Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a pair of trans pecos het for blonde and silver and they seem to be growing very slowly. I feed them once a week. When i first got them they would regurge if I tied to feed them more often. Right now they are on hoppers. Anyone have suggestions on how to get them bigger. At this rate it will take 5 years to get them big enough to breed. Thanks, Mike

Five years may be a perfectly normal growth rate for sexual maturity. Craig Trumbower once advised me "Don't push them."
Just something to think about. We've got many 4 year olds that I consider just shy of breeding potential.
Then again, we're relatively new at this too.
Good luck!

I understand not pushing them. They are 2years old now. Would like to know what is the norm for feeding them.

I don't have a ton of experience but I have seen huge variance between specific individual snakes. I have a pair of triple hets and a silver female. The triple hets are 06's and the silver is an 07 so about 2.5 and 1.5 years old respectively.

My triple het's are extremely slow growing and are just now eating hoppers/small adult mice one every one to two weeks. I've never had a regurge from them but they have been extremely unenthusiastic eaters in general. Always small meals and only one every 7 to 14 days with the occassional 3 to 4 week hiatus from feeding.

On the other hand my silver eats like a hog and is very quickly catching up to them in size. She eats very aggressively every 7 days when offered food and usually eats multiple items per feeding. I expect that later this year she will have caught up to the other two in size and be eating normal adult mice before the other two. As with the other two I have never had a regurge from her but in her case she just eats very very regularly.

I think it just depends on the snake and that if they are healthy then don't worry about it. Eventually they'll be breeding size. I'd be curious if there is possibly a tie to region or genetic background of the snake and it's growth rate.

Sean.
-----
1.1 BRB
0.1 Pacific Gophersnake(unproven Hypo)
1.0 Amel Pacific Gophersnake
0.1 Striped Anery Pacific Gophersnake
1.1 Triple Het TPRS's
0.1 Silver TPRS
1.1 Amel Bloodred Corns
0.1 Abbott Okeetee Corn
0.1 Blizzard Bloodred Corn
1.1 Thayeri Kingsnakes
0.1 Reeve's Turtle
0.2 Amstaff's
1.0 Pudytat

The "norm" for me is No Big Bulges. Even my BP's get smaller prey than normal. They may eat large in the wild sometimes, but captivity is a whole new ball game. Everything is controlled. Keep it small, let em digest.

Mike

Just to chime in with my very limited experience. I have an '07 blonde which is now about 33 inches. He is a very fickle feeder and lately only takes one or two fuzzies about every 5-6 days. Amazing thing is, he's looking really healthy and even growing albeit slowly.

One thing of note is that some months back I fed him a small f/t mouse which was probably about the max for his size. I wonder if that may have stressed-out or possibly damaged his gut. After that he stopped taking food for a while. That's why I'm only feeding fuzzies until he gets a little bigger. Will probably try hoppers soon.

I would not push them and let them go at the pace they are doing well at. If you attempt to push them they just might not make it. Better they be healthy than grow at a faster pace.

-----
Randy Whittington

Gorgeous snakes, Randy. I can't get over how CLEAN those things look. Trumbowers that have the "Trumbower look" are A-MAZ-ING!!

Dusty

p.s. I agree with Randy...don't push subocs...my first and oldest Blonde is a male, and it took him about 3-4 years to start eating frozen/thawed consistently and without hesitation. One thing I've found that helps...MANY subocs are just plain shy feeders when you keep them in an all-glass LAM-style cage.

Thanks Dusty!
This little girl is an 07 from the male above and a double het female. I never intended to keep her origionally but she stayed so light I decided to hold on to her.

-----
Randy Whittington