Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Welcome to kingsnake.com's message board system. Here you may share and discuss information with others about your favorite reptile and amphibian related topics such as care and feeding, caging requirements, permits and licenses, and more. Launched in 1997, the kingsnake.com message board system is one of the oldest and largest systems on the internet.

Click for 65% off Shipping with Reptiles 2 You
Click for 65% off Shipping with Reptiles 2 You
Click for 65% off Shipping with Reptiles 2 You

Question on Length associated with girth, age, and bathroom frequency?

seablazer Sep 04, 2004 08:07 PM

I am getting curious of some things concerning Burms and growth rate, specifically length to girth issues.

Now, I got my male green in January '04 and he was about 20-24" at the time. He is now just over 6' long, but not very thick.

Is it common for Burms to put on a lot of length without gaining much girth? The reason I ask is because I've seen Burms his age, not quite his length, but a lot thicker.

I'm guessing that it could be genetics, but I'm not sure.

He is currently housed in a cage that is 48"x30"x18", substrate of cypress mulch. Basking spot at 91, ambient at 84, humidity fluxes between 61-79% depending on how long inbetween mistings. At night, cage temp drops between 71-74, with mild basking temp of 80.

Also, my other question has to do with frequency of defecation. This snake goes anywhere from 1 month to 1.5 months to go to the bathroom, unlike my Jungle Carpet that is like on a schedule of once every week or so. The main difference between the two is that the Jungle is drinking at least once a day, while the Burm doesn't even go near his water bowl, the only time he actually goes into water is when I give him his bi-weekly soak in the bathtub.

That does it for my questions, any advice, further inquiries are welcome!

Replies (5)

savvgawd Sep 04, 2004 09:49 PM

Yeah thats how it seems to be with most large pythons like burms and retics. No matter how much you feed them it all goes to length like the rest of there body can't catch up. Now unless you typed wrong you said that your green burm has grown 4 feet in a matter of 8 months? Thats pretty intense I hope your not powerfeeding. My guy has grown but its only been about 2 feet maybe in that amount of time. But as for the question it generally has a lot to do with genetics, some staying proportional in length and body weight, and others constantly growing and growing in length. Once he reaches an older age he will stop growing so much in length and start to pack on the pounds.

seablazer Sep 04, 2004 11:48 PM

No typo...

Below was my feedings. Unfortunately, I never weighed my food. Just went by what it said on the package of frozen treats. He's currently eating jumbo's, and I mean LARGE jumbos. I have now tried to slow down my scheduled feedings to once every 10-14 days, but I almost feel like I am starving him because he is eating a lot but not fat which amazes me. I mean, he is ACTIVE, he's out for at least 3 hours a day roaming about my room and climbing on stuff, but oh well.. Here's the feedings since the first feeding in January.

1/12- Rat Fuzzy
1/19- Rat Fuzzy
1/23- Rat Fuzzy
1/28- LG rat fuzzy
2/4- SM rat
2/11- SM rat
2/18- SM rat
2/25- SM rat
3/10- SM rat
3/17- SM rat
3/24- SM rat
3/28- SM rat
3/31- SM rat
4/14- 2x LG rat
4/27- LG rat
5/7- LG rat
5/21- LG Rat
5/31- 2x LG Rat
6/9- XL rat
6/25- XL rat
7/8- XL rat
7/16- XL rat
7/29- XL rat
8/11- XL rat
8/26- 2x XL rat
9/4- XL rat

onebigred Sep 05, 2004 02:37 AM

your feeding schedule looks fine. 4 Feet in eight months is not that bad, when they can put on 8 feet in 8 months. Especially if its all going to length and not girth. I would guess its just some genetics on why hes not gaining girth. And as far as bathroom frequency, It seems fine. Hes using the majority of the nutrients hes getting from his food and so there isnt really much left over.

For slowing down your feeding of him, you really dont probably need to. I dont know about his age but it would seem as though he is probably still under a year old. I usually dont slow mine down to more than 7 days until after a year. He will do fine waiting 10 days though, so its really up to you.
-----
1.0 Albino Green Burm
0.2 Normal Burm
1.1 Java Retic

seablazer Sep 05, 2004 12:19 PM

He is still under a year, was born in the 3rd week of December. So, he is approaching 1 year...

Just a follow up question, when do they start to hit sexual maturity? Is it with age, size, or a particular size age?

onebigred Sep 10, 2004 09:34 PM

sexual maturity generally happens for males about 7-8 ft. Ive been told that age doesnt have nearly as much to do with it as does size.
-----
1.0 Albino Green Burm
0.2 Normal Burm
1.1 Java Retic

Site Tools