Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I got this big beautiful female the first week of Feb. She weighed in at just over 1600 grams when I brought her home. I weighed her today and she is 2527 grams!!!! Yeah, I reweighed her like four times to be sure, even double checked to make sure it was seet on grams and doubled checked my records which show the weight I got her at. I did breed her (just to see if she would) and she locked up a couple of times. Could she be gravid? Or is it possible that she gained that much weight that fast? She's is still eating but only small rats once a week as opposed to Medium rats every 5 days. I'm stumped!
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Tosha

8.10.0 Ball Python (Harry and Fluffy and currently un-named)
0.2.0 Feline (Pippen and Pandora)
0.0.1 Dessert Tortoise (Pope)
7.9.5 Fish (1,2,3,4...)
0.0.1 Frog rescued from pool skimmer
0.0.2 Lizards rescued from pool skimmer

Well, my bet is she is full of rats and that accounts for at least a few hundred grams. As far as being gravid - balls don't gain weight from being gravid (my son did a science fair project on that). Maybe when you got her she was completely empty...since then she's been eating and gaining weight - but also could have 300-400 grams of poop in her. Just a thought!

Good luck with getting her gravid!

Christy

That's a thought, but she did eat the night before I got her and she is currently empty (ate four days ago and just pooped). Although I suppose, it's possible she's got some stored up somewhere. Thanks!
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Tosha

8.10.0 Ball Python (Harry and Fluffy and currently un-named)
0.2.0 Feline (Pippen and Pandora)
0.0.1 Dessert Tortoise (Pope)
7.9.5 Fish (1,2,3,4...)
0.0.1 Frog rescued from pool skimmer
0.0.2 Lizards rescued from pool skimmer

I got this big beautiful female the first week of Feb. She weighed in at just over 1600 grams when I brought her home. I weighed her today and she is 2527 grams!!!!

A hundred grams a week for an animal fed large prey and kept with proper temps and such is definitely NOT out of line.
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AMAZON REPTILE CENTER

NAMED BEST REPTILE STORE IN LOS ANGELES

>>A hundred grams a week for an animal fed large prey and kept with proper temps and such is definitely NOT out of line.

Her first three feeds were F/T medium rats, she then refused a meal and the next two feedings were f/t small rats (she refused mediums). Would this be enough to gain that kind of weight? Thanks!
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Tosha

8.10.0 Ball Python (Harry and Fluffy and currently un-named)
0.2.0 Feline (Pippen and Pandora)
0.0.1 Dessert Tortoise (Pope)
7.9.5 Fish (1,2,3,4...)
0.0.1 Frog rescued from pool skimmer
0.0.2 Lizards rescued from pool skimmer

send her to me so I can re-weigh her
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Jay A. Martin

If u have a GOOD scale that specifically weighs in grams put a nickel on it, a nickel weight 5 grams so use that to calibrate it also if your scale was tipped your sensors may have givin you a false reading

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Tosha

8.10.0 Ball Python (Harry and Fluffy and currently un-named)
0.2.0 Feline (Pippen and Pandora)
0.0.1 Dessert Tortoise (Pope)
7.9.5 Fish (1,2,3,4...)
0.0.1 Frog rescued from pool skimmer
0.0.2 Lizards rescued from pool skimmer

This is a better way to calibrate your scale since in is closer to the range your snakes will be in. BTW grams are not a unit of weight, they are a unit of mass, so nothing can weigh 5 grams, but it can have a mass of 5 grams

Tosha, as for the gain in mass, my little baby pastel male went from 150 grams to now 800 grams in a little less than three months and he only eats mice...but then again, ball pythons don't grow well on mice...hehehe.

An adult gaining 900 grams in two months while eating well sounds pretty good to me, not too much. Also when you first massed her you might have had part of her off the balance touching the floor or table or whatever, or the balance might have been zeroed incorrectly. I take regular readings of my snakes at least twice a month to keep track of how they are growing or not growing.
Is she gravid? only time will tell, but you should have noticed an ovulation by now or very soon.

My scale is fine, I weighed everything from a nickle to a 5 lb bag of sugar and the scale is accurate. Her previous reading was also accurate and the ad that I responded to even says she was 1600 grams. She supposedly was eating large rats when I got her and has gone from meduims to smalls and so the 900 grams had me concerned, the rest of my girls are gaining about 200 a month. I just never thought I'd see that much weight gain in such a short time from a snake that's cut back on her eating. I'm not complaining, just hope theres nothing medical behind it. Thanks everyone for your thoughts!
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Tosha

8.10.0 Ball Python (Harry and Fluffy and currently un-named)
0.2.0 Feline (Pippen and Pandora)
0.0.1 Dessert Tortoise (Pope)
7.9.5 Fish (1,2,3,4...)
0.0.1 Frog rescued from pool skimmer
0.0.2 Lizards rescued from pool skimmer

I find that people who aren't having 'fun' with their ball
pythons anymore, who eventually sell them, usually spend the
last several months not really taking great care of them and
not feeding them nearly as much as they should. Often, when
I purchase females balls like that, they are HUNGRY! My
opinion, is that if they want to eat...I will feed them as
much as they like. Afterall, you never know when they may
go on strike.

I once picked up a VERY long and skinny female, and she was
very hungry. I actually paid attention to how much she ate
just to see what the numbers would come out to (...she was
eating like crazy). When I got her, she weighed approx
1500g. Over the next 3 months, she ate ~4500g worth of rats!
(Probably making up for years of not enough food). When she
leveled out, she weighed over 2600g.

So...it is possible!
Good luck,
Chris Simone

Also, as mentioned in other posts here, she probably has a lot
of weight that she will eventually 'pass'...