How to make BP big as possible

smellati · #1 (**permalink**) 03-11-2005, 05:08 PM

Hi everybody,

I have a 20" bp and was wondering if there is any way I can make him grow as big as possible. I am NOT asking to make him grow as fast as possible (power feeding). I was just wodering if there is anything I can do to encourage growth, or is it all based on heredity?

telefrag · #2 (**permalink**) 03-11-2005, 05:59 PM

alot of it depends on gentics of the parents, large adults usually will have large babies, or offspring with the potential to reach a large size.

Alot of it can also have to do with food intake during their early stages of development.

a regular feeding schedule, proper opportunities for thermoregulation, and waiting till the snake is older (For females) to breed will all help them put most of their nutritional intake towards growth.

I've had ball pythons that at 18 years old were still only 4ft long, i've had others that got to 4 feet in 3 years, and kept growing.

so there are lots of variables that an affect the max SVL that the snake will obtain.

Also with bp's sometimes they tend to get more girthy then long

xxxjustinxxx · #3 (**permalink**) 03-13-2005, 01:23 AM

when i saw this i thought powerfeed then i thought of heredity, usually depends on the size of the parents. so say if both the parents were over 4 feet then the snake will be probably over 4 feet.

xxxjustinxxx · #4 (**permalink**) 03-13-2005, 01:24 AM

crap sorry didnt read, telefrag beat me to it....

smellati · #5 (**permalink**) 03-13-2005, 08:16 AM

he he, that's ok. If anything you make your arguments stronger, by supporting the same message.

herp_chick · #6 (**permalink**) 03-13-2005, 01:10 PM

ALso, if you aren't alrady feeding it rats, you may want to switch it over. Rats are more nutritious than mice. I have noticed and so have others that a baby started on rats usually grows better. I start baby BP's on rats as soon as I get them. For that matter,all snakes that are big enough to take a rat pup gets a rat pup.

ginevive · #7 (**permalink**) 03-13-2005, 09:22 PM

I would try switching him to rats (if he is big enough, and not eating them already.) I noticed my female BP seemed to really bulk up after going from mice to rats.
I would definately advise you against feeding too-large prey though. It can lead to a regurgitation, since the prey will expand in the digestive tract and be too big to continue further. I guess that (this here is just a theory of mine) that warming the temps up a few degrees could speed digestion and therefore growth, but I would not take that as an absolute truth, just a theory.

smellati · #8 (**permalink**) 03-13-2005, 11:12 PM

Thanks guys, I took your advise and fed a rat pup. I posted on ball-python.net if you wanna know how it went. Again, thanks. If it wasn't for you guys and forums like rtb.com and bp.net I would probably be feeding my bp carrots, apples and keeping him in my backpack.

ChicagoCubs22 · #9 (**permalink**) 03-14-2005, 12:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ginevive

I would try switching him to rats (if he is big enough, and not eating them already.) I noticed my female BP seemed to really bulk up after going from mice to rats.
I would definately advise you against feeding too-large prey though. It can lead to a regurgitation, since the prey will expand in the digestive tract and be too big to continue further. I guess that (this here is just a theory of mine) that warming the temps up a few degrees could speed digestion and therefore growth, but I would not take that as an absolute truth, just a theory.

well if temps are raised 2 things can counteract that.

1. Since digestion is increased perhaps absorbtion of the nutrients is minimized considering it gets small enough to expell faster...(theory once again)

2. The snake will do its best to find a spot were temps can stay cool versus high temps. They thermoregulate quite well.

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