growing fast

[mattd]

my little ball is triple the size in 3 months . im change here name to weed

[whistlepig]

I'm guessing weight? If that's length, that seems crazy fast. Either way, seems he must be eating well, haha.

[EL Ziggy]

They do grow fast Matt. I'm glad he's thriving under your care.

[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?

[EL Ziggy]

I don't keep BPs anymore but I've had a few new or younger snakes double or triple their weight in 3 months. None of them were power fed and they're all still healthy and thriving. Many times when we get new snakes they've been kept on more of a maintenance diet. It's only natural for them to have a growth spurt once they're on a more consistent feeding schedule. I know a lot of snakes are overfed in captivity and that's something we have to be careful of. I know some species, like boas, have slower metabolisms, are more prone to obesity, and should be fed less often than other animals. I also believe in feeding my snakes well. When they're younger they eat more often and as they grow and mature I start dialing them back a bit. On average my snakes eat an appropriately sized meal every 5-7 days for the first year, every 7-10 days for the 2nd year, and every 10-14 days after that. I don't keep any snakes that should only be fed once every 3-4 weeks. Here are some examples of fast/healthy growth among different species of snakes.

Olive Python- 141g on 1/4/17 and 285g on 2/26/17
JCP- 31g on 9/22/15 and 134g on 12/27/15
Coastal Carpet python-85g on 9/2/15 and 324g on 12/12/15
Snow Bull snake- 52g on 8/22/14 and 235g on 12/10/14
Albino Bull snake - 270g on 4/26/14 and 757g on 8/23/15

[Andy_G]

Originally Posted by EL Ziggy

I don't keep BPs anymore but I've had a few new or younger snakes double or triple their weight in 3 months. None of them were power fed and they're all still healthy and thriving. Many times when we get new snakes they've been kept on more of a maintenance diet. It's only natural for them to have a growth spurt once they're on a more consistent feeding schedule. I know a lot of snakes are overfed in captivity and that's something we have to be careful of. I know some species, like boas, have slower metabolisms, are more prone to obesity, and should be fed less often than other animals. I also believe in feeding my snakes well. When they're younger they eat more often and as they grow and mature I start dialing them back a bit. On average my snakes eat an appropriately sized meal every 5-7 days for the first year, every 7-10 days for the 2nd year, and every 10-14 days after that. I don't keep any snakes that should only be fed once every 3-4 weeks. Here are some examples of fast/healthy growth among different species of snakes.

Olive Python- 141g on 1/4/17 and 285g on 2/26/17
JCP- 31g on 9/22/15 and 134g on 12/27/15
Coastal Carpet python-85g on 9/2/15 and 324g on 12/12/15
Snow Bull snake- 52g on 8/22/14 and 235g on 12/10/14
Albino Bull snake - 270g on 4/26/14 and 757g on 8/23/15

Ball pythons have the potential to reach 1000 grams in the first year on an appropriate healthy feeding schedule without being powerfed. Average hatch weight is around 60-90 grams. Speaking from first hand experience with more than a handful (almost in the triple digits...) of individual snakes raised to adulthood and then bred and more than a handful of species worked with, I agree completely with you Zig.

[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.

[mattd]

i dont weight her , i feed her once a week a small rat. shes just getting bigger quick. i was just happy and making a statement. thats all ty

[mattd]

her thickness has tripled since november . her weight i do believe is fine

[GyGbeetle]

Originally Posted by mattd

her thickness has tripled since november . her weight i do believe is fine

Did you take any before and after pics? I love to see how my babies grow from their "gotcha" date to some of their milestones. Just like human baby pics, only these guys don't talk back or give me grey hair when they learn to drive

[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.