my bp not groing

[jaybox_reptiles]

Hi all i have a male bp proly about 7 to 8 months old and eats very well but dose not seem to be growing any sugestions to y this could be ? thx

Jay

[sapphire_moon]

what are you feeding him, how much are you feeding him, how big is he, how big is his enclosure, what are his temps, what is his humidity, is he in a high traffic area with lots of noise or a low traffic area with little noise..when was the last time he shed and how long have you had him?.......

I'm sure he's growing. It's not like you are going to be able to see it. If you are feeding him fine then it would take a REALLY small tank, and lots of time for him to be stunted into not growing (Thats my personal opinion!) and I think I read somewhere that the only thing that stunts BP's is malnutrition........

[fateamber]

My bp dosn't really seem to be growing either, he shouldn't be under much stress, he is eating fine (now he has taken two meals in the last two weeks but wasn't eating for a month before that) he last shed about two months ago! He is about a year and a half old, is that normal, he is almost 3 feet in length.

[BoidKeeper]

If they are shedding roughly once a month they are growing. If you are feeding them 1 rat once a week that is equal to or slightly larger to the snakes largest girth and the temps are right they will grow.
Cheers,
Trevor

[daver676]

My bp didn't eat for about the first 6 weeks I had her. It's about 5 months later, and she still only weighs in around 130 grams and about 20'' long.

[mykee]

Daver, that seems REALLY underweight. I would double her food intake, or feed her as much as she will take on her own. Good luck with that.

[BoidKeeper]

Daver, what are you feeding it?
Trevor

[Linds]

How long have you had this snake? How often does he shed? How often does he eat and what does he eat? How big is he? We need more information before we can give any opinions ;)

[sapphire_moon]

I already asked all those! lol.......My almost 1.5-2yr old male is 3-3.5 ft long, and he weighs almost 3 pounds........ my 22 in 6-8 month old female bp weights about (not sure on grams and ounces and stuff so please bear with me! lol) ......half of half a pound if that makes any sense......

She was not eating but finally enticed her with a brained fuzzy..she refused anything bigger.....but she took an adult mouse last night. We hope to bulk her up a little then switch from mice to rats........and in the process get her a bigger cage!

[jaybox_reptiles]

well i guess he is im jost not getting used to it lol

[elevation24]

Originally posted by daver676
My bp didn't eat for about the first 6 weeks I had her. It's about 5 months later, and she still only weighs in around 130 grams and about 20'' long.

I agree with the rest, that seems really underweight.

My male is 6 months old and he weighs 3 times that much, and my female is 7 months old and she weighs a little over 500 grams.

I've got a pair of August 2003 hatchlings being shipped to me next week and they both weigh a little over 100 grams. Think about it... your 5/6 month old weighs just a little teeny tiny bit more than these 2 month olds.

[madison.s]

well i've had my three babys for about three weeks and they still haven't eaten yet and i got them off of a guy befor they take they're first feeding i don't know was wrong with them.i just hope that they eat soon.

[BoidKeeper]

Never a good idea to buy balls that haven't had their first meal yet. Just make sure they are all in their own cage with no less then two hide boxes and a hot spot of 90-95. Make sure you feed them at night. If they wont take F/T try a live pinkie rat then switch them later. If they are CBB it shouldn't be a problem.
The pair of "bulls eyes" I got are both eating like pigs.
Cheers,
Trevor

[madison.s]

ya i know i'm kicking myself for trading them lol

[BoidKeeper]

The male is going tomorrow. He was sold almost right away. Too bad too because I can honestly say that he is the nicest normal ball python I have every seen. The female will be used in my albino project next year.
Thanks again,
Trevor

[Alex Dew]

Hey

My bp is a 03 hatchling
She is 2ft
I have had her for 3 months
She was on 2 fuzzie mice a week when I got her and now I have got her onto 1 monster mouse a week.
she sheds every 3 to 4 weeks.
she is in a 2 1/2ft glass viv
Temps are 90F hot, 80F cold, 75F night.
Not much noise.

Is she growing at a good rate???
How long for her to get to 3ft roughly???
And any suggestions???

