Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My BP seems small for it's age, it'll be about 4 years old this spring, and it doesn't seem as large as other "adult" BP's i've seen. For example, the attached pic is a 3 year old BP for sale locally.

Mine is probably half that size, maybe 3 feet long, not nearly as thick...what would a "normal" size be? Do I have a runt lol?

It really depends, what and how often has it been fed? Male or female? Consistent eater, etc...

It gets fed every 10 days or so, any more than that and it doesn't have much interest in eating...not sure if it's male or female, bought from petco so probably male.

The neck right behind the head is probably between dime and nickel sized. I feed it smaller adult rats.

dime or nickel sized neck that eats small adult rats?......what did I read wrong?.....

..I have some 16 month old balls that are going to be tried to be bred.......I also have some albut 3 year olds that look like one year olds....like 900 grams?.......

........3 year old ball could be ,,,usually around 4 foot or more ......at times 5 foot and more....

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Some snakes just don't grow as big as others. Yours sounds like it's probably just a small male. Do you have temps between 90 (hot side) and 80 (cool side)? If it's colder, that might be why it hasn't grown as much and doesn't have much interest in eating more frequently.

Bigger isn't always better. If your snake looks healthy and at a good weight, acts healthy...I wouldn't worry.

~jenny

PS: I got my nice reduced pattern female from Petco. But then, I worked there at the time and probed the snakes I liked to check genders.

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"Polysyllabism in no way insures that what you're saying is actually worth being heard." - Blake (an e-friend of mine)

"I have never made but one prayer to god, a very short one: "O lord, make my enemies ridiculous." And he granted it." - Voltaire

I was told by a Petco worker that they buy lots of C.H. males, so unless there was a slip up, it is doubtful it is a female. IMO you are lucky to have a three year old ball from Petco, so many of them have health problems. One of my students bought one last year that had all sorts of neurological issues, and actually died in less than 2 days!

My guess is it is a male, but I have a four year old female that is smaller than one of my males, so you never know! I would get it probed, if it concerns you!
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Thanks,
Amy
My Boids

They buy whatever snakes come in that are cheapest, but not directly from the importer, from a supplier, so that makes sense that it'd be almost entirely CH males.

I must have lucked out to have gotten a female!

~jenny
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"Polysyllabism in no way insures that what you're saying is actually worth being heard." - Blake (an e-friend of mine)

"I have never made but one prayer to god, a very short one: "O lord, make my enemies ridiculous." And he granted it." - Voltaire