Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi,

Can someone give me a rough idea of the growth rates i can expect from a healthy well fed royal python (i.e what sizes at different ages)? How long should i expect between each shed at different ages? If someone has some records for one of their pythons, i'd love to see it. Thanks.

Dan.

This is info on 20 2003 baby BPs in my collection. Info is not entirely up to date. I am making a web site, hope to have it up next week and it will have up to date info.

I'll put the charts that is based on in the next post.

Hope this helps!

These charts are from Dec. The table in the previous post reflects January's weights as well~ Also~ these charts show snakes named "Winter" and "Female # 4" these two snakes were removed from the charts (They have never fed voluntarily and should not have been in there in the first place) and the table in the previous post does not reflect thier weights.

Thanks a lot for the info JM, it's really useful to get a rough idea of the growth rates other people are experiencing, although as Renaissance says, there's so many factors to consider, growth rates are likely to vary considerably between individuals. It's good you keep detailed records with all your snakes, it does help you identify potential problems with any of your snakes.

Dan.

It's important that people do not take information such as this chart "as gospel".
Let me give you an example of what I mean by this...

According to the chart and graph, the average weight of a ball python at month 7 is 392 grams.
Looking at the detailed figures, however, we see that the weights of individual animals in month 7 range from 121 grams to 723 grams.
Now...don't forget...all of this is based on a sample size of 20 animals in one person's facility. Different animals fed more or less than the animals in this sample may possibly gain more or less weight within this period of time.

Take this information for what it is:
Good information that could be valuable for the purpose of relating the growth of your animals to the animals measured by JM.

I think it is important for everyone (especially the newcomers) to remember this:
In month 7, there was a 602 gram difference between the smallest and largest animals in JMs study. Another way of looking at it is that the largest animal weighed about 6 times as much as the smallest.
Just because your ball python does not weigh exactly 392 grams in month 7 does not mean that something is wrong with it.

I think it is extremely nice of JM to compile this information and post it here for all to see. I am just trying to head off the inevitable "My ball python does not weigh 392 grams at 6 months of age...what's wrong with it?" type posts that it may lead to...

I should have made that point as well. Thanks!

I actually keep track of the info as a "Gee Whiz" for my own entertainment.....I think it is just interesting to watch the variances and see how each animal fits in. Things like Female 1 has stopped feeding, so her January weight did not increase, so a number of the smaller animals are catching up now. I kind of expected her to go on a hard winter fast after the heavy feeding this past Fall, and sure enough she has.

The last time I posted this, I made a point of making sure everyone knew this is NOT a scientific study.........there is no control goup, the highest variable is only 20, and while each animal is offered feed at the same schedule, they do not all feed at every offering, and some of them feed mice and some feed rats. It's just an interesting "Gee Whiz" that has to be veiwed with the indicidual charts in order to make sence.

Thanks!

well im only posting what i already knew, i bought 10 cb 8 month old female ball pythons from extreme reptiles out of florida, well a guy named alfred said he would sex them him self, needless to say that 2 are males, thats ok though i sold them this weekend. but the real problem comes from the fact that i contacted extreme reps and told them that our local herp specialist with the las vegas herp club examined all 10 of these balls and after he weighed them all, told me that they are most likely wc. and only 2 to 3 months old at the max, the weights went from 56 grams to 1 that weighed 123 grams. most arrived very sucked up.
2 died in less than 2 weeks from getting them.
extreme told me that they were smaller than normal because they didnt feed them much so they could keep them small. well anyway i bought the smallest weighing female (haha) 8 month old balls in the world. i did pay by postal money order and thought i would get what i paid for. well i didnt!!!!

FWIW, you may want to repost this as a new thread for all to see. Just a thought to help prevent others from being screwed too.
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Rob