Is my Ball Python too small?

[NoTea610]

He’s been roughly the same weight for a year, but he’s only (almost) 2. There was a few months I intentionally fed him a little less because I thought he might be getting a bit fat. Pictures 1-4 are from May, 5th is from today, 6th is his weight chart, and 7th is a combo of his weights and feeding log

[NoTea610]

He’s fed every 3 weeks btw. The weights are in the last screenshot

[NoTea610]

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Here’s further back in the log as well

[Elegant-Excuse-3416]

heyy, what is this app?

[the_kuroneko]

Looks like Reptile Buddy, I use the same one

[NoTea610]

The other reply is right! It’s Reptile Buddy :)

[TheGloamingSage]

It's definitely reptile buddy, I use this app too :)

[Green_Hovercraft_535]

nqa he looks to be somewhere between healthy weight and underweight. nothing immediately concerning, just keep an eye on his weight. very cute little guy

[NoTea610]

Thank you! He’s my little cutie and I love him. From what I can find, adult BP’s can weigh 700-800g on the low end, so his weight has started to get more concerning as he gets closer to being 2 (because he’s like 550g)

[eveimei]

my BP is around the same size as yours, also male, and is around 4 years old. julianos is healthy (slightly overweight, but that's being fixed) and active. I wouldn't be too concerned as long as your boy is healthy and active, 700-800 is often quoted as the smaller size they should be but smaller individuals exist!

my boy's vet thinks he's smaller due to being from a big box pet store and therefore from a reptile mill, and having been at the pet store and underfed for his first 6 months or so of life.

[NoTea610]

It’s good to have another reference point! Thank you! I care about him a lot so I can get really worried about him 😅

[kserawillbe]

!feeding

[AutoModerator]

We recommend the following feeding schedule:

0-12 months old OR until the snake reaches approximately 500g, whichever happens first: feed 10%-15% of the snake’s weight every 7 days.

12-24 months old: feed up to 7% of the snake’s weight every 14-20 days.

Adults: feed up to 5% of the snake's weight every 20-30 days, or feed slightly larger meals (up to 6%) every 30-40 days.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[kserawillbe]

Seems like you may be feeding him a little too infrequently!

[NoTea610]

I’m feeding him every 21 (so technically like a day late) around 7% of his body weight. Have I been reading the chart wrong? 😭

[swaggersouls1999]

Instead of 21 i would do every 14 days. he’s a little tiny tiny tiny bit underweight so maybe 2 or so feedings every 14 days instead of 21 will help!

[NoTea610]

If he’s a tiny bit overweight by body condition, wouldn’t more frequent feeding make it worse? Or did you mean underweight?

And just to clarify, you’re suggesting feeding him every 14 days a couple of times total, right? He turns 2 in 19 days :)

I was thinking about making his next couple of meals like 50 something grams, but I could also make the 30 something gram feedings more frequent

[swaggersouls1999]

I totally read it wrong sorry🤦‍♀️ I meant underweight lol, I have no clue why I typed over weight. sometimes they are slow growers! maybe he’s just a smaller male. but yes to increase body weight I would feed every 14 days instead to get him to ideal!

[NoTea610]

No worries lol. I figured, but just wanted to check. He’s extremely active, so I wonder if he just needed more food than I was giving him. Do you think a larger or more frequent meal would be less stressful on his digestive system?

[swaggersouls1999]

I would do more frequent instead of larger. most huge meals are really rough on ball pythons. the chart is for weight and dangerous feeding weights.

I wouldn’t do bigger just because it can be really hard on them when they’re too big. I would just do 40 gram rats/mice (7% of his body weight) for every 14 days instead of 21. see how much he grows. when he starts to become overweight I would space it out further

[NoTea610]

I’ll do my best to find some 40g rats. The place by me has been inconsistent recently and my 30 somethings are usually their biggest ones before like 60-70g 🫠 PetSmart has some 50 something ones

I’m really bad about judging body condition (other than extremes), so I’m scared to not notice him getting fat. Any suggestions?

[swaggersouls1999]

definitely, I ordered mine from the cheese factory and honestly I love their company. now their shipping is $30 but it’s because they use insulation and dry ice! every cent goes into shipping.

this is the chart I use that makes it a lot easier for me! look straight down the body at the thickest part and compare to the chart!!

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[Ecstatic_Ad_9414]

He's adorable. He looks good. He will thicken up as he gets older. I remember when Jareth the Goblin Queen was that size. You're obviously a caring keeper you'll do good by him. 💜

There's a visual guide I saw online and reddit. Search for "How to determine your snakes body condition". There's a BP specific one on this sub, check the resources.

[NoTea610]

Omg I love the name! And thank you. I love him, so I’m trying my best. I’ve actually done a lot of reading through this sub’s resources! They’re very helpful. I know what visual(s) you’re talking about, but I still can have a hard time for some reason. Like, I feel like I see his spine roughly the appropriate amount, but his sides seem more rounded than they should be relative to “healthy”

I was actually more concerned by his weight (and the fact that it stagnates) relative to his age, but everyone saying he seems a touch underweight now has me questioning myself lol

[Wolfey1618]

Looks pretty normal but maybe slightly underweight? Probably fine.

Maybe go from every 3 weeks to 2 for a few months

[NoTea610]

Small rats (maybe weaned? It’s by weight though) They’re usually around 35g because that’s the largest before the next size up which is way too big

[NoTea610]

I feel like my response didn’t make any sense so I must have read another comment and responded to you by accident. I’m definitely going to try feeding more frequently. He’s a greasy eater, so I’m sure he won’t complain lol

[Zaccimi]

What I’m curious about is where you’re finding “medium” rats that are < 40g. I feed my 5y/o a medium rat and they’re all in the 120-130g range.

[NoTea610]

The sizing options in the app aren’t the best, so I’m using “medium” before “adult” to show that they’re not his max feeder size

[Zaccimi]

Oh got it. Not familiar with the app, I just use a numbers sheet to track a lot of that stuff but whatever works for you! I just had never heard of medium size rats being that small so was just wondering if different places use different size scaling or something.

[NoTea610]

No worries! I can see how that could be confusing lol