growing fast

[bigsnakegirl785]

Rapid growth isn't necessarily something you want, and ball pythons are prone to fasting if fed too much. There's a few that will eat themselves into the grave but most will start refusing after a certain point. If the growth you're quoting is accurate, you may want to back off the food. I could see maybe doubling their size in a year, or tripling their weight in about that time, but tripling size in just 3 months would have me on edge.

[Andy_G]

Originally Posted by bigsnakegirl785

Rapid growth isn't necessarily something you want, and ball pythons are prone to fasting if fed too much. There's a few that will eat themselves into the grave but most will start refusing after a certain point. If the growth you're quoting is accurate, you may want to back off the food. I could see maybe doubling their size in a year, or tripling their weight in about that time, but tripling size in just 3 months would have me on edge.

...so if he received the ball python and let's say it were 100-120grams at a month or two old, you'd only want it at less than 400 grams by a year? Think about that for a second. The rest of what you said makes sense, but what I've bolded above doesn't.

Matt, that sounds like a very fast growth rate but not necessarily unhealthy. How often are you feeding your little one?

[bigsnakegirl785]

Originally Posted by Andy_G

...so if he received the ball python and let's say it were 100-120grams at a month or two old, you'd only want it at less than 400 grams by a year? Think about that for a second. The rest of what you said makes sense, but what I've bolded above doesn't.

Matt, that sounds like a very fast growth rate but not necessarily unhealthy. How often are you feeding your little one?

That's not actually what I said, I think you're misreading my comment.

I did say rapid weight gain was fine (hence the "maybe triple their weight in that time" - sure triple the weight might be conservative but I'm saying that triple the weight is more likely than tripling size not saying that only tripling weight is healthy), but tripling size isn't. 100 grams to like idk 800-1,000+ in a year is one thing, a bp wouldn't be tripling it's size between 100 and 1,000 grams. Size implies physical size. So like 18" to 4.5' by a year would be worrisome.

[Andy_G]

Originally Posted by bigsnakegirl785

That's not actually what I said, I think you're misreading my comment.

I did say rapid weight gain was fine (hence the "maybe triple their weight in that time" - sure triple the weight might be conservative but I'm saying that triple the weight is more likely than tripling size not saying that only tripling weight is healthy), but tripling size isn't. 100 grams to like idk 800-1,000+ in a year is one thing, a bp wouldn't be tripling it's size between 100 and 1,000 grams. Size implies physical size. So like 18" to 4.5' by a year would be worrisome.

Weight=size...you meant length. Definitely a miscommunication.

Matt, glad your snake is doing great. That's what the focus should have been.

[bigsnakegirl785]

Originally Posted by Andy_G

Weight=size...you meant length. Definitely a miscommunication.

Matt, glad your snake is doing great. That's what the focus should have been.

For me, weight is weight and size is physical size, so length. Weight isn't really a size, it doesn't describe the physical space a snake takes up only the strength of gravity pulling on it. Perhaps I'm using it differently than most people do, but that's the distinction I use.

And yeah, while I'm glad the snake is doing well I tend to be worried about overfeeding so I probably focused on that a bit too much. I think with the recent responses it seems OP probably doesn't keep close enough tabs that the first post may have been 100% accurate.

[Andy_G]

Originally Posted by bigsnakegirl785

For me, weight is weight and size is physical size, so length. Weight isn't really a size, it doesn't describe the physical space a snake takes up only the strength of gravity pulling on it. Perhaps I'm using it differently than most people do, but that's the distinction I use.

That's only you using the terms like that. For example...the largest snake is generally regarded as the green anaconda in most literature, whereas the longest would be a retic. It's cool to have your own definitions aside from the widely accepted definitions of terms, but perhaps consider clarifying to everyone else what you mean when you're using them especially on a forum like this so these little miscommunications occur less and those who are new won't be misinformed. We really don't have to put everything under the microscope if nobody is asking for help. He just posted to share how well his snake is doing.

[bigsnakegirl785]

Originally Posted by Andy_G

That's only you using the terms like that. For example...the largest snake is generally regarded as the green anaconda in most literature, whereas the longest would be a retic. It's cool to have your own definitions aside from the widely accepted definitions of terms, but perhaps consider clarifying to everyone else what you mean when you're using them especially on a forum like this so these little miscommunications occur less and those who are new won't be misinformed. We really don't have to put everything under the microscope if nobody is asking for help. He just posted to share how well his snake is doing.

I would clarify except I didn't realize people were using the terms different than I do, now I know that's not the case. I don't often encounter the terms being used in a different way. I would argue a snake growing too fast isn't doing that well, or at least won't later on, so that's why I felt it important to mention what I did. I totally get being excited your snake is growing fast, I did the same with my first boa, but it's actually really bad for them to grow too fast. If OP was being hyperbolic or specifying weight only then I definitely apologize.