Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I HEARD THAT THE SIZE OF YOUR BALLS ENCLOUSER CAN DETERMIN THE RATE YOUR BALL WILL GROW. IS THIS TRUE?

THANKS MARK

No not true.As far as I know..

No, the amount of food determines that.
-----
.

It is the amount of food that your Ball Python consumes (and at what rate) that determines the rate at which your Ball Python will grow.

People seem to get confused between Ball Pythons and fish. So help me, I don't know why. They don't exactly look very similar. Some (BUT NOT ALL) species of fish will limit or slow their growth to fit their captive environment... but even fish people tend to frown very heavily on that.

Reptiles do not grow the same way at all. If you keep a Ball Python in a 5 gallon enclosure (which is definitely too small), and feed it the amount of food it requires for fast growth, it will continue to grow to its adult size. That is of course, if it continues to eat. If you keep an animal in sub-standard conditions, you can also expect that it will eventually fail to thrive. Unfortunately for the animals in question, reptiles are pretty slow to kill this way, and can continue to suffer for a very long time before they finally die from such conditions.

I sincerely hope that you are not doing this to an animal you are responsible for, and maybe even posted this question to prove a point to someone who may be doing this to their own pet.

A young Ball Python would be quite comfortable in a "20 gallon Long" sized aquarium or its equivalent. A large, mature Ball Python may be happier in something larger (though I am expecting that this question wouldn't concern an animal that has gotten this large).

If you have any more specific questions on proper cage size or husbandry, please post your questions!!

~Rebecca
-----
0.1 Dumeril's Boa '04 (Courtney)
1.2 Ball Pythons
[1.0 '05 Orange Hypo (Specter)]
[0.1 '05 Het Orange Hypo (Sylvia)]
[0.1 '03 Normal (Sue)]
0.2 American Pit Bull Terriers (40lb darling lap dogs:Brandy&Mara)

no you dont have to worry my ball pythons are in 2 foot by 2 foot cages(plenty of room).
i just heard from somone that what you keep your balls in can determin how fast they will grow.

It used to drive me crazy when I would hear that at the petstore. Customers would be telling other customers "oh yeah just keep it in a small tank and it'll stay small, we do that with ours" and I'd kind of lose it lol.

Turtles seem to suffer from this far more often than snakes. I have quite a few friends who, when I told them reptiles are not fish, told me about their pet turtle when they were younger that lived for "such a long time" and they only kept it in a little ten gallon or even something smaller. "How long is a long time?" "oh, three years." "You do know they live about 20 years with proper care, right?" "oh."

Sad

~jenny
-----
1.2.2 normal ball pythons (Cindy, Darwin, Periscope, and dah bebbies)
0.2 rescue chinese water dragons (Yoni and Linga)
0.0.1 Mountain Horned Lizard (Freckles)
1.0 rex rat (Scurvy)
1.0 gerbil (Yerbul)
0.1 mice (Cute Girl Mousy)
0.1 bunny (Spazz)
1.1 betta fishes (Vicious and Killer)
2.2 great danes (Shasta, Odysseus, Merlot, and Watson)
1.0 fat fuzzy mutt (Smokey)
1.1 cats (Thidwick and Turtle)
3.0 horses (Buddy, Sam, and Scout)
1.0 goat (Billy Jack)
0.0.1 chupacabra (it ate our chickens)

jenny.thegreenes.org

n/p
-----
2.5.0 ball python
1.1.0 100% het pied
1.0.0 Blond Pastel
0.1.0 Spider
1.1.0 columbian boa
1.0.0 rat snake (alabastered)
1.1.0 corn snake
0.1.0 Chuckwalla (Jamie)
0.0.2 Bearded Dragon
0.0.1 crested gecko
1.0.0 leopord gecko
4.0.0 Quaker parrot (Woody)(Liam)
1.0.0 Landseer Newfoundland (Mac/Newfy)
0.0.5 whites tree frog (trevor, kirmet)
3.2.0 cats (rockie, bs, brownie, lerrado, kole)
1.3.0 kids (dilyen, dakota, chyanne, sierra)
Brian n Chrissy

"snakes are kind of like potato chips, you cant have just one"

I would say this is true only becausemy neighbor and I both have ball pythons. He has his in a 40 gal. and mine is in a 250 gal. Both are females, his is 10 yrs. old and mine is 4 yrs. old. My snake has already out grown his by 2 feet. And we both feed three adult mice a week on the same day. Hope this helps.

jfrreptile, most likely what you are describing is a natural genetic variation between two individual animals. Within any species, reptillian, mammalian, or otherwise, there is a lot of genetic variation (and there should be). This can easily be seen in size differences, and even differences in growth patterns - or when and how fast growth spurts occur.

That is not to say that ALL variation is due to genetic factors; in the study of genetics, we often discuss what we call "environmental effects." Please don't construe this to mean that "Ball Pythons will grow to fit their enclosures;" there are MANY things that account for environmetal effects. Chiefly we see environmental differences in Ball Pythons because of differences in husbandry - temperatures being more or less ideal, feeding regimens (as those who are keeping their animals as pets may feed less them often than those who intend to breed their animals), and any possible complications that the animals experienced such as disease or parasite infestations - all of which can drastically affect growth, in addition to the animal's genetics.

jfrreptile, if your BP is somehow not stressed by her 250 gallon enclosure, which is HUGE (and would normally stress a snake), then good for the both of you, but you should know that it could cause a problem... and you shouldn't automatically attribute her greater size to her large enclosure.

Best of luck everyone!

~Rebecca
-----
0.1 Dumeril's Boa '04 (Courtney)
1.2 Ball Pythons
[1.0 '05 Orange Hypo (Specter)]
[0.1 '05 Het Orange Hypo (Sylvia)]
[0.1 '03 Normal (Sue)]
0.2 American Pit Bull Terriers (40lb darling lap dogs:Brandy&Mara)

Yours could be a female and your friend's a male. Have you two considered switching to one rat per week? It sounds to me like your snakes could handle it.

Both have been probed and no one in this area sells rats. I would need to travel 60 mi. just to get to a store that sells rats. I wish I could feed her rats. Maybe I should do the traveling, buy the rats, and breed my own.

Try ordering frozen rats in bulk. There are a ton of businesses that ship them now. I've just started shopping for them myself, so I can't recommend one business over another. Ask around. It does look like a great, reliable way to feed your snake, and to save some money at the same time.

Good luck,

~Rebecca
-----
0.1 Dumeril's Boa '04 (Courtney)
1.2 Ball Pythons
[1.0 '05 Orange Hypo (Specter)]
[0.1 '05 Het Orange Hypo (Sylvia)]
[0.1 '03 Normal (Sue)]
0.2 American Pit Bull Terriers (40lb darling lap dogs:Brandy&Mara)