Weight...

[glassitis]

Alright I just weighed my 20-24 inch ball,don't know if it is male or female but it weighed in at 225 grams,is this good or bad?
It defently has good muscle tone and seems pretty strong for his size.
What should a 2 foot ball weigh,it probably all depends of the snake but I think 225 isen't to bad.
I want to get it alot bigger though.

[8BallPythons]

At 20 - 24 inches my hatchlings weigh anywhere from 250 - 500 grams, it just depends on the feeding behavior of the snake.

More importantly is that the snake has a nice round/oval shaped body, nice tight skin, and no visible "ridge" along the back.

If its kept at the proper temperatures with a hide box and clean cage and eating at least every 7 - 10 days it will be big before you know it.

If at all possible, feed it appropriately sized rats. Rats will put on weight faster than mice.

Hope this helps

-Adam

[Cheryl Marchek AKA JM]

Sounds fine to me. Try the rats if you can, they really do pork up on those, and its easeir(and cheaper) to feed one small rat rahter than several large mice later.

Good Luck

[acorsi]

I bought a male pastel from a well known breeder this past weekend in Philly and it looked to be a bit thin and he assured me that it was fine.. My question is it does have a noticeable ride on the back.. is that an underfed animal? It was hatched on 10/10/03 so it is real young.. The feeding card that was given to me said it only had on meal on 10/27 and he hadn't feed it since because he doesn't like to feed before bring animals to a show..

I feed him twice in this past week and he is very eager to eat..

Any one have any thoughts on some thing I should be doing that I am not?

Thanks,
A

[glassitis]

Thanks guys.
Well it defently sounds like I could be feeding him more!
Well don't know if it is a male/female but 225 grams compared to 500 is a big difference!

How long does it take a ball to digest a mice or rate,4-7 days?
Can they eat even when they are still digesting a meal?
Thanks

[8BallPythons]

Unless the rodent is very small for the snake, I like to give my snakes 2 days to digest an average to above average size meal (given that you have a nice warm 90plus basking spot).

If the meal leaves more than a slightly visible lump in the snake you might want to give a little more time.

Ball pythons are usually pretty good judges of how often to eat and will respond as needed. But be careful, feeding an extreme amount of food in a short period of time will cause your animal to regurg.

Feeding twice a week so that the entire meal (wether one, two, or even more prey items) leaves a barely visible lump in the snakes mid section is the way I like to keep my snakes healthy and put on weight quickly.

Most importantly, make sure it has a nice warm place to bask after eating!

-Adam

[glassitis]

Alright thanks.
I have gave him a couple good sized mice so far,the first mouse was pretty big,I diden't even know if he would be able to swallow it but it devored that one even faster then the last one!

I like to buy a feeder mouse every Tue,because it is pay day and it lets me know it has been a week sinse it last ate.
I think I would either have it eat a couple mice a week at first,then switch to small rats,or just right to rats.
Are local pet shop has some big rats though,like these "jumbo rats",these things must weight a pound,about as big as a guinee pig!

I think since my ball is eating well with mice,then I will just up it's food intake a little by adding one more small mouce ever week,o it gets 2 meals,this should get it going!

Thanks