Hey all!
So I had my new BP for about 2 weeks now. The breeder had him listed for 140g. Now after like two weeks with me and 3 meals (one was a real small rat pup, the next two were small weaned rats) I weighed him three days after his last weaned rat and… he’s still 140g? Is this normal? It has me really worried, because I know they’re supposed to retain like 50% of their meals, and the other snakes I’ve had have gained with each feeding. One of those weaned rats was like 30g.
Any help would be really appreciated, because while I’m not worried about his overall weight since they can gain pretty quick, I am worried about the zero gain. So far he has only given me urates but no poop, not sure if that’s relevant. Are ball pythons just different when it comes to this? I’ve only had colubrids. Thanks!
I am not a vet and not up on to many health issues. I would not worry about the weight as the initial listing weight may have been off, or there could have been some loss since the listing. It would have been better if you had a weight when it arrived… as far as a bm, i am at a loss. You should have seen something, but without knowing how long it has been since each or first feeding, it is hard to say… if you had it for two weeks and should have waited a week before trying to feed, you should see something soon. On another note, it also sounds like you might be over feeding. One meal per week or two would be max. If feeding weekly and you see it stops, then i would try every other week. All of mine did great weekly, then would start refusing to eat. I then switch to 2 week feedings and they eat every time now. Hope some of this helps.
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Thank you for the response! And yeah, that’s what I’m hoping. He’s about 7ish months and it’s a bit small for him but he eats well, so there shouldn’t be any reason for him to not grow I figured.
I’ll cut back then! I was planning on weekly until 500g, then biweekly. The extra rat that one week was just because I felt it was really small.
@germondaline how is the weight gain going?
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Hello again!
I felt silly making this post because he’s actually gaining like crazy now hahah. He’s a little over 200g now. 
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Never feel silly or anything else when posting. It is better to ask then having something happen. We all learn something new everyday.
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Glad its gaining weight, but remember (and for readers)
So a breeders advertised weight might also include the last meal or 2 in it with no intention of misleading.
Its hard to get a true weight unless its eaten and defecated which could mean not feeding for a few weeks or so before weighing.
Hard to gauge the actual snake weight if your feeding a 100g hatchling every 4 days with 15g rats for example. (Just an example to make the point)
I put words to that effect in my adverts as a disclaimer.
Snake weights are just a rough guide.
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