Cheers

Alex

[BoidKeeper]

And any suggestions???
Yes, switch her to Rats now. If you think she is growing now wait till she's on rats. Everyone says; "Feed your snakes a rodent that is equal too or slightly larger then your snakes largest girth." Why then do people feed BPs mice? Any snake that will grow to an adult size that will require it to eat rats should always eat rats right from the get go for two reasons. 1, it will grow faster and 2, you won't have to switch it later when it gets too big for mice.
Do you really want to have to feed 10 mice at a time to give your BP a good meal. Ball pythons are born big enough to eat small fuzzie rats no problem.
Take for example a ball I got on Aug. 25th. He was born on July 5th. When I got him had eaten three times, Fuzzie mouse each time. He weighed just under 200g. I got him on Aug 25th and on Aug 27th he had his first F/T Fuzzie rat which weighed 20g, a slightly small meal acutally considering an adult mouse which a hatchling BP can take weighs about 30g. He has since eaten 12 rats, the last couple being over 30g and at the time of this post he weighed 265g. So he put on 65g in two moths to the day almost.
I realize that all your info and question were based on leghts and I'm sorry to say that is about the only thing I don't track as it is not as important to me as the snakes weight. I track growth rates through weight gains. It does sound like you female is growing fine. As long as they are shedding once a month for the first year or so then they are growing at a good rate. That's what I'v observed with the balls I've kept and still keep. However if you want her to keep growing at that steady rate then I would strongly suggest you get her on rats asap.
Food for thought,
Trevor

[Kappa]

My 2 males are just very close or over 3 feet by a little at 10 months old, 1 rat a week in a rubbermaid at 89degrees

[mykee]

Here's an example of rat-eating balls as opposed to mice-eating balls. I have a male ball who is roughly 16 months old. He was, until a short while ago, a mouse-eater. He ate once or twice a week, and weighs in at a 'whopping' 826g.
Now, I have 6 hatchlings, that were all born between June 26-July 13 2003, which puts them at 3.5-4 months old. They had two meals before I got them, and I have been feeding them 2 appropriately-sized rats every 5 days for the time I've had them, and they all weigh-in between 368-581g. They are not obese, nor are they unhealthy. What they are is well-fed.

[elevation24]

mykee:

I started my female on rats on October 5th. She has been taking weaned rats usually weighing an average of about 40-45 grams each.

Before her first rat, she only weighed 275 grams. 275 grams at 6 months old! Since then, she has had 1 rat of the same size stated above usually about every 5 days.

A total of 5 rats in all, with her last being on the 24th. She has gained 226 grams since then and now weighs in at a little over 500 grams.

I went back looking through my records earlier -- between August 15th (when I first started weighing) and September 20th (when she was weighed last before receiving a rat), she gained a mere 81 grams, on one adult mouse every 3 to 5 days. Just insane!! 81 grams in 36 days on mice as opposed to 226 grams in 19 days on rats? I'll take the rats, thank you very much!!

:D I love rats!! :p

[Alex Dew]

Lol, cheers everone.

Well i think I will go buy my bp some rats, lol.
I knowi have asked this loads of tijme before but, she is on monster mice at the moment and you tell me to get her onto rats.
I was looking at Weaned and they are like TWICE the size of a monster mouse an I dont think my bp can take something that big but rat pups are way to small. So what shall I put her on for a every 7 day feeding schedule???

Cheers

Alex

[daver676]

Originally posted by mykee
Daver, that seems REALLY underweight. I would double her food intake, or feed her as much as she will take on her own. Good luck with that.

That is the problem. She doesn't eat consistently on her own. When she does eat, she takes adult mice. I haven't found a reliable rat source yet. And the scale I was using wasn't great.

[elevation24]

Alex Dew:

I put mine on weaned after being on adult mice and she took them just fine :) They actually aren't a whole lot thicker, they are just a lot longer. It's been said before: If the prey item is a little bit thicker than the thickest part of your snake, it should be able to take it just fine.

Pups are about the same size as large, adult mice though. I don't see how they could be too small if she is eating adult mice right now.

[BoidKeeper]

What they are is well-fed
You said it!


So what shall I put her on for a every 7 day feeding schedule???
A rat by any other name would do the same. Feed her a rat that is equal to her girth. Who cares what they are called as long as they are equal to the girth.
Cheers,
Trevor