I just traded a milk snake for a Burmese python today and the dude said she was 1 year old however my 6 month old male Burmese is so much bigger so my question is if she’s already a year old and doesn’t look like more than 200 grams why is she so small? Just a small grower or should I need to worry?
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Why did you trade?
Did you ask about size/weight before trading? And what she’s eating and how often.
We have an albino burm here we rescued black around March time, now around 2 1/2, not eaten for a year. It’s so frigging tiny! Also won’t eat unless you assist, enough wood will start eating on its own soon.
But if small I’d say either just slow starter or grower. Or just she’s not funny with food?
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My collection is mainly balls I got 11 balls and 2 Burmese pythons and a king snake I wasn’t into how little the milk snake was so I just got rid of it but I talked to the dude for hours and he seems knowledgeable and he seems to feed it regularly but I don’t know I’m going to get a few rat pups later and she if she’s eats if not I’m going to be mad about trading a perfectly healthy snake for a sick one
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If you just got the snake you need her to settle in before feeding. Give her 2 weeks without being bothered before feeding. How often do you feed your current Burmese pythons? You could easily be feeding them more than they really need, making them grow faster than one fed on a slower schedule.
If the snake is only around 200 grams at a year old then they probably underfed it. I’ve raised plenty, thats really small. Hopefully its not sick.
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I definitely would recommend get it tested for Nido.
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I feed it 2 rat pups and she ate them I think the dude I got her from just didn’t feed her hopefully that isn’t the case
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I’ve owned snakes for years it looked small so I fed it and it ate and also it’s in the same enclosure I got it from so it’s really not like it moved from another enclosure but thanks for the advice.
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I can’t believe that now it got me wondering but it’s got no redness of the mouth and it doesn’t look weak or anything maybe he just lied about the age but who knows
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Thats a possibility too. I wouldn’t worry too much as long as its eating and generally looks healthy. A trip to the vet is a good idea. I’m sure you know how to take care of your Burmese. I wouldn’t read in to much on you might be over feeding your current snake, lol.
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I Asked him
Add images here.
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How’s the little Burmese doing?
I feed it another mouse and it pooped and weighs 242 grams and everything looks good just small so I’m hoping everything gonna be fine I’m not gonna worry unless she loses weight or doesn’t eat
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I’m hoping they’ve just lied about or mistaken the age. Considering they’re born at 80-120g, that is almost no growth in a year, in which case they likely starved her. I have some 3 month olds currently around 300g fed a mouse or a weaned rat once a week, and they’ve all missed a meal or two.
All of the burms I’ve raised from hatchlings (12 or so), fed about 1.25-1.5x their diameter weekly, were 5 feet, give or take a few inches on their first birthday and around 2000g.
I have a female I purchased at 18mo, breeder never specified her size, she came in at 670g and her head was massive for her body. She is now about 3 and a half years old, and fed weekly just like the juveniles I have, around 7 feet or so, maybe 11lbs. I find her growth spurts are more frequent than my younger but similarly sized burms, and she is growing slightly faster, but not enough to close the gap. I expect her to still reach a large size, albeit on a much later schedule. Regardless I love her no matter where she ends up.
Biologically these snakes are designed to maximize growth during their first two years or so of life in order to escape predation and increase their chances of long term survival in the wild. After those first few years though they begin to mature, their metabolism changes, and their growth slows down substantially, which makes me wonder how much growth we will see in these tiny juveniles as they reach 5+ years of age. I don’t have experience with this myself. Would love to know if others have dealt with this.
For your situation at least, I’m glad she’s eating and putting on weight. Wishing you the best!
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Got her up to 282 I might slow down on feeding once she hits 300 grams
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