Reptile & Amphibian Forums

What's up with the "slow grow" approach, especially as indicated by some for P. d. d.

I've got one '07 animal that is over 5 feet at 18 months. I've fed it consistently but don't feel like I "pushed" it.

On the other hand, I've got an '08 which was smallish to begin with and is very nervous and a fickle feeder. She has barely grown at all and is still under 18" after only 3 sheds. She gurged once a few months back but looks very healthy, just really small. I handle her as little as possible and she's got good hides and plenty of temp range.

I'm wondering if she's just a "runt" or will she just be a slow grower, eventually obtaining a typical size?

All ideas welcome and appreciated.

Thanks,
Brad

I've got an 08 pair d. deppei and the male is twice the size of the female. I was feeding them every 5 to 6 days, but they both regurged just recently. Now I feed every week to ten days. I don't know if the regurges were from over feeding or bad mice, as I've had those frozen mice for over 6 months. I also have a pair of 08 d. jani. Again the male is over two feet and the female is very small and regurges from time to time. They are very delicate in their first year. You have to be very careful. As for growth rate, I think it is an individual thing. For me it just seems that my females are just coincidently growing slower. Hope that helps. Remember if a snake regurges give about a week and half at least before offering food again. Mine wouldn't even eat for about a month after the regurges.
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Matt Kauffman

Thanks Matt for relating your experience. So, maybe it's within range of normal for P. deppei. Maybe she's just at the extreme end of small and he is at the extreme end of big.

As for the gurge...just happened once and not sure why but in that instance she only gurged one of two. It was soon after got her and I noticed a bit of stuck shed at the end of her tail. I treated it with olive oil a couple times before I got it off and I think the handling was what stressed her out. It was her next meal that the gurge happened. I've been extremely careful ever since.

I have 3 deppei deppei and 1 jani, and for the most part, my jani seems to be a faster grower than my deppei. The " slow grow " approach you mention is something that I was taught from every breeder that I have purchased jani or deppei from. Those breeders, plus other breeders that I didn't buy any from but had some good conversations about these wonderful snakes said the same thing:

" Do NOT push them " ( I wasn't going to anyways ), especially in their first year, since they can be prone to regurge, and overall, they may take longer to grow. I was told that it could be even up to 5 years at least before they could be adults.

I lost my first deppei to regurge, so after experiencing that, I may have played it a little too safe on my following deppeis, as far as food size, but so what? At least they are growing anyways, their weight is good, and I am in no rush. I have also experienced the most rapid weight growth in any of my snakes, by my jani, in the last year or so, with decent, once-a-week feedings.

Now, every snake is an individual. Some very may well follow this pattern that I was told about, and some simply may not. I have seen both examples. To put it simply, some simply may grow faster than others. It does also seem that as babies, deppei and jani are much smaller than northern or black pines. Since they start smaller, it may take longer for some of them to reach 4-5 feet or so.

The fact that they come from cooler climates is an interesting thing to note as well.
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Genesis 1:1

Very informative response, thanks much. I'll just hang loose and be patient. As for the big one I mentioned...don't think there's any issues there...must be a typical of the species.