy obsession with our snake's growth rates, and worry if our snakes don't reach X size by Y age, when in 9 cases out of 10 that worry is completely unwarranted and trying to fix that by increasing feedings comes at the cost of the snake's long term health.