Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a nice pastel boy that was born october 2007. He weighed 49 grams at birth. The egg went 61 days and he pipped on his own. I just weighed him today and he weighs 400 grams full. He started feeding on pinkies and steadily progressed through fuzzies, hoppers, adult mice and on to rats. He now eats sm rats weekly. He sheds just as regular as my other balls. Has anyone ever looked into dwarf balls. I know there are dwarf retics and burms but what about balls. I have babies from last year that are bigger than this boy. He was never malnourished. The first two pics are from when he was born. The last pic is a year later in late 08'. At this time i dont have a current pic but will get one if there is intrest. Please let me know your thoughts.

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Spider

He looks very cool. Not sure on the dwarf thing...

Dave

He is keeper for sure. The color has stayed bright and the head has remained faded. I dont know if there anything special going on but i guess time will tell. Do you have any idea why he would take so long to get to his size. Are there any explinations that would account for his lack of size. Thanks for the reply.
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Spider

You said you started him off on pinky mice, that might be it. Most ball python hatchlings start off on hopper mice or rat pinks, then move quickly on up to small mice or rat fuzzies and rat crawlers.

I do normally start my babies on fuzzies then quickly on to hoppers then rats of appropriate size. With this one i had to start with pinks due to his size. He quickly moved to fuzzies for a stretch and then was on to hoppers. I dont think food size was the issue since while he was on pinks he would eat 1 twice a week. It is a thought but i dont think it is the reason

this isnt the first time ive heard of this. about this time last year on the classifieds someone had a abnormally small BP for sale. i forgot the name of the guy, wish i had the money to scoop her up it might have been a good idea.

i was wondering was his egg a normal sized egg as well?
it would be cool if their was a dwarf strain....imo
start a breeding trial....its all you can do really. is he producing plugs?
adam jeffery
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" a.k.a. farfrumugen "
When I die, I want to go peacefully like my Grandfather did, in his sleep -- not screaming, like the passengers in his car.