Stunted?

[Soltarianknight]

Just joined up here, figured id get a good response to the question.

To sum it up, i rescued a Kenyan Sand boa back in September from my mothers barber. When i got her/him they were on calcium sand, no heat, a huge water bowl, dead roaches and bugs in the sand with bits and pieces of shed. 2 pinkys buried in the sand that went uneaten, and the snake.

She was about 16-17" long at that time, very unresponsive to stimulus but a MONSTER eater. She actually escaped in November for a few weeks as well but thats another headache-story.

Since then ive actually had her i replaced sand with aspen, heat pad, smaller water dish and so on. She started on fuzzies and i moved her to large hoppers(my LPS has some rather large ones) after a month. She gets 1 a week, thats all she will take. She has grown nothing. Nada. Not an inch. She hasnt shed or even gone milky at all. Which is what has me partially concerned. Im still not sure of gender, but i was told she was 4 years old so at 16" id assume female or a large male i suppose. Shes regained her personality too....yup. Not a very beautiful personality :P. I try to handle her once or twice a week, i dont want to over do it with her, but i do like to have her in a state where i can move her in a emergency.

I was just wondering peoples opinions on this whole growth bit, if theres a way i can alter her feeding or such. I havnt been able to afford a vet trip to get a scan so we can see what her internals look like. I know, bad Sol. I dont have any vets i trust though. My other rescue, a Grey Banded king, checked out Ok, of course, she has a great feed response, growth rate(she shot off like a rocket, never seen a snake grow that fast :P).

Pics
http://i1096.photobucket.com/albums/g324/loachlover/GEDC0783.jpg
The day she came home after i removed some shed, she was a little thin but not horrible

http://i1096.photobucket.com/albums/g324/loachlover/GEDC0796.jpg She was VERY impressed with the new tank

http://i1096.photobucket.com/albums/g324/loachlover/GEDC1085.jpg A few months ago

http://i1096.photobucket.com/albums/g324/loachlover/GEDC1194.jpg recent pic.

I should mention, it took about 3-4 feedings to get her to eat outside her tank in a box, shes very stubborn now a day with eating in the box still.

[drewkore]

It may be hard to notice growth without the use of a scale. I would also say that I think at that size you may want to at least be feeding small adults. I wouldn't worry about the lack of a shed yet. Double check your temps and try to up the prey size.

[mykee]

No need for a vet. From what I've read, and from personal experience, 99% of them are completely and utterly useless when it comes to reptiles. Save your money. If it's eating fine and looks healthy, just enjoy her.

[Becky Goings]

If you can text me a belly pic, I'll have my friend tell us whether it's male or female. My understanding is males average about 12 inches but could be as big as 18, and females are more like 24-36. It definitely looks pretty healthy. Keep doing what you're doing, and sharing pics!

[Soltarianknight]

Thank you, My concern mainly would be that any stunting caused organ deformities which can cause problems. I know i know, i should have used the scale *comence kicking*

I have belly shot ill get it up soon. Im getting new feeders today, thinking about switching to rats "f/t". I do trust vets to some extent, they are not usless. I just finished 2 semesters of Vet Assist classes in school, ill have 4 more. Im already qualified to work in the vet office.

[Soltarianknight]

Seems like all my critters are getting feeder upgrades. The king snake needs something just a tad larger then adult mice and ill see if the boa will take anything bigger then a hopper. Shes just a pain with food, unless its scented with my leopard gecko, who isnt a big fan of the practice.

[Soltarianknight]

This was the best i could nab
http://i1096.photobucket.com/albums/g324/loachlover/DSC01190.jpg

And a to date pic of her
http://i1096.photobucket.com/albums/g324/loachlover/DSC01192.jpg