Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I looked at a few ball pythons yesterday. The guy said they were 2007's and a bit small. (OK, I can work with a bit small.) I was expecting around 650-700g snakes. We get there and he brings them out. All three were roughly 2' long and 300-350g. I've never seen one so small for that age. The smallest we have as a 2yo is 900g and that is only because he fasted for a good while.

Anyone have any experience or thoughts on this? Are they permantely stunted at 2yrs or do they have a chance at becoming possible breeders?

We adopted/rescued a female ball python who was, in my opinion, very undersized for her estimated age. She was supposed to be between 2- 3 years old and was only about 800 grams. We started feeding her every seven days an appropriately sized meal (sometimes with a small snack mid-week) and she has put on some significant length and girth (She's about 1600g and growing). So if the information that was given to us was correct, then her stunted growth was not permanent.
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Lincoln, NE
0.1 Pastel, 1.0 Pastel het Pied, 0.1 Pied, 0.1 Cinn, 1.0 Black Pewter, 1.1 Normals, 1.0 Thayeri, 0.1 Thayeri X Alterna, 0.1 crazy cat, 1.0 husband

I got an 06 earlier this year that was in that range -- she wouldn't eat for her former owner but a change of scenery and she is pounding f/t rats for me. She's is growing at a nice steady pace but it appears to me that her growth rate is more consistent with her age group as opposed to her size. My 08s that were the same size as her when she arrived have grown significantly more than her being fed the same diet. But she is growing - whether she can be a 4 foot 2500 gram snake or not we will have to wait and see.
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Tosha
JET Pythons
Toshas Blog

Herp Medicine does not equal a bottle of Baytril - Dr. Scott Stahl

Thanks for the replies!

Keep em' coming!

Roughly how much has she grown since? I should've asked that in my last reply.

Here are two that were about the same size when the albino arrived - the albino is 3 years old the mojave about a year old.

Since the albino arrived she has gained 250 grams to the mojaves 500 - both have been feeding on small rats once a week for the past 4 months.

Hope that helps.
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Tosha
JET Pythons
Toshas Blog

Herp Medicine does not equal a bottle of Baytril - Dr. Scott Stahl

Wow! Big difference there. Thanks for your time and help. I really appreciate it!

I often wonder about this myself. I see people advertising '06 Pastel male breeders that are 700 grams...
I have an '06 Lemon pastel who is around 1550 grams...and still pounding rats weekly, even during breeding season. He's a champion breeder as well...locking up for 4 days at a time. He'd breed right through the season if I didn't take him out of the female's cage and force him to rest.
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"What is man without the beasts?
If all the beasts were gone,
men would die from great loneliness of spirit.
For what happens to the beasts,
soon happens to men.
All things are connected."

-Chief Seattle (Duwamish Tribe)

If you decide to get one, I would recommend a deworming imediately. One of our males seemed stunted, but since he was wormed in April, I can honestly say I think he's doubled his size, and is no longer the puny thing he once was. I haven't weighed him so I don't know his exact weight gain. He's still not as big as he should be, but he's making a come back! The pic below is of our three males. The lightest normal is the one I'm talking about. In April, he was the same size as the pastel, but three years older.