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Major Growth Spurt?

chamgirl99471

chamgirl99471

I'm Just Me :D
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OK.. so my pastel ball python is really picky about what she eats.. (surprise surprise a picky BP) she was at 1350 grams a couple weeks ago... she was feeding when she felt like it.. sometimes every 5 days sometimes up to 2 weeks she would go without eating and she wouldn't eat anything that wasn't moving a little bit.. had to be stunned!

Now.. my question is... do they go through major growth spurts or do they bulk themselves up for breeding?

All of a sudden this picky eater is feeding on anything and I mean ANYTHING I offer her, including f/t which I'm happy about. She's feeding regularly every 5 days and she will usually eat two small/med rats each time! She has really surprised me.. so>> I decided to weigh her.. she is now very close to 1600 grams :eek: I have to ask though.. How much is too much for a ball python this size? At least I don't have to worry about having to wait another year to breed her if she keeps this up.. LOL :thumbsup:

Thanks in advance for all opinions and ideas on her complete turn around on feeding issues :)
 
Two medium rats at a time? Yikes. Slow, steady, healthy weight gain is better in the long run.
 
They are more on the small size but she eats them with no problem and then acts like she's looking for more... I'm not feeding her anymore but I think I'll try a Medium rat next time and see if that satisfies her :) It just really surprised me to see her start feeding this way and I didn't know what to think of it. I'm going to a 7 day schedule with her and 1 medium rat each feeding. She would absolutely refuse to eat ANYTHING that wasn't moving even if it was off tongs and bounced in front of her and I had an extra thawed rat that one of the others didn't want so I decided to just drop it in her bin to see what would happen and she downed it within 5 minutes! I was in complete shock. I know about slow and steady so that's why I'm slowing down.. she was a bit on the small side I thought for breeding but now I have a feeling she will be up to par by the time Nov. rolls around :)
 
Ball pythons do start to feed more before the breeding season. A lot of times you can put them on a 5 day schedule prior to them going off of feed. A ball python that size has no problem putting down 2 small rats at one sitting. Thats what one of my pastels was eating before I decided to put her on medium rats. An appropriate size rat every 5 days in pre breeding season mode is not a problem at all, they need the extra weight before they go off feed.
 
Thanks Dustin... that's what I figured so I have gone to 1 Med rat every 5 days for her and she's scarfing them down without hesitation... She would never touch anything that wasn't moving until right before I posted this thread.. LOL.. Now she doesn't care... if it smells like a rat... she eats it... including me... LOL.. she tried to eat me the other day because I was cleaning and forgot I had just put a rat in with another BP of mine so she got curious :)
 
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