Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have 1.2 papuan pythons. The male is captive bred and about 3 years old. He eats a lot and never refuses a meal, not even when he's about to shed. Why is he still under 6 feet???
I wanted to breed him to the big females, but I think the females will see him as a snack.
Now I think it's best to feed the male another year, but I don't know if it helps. It just looks like he doesn't get any bigger.
What do you think?
Thanks for the replies.
Bas

still be able to breed I think 6 feet is too small. I have a proven breeder male that is about 8-9 feel long and much thinner than my female breeders. He aggressively breeds with both of them and has not been looked upon as a snack. I have a smaller male that is 7-8 feet and I may try to introduce him to my females this season. I have not had any luck getting eggs as this was my first year trying to get them to go. Good luck with your animals. Email me if you want any info that I could possibly give you and I can get pictures of my males for you to compare yours to. Frank Kincade.

If he's not growing as fast as he should, and he eats all the time, it sounds like he might need even more food than you think. Perhaps it's time to increase the SIZE of the meals.

Try feeding something that's near the limit of what he can swallow. You can kind of experiment with this too. Wait until his system is cleaned out. Weigh him. Then feed him the biggest meal he'll eat. Once he's cleaned out you should weigh him again. You'll know if he's growing if you do this.

I'm no expert on Papuan Pythons... but I do know that males are quite rare. So be carefull with that one eh... Papuans are on my "life-list" and I'd love to know that your boy is sire to tons of babies when my time to buy comes.

Doug T

Thanks for the replies.
I don't think I feed him small meals. He eats BIG rats. I forgot to mention that he sheds every 3-4 weeks. Is this normal?? Maybe he is growing, but I can hardly see it.
If he reaches 7-8 feet by the end of this year, I'll try breeding them.
It's true that males are quite rare, but what's the reason? Do they live different than females so they're harder to find?
Cheers,
Bas

You might want to invest in a scale that can accurately measure the weight of the snake. Measuring length is a tough way to tell if a snake is growing much. If you get a scale, all you have to do is put the snake in a bag, drop it on the scale and see how much (or little) growth its had between sheddings.

I've got 2 scales: one that weighs the young snakes and is accurate to 10 grams, one that weighs the big snakes that is accurate to the ounce.

Like I said, I'm not expert on Papuan Pythons... I've never even seen one in the flesh, so timing issues on shedding and such are things I can only answer in general terms. 3-4 weeks per shed sounds like a fast growing snake to me.

Good luck with the Pap's.

Doug T