jay7499

hi all i was wondering how does size matter in overall health of
the snake? I have a 3 1/2 year old ball. whats the range in size for
one about that same age? mine is about 30 inches and 3 inch diam. i
have a 35 gal. hex tank with a good environment. It eats 5 or so mice
a week finally as it has been a picky eater in the past.Should the
snake be bigger than that?

colin wilson

What gender is the snake? If it's male, it's a bit small for the age. If
it's female, it's a lot small for it's age.

Colin

_____

From: ballpythoncave (AT) yahoogroups (DOT) com [mailto:ballpythoncave (AT) yahoogroups (DOT) com]
On Behalf Of JaY7499
Sent: Sunday, April 30, 2006 10:06 AM
To: ballpythoncave (AT) yahoogroups (DOT) com
Subject: [BaLl PyThOn CaVe] size of snake


hi all i was wondering how does size matter in overall health of
the snake? I have a 3 1/2 year old ball. whats the range in size for
one about that same age? mine is about 30 inches and 3 inch diam. i
have a 35 gal. hex tank with a good environment. It eats 5 or so mice
a week finally as it has been a picky eater in the past.Should the
snake be bigger than that?

jessica mcneely

There is no set rule on length of a snake at a certain age as there are so
many factors that go into it. Heat, diet and stress are the basic factors
that can vary over a lifetime, effecting the growth rate of a snake. With
girth, as long as they look healthy, they are. This means no creasing of the
skin or tented, 'triangular' look of the body, the body should be full and
round. The tail should have a smooth taper to the end, if there is a lump or
if the snake looks like an animal balloon with a noticeable dip from the
body to the tail, they are obese. Obese as well as emaciated snakes will
always have a decreased life span from their ideal years.
Eve

jay7499

i have no idea what *** it is. it has a nice round body shape and a
skinny long tail. can you tell by that ?

jessica mcneely

No you can't. You can guess, but that can even largely be wrong. Both my
males were eyed to be female before being probed male. The store I bought
Suri from even said they probed him to be a female, which looking back on
it, they more just nodded when I asked about it and I think they were
clueless of what probe meant... He had the "female characteristics"
outwardly. Good size, round body, short stubby tail... Xerick too, he's 5'4"
round body and kind of an undeterminable tail.

The only true way to find out gender is to have them popped(hatchlings) or
probed(adults) by an expert.

Eve

dippydawgg06

Eve,
Short stubby tails are characteristic of a male. the long skinny tails are
females but i have 2 males and 4 females and i can't really tell a difference.
Does anyone know whats the deal with female ball pythons having slits an inch
above their **** scale(it might be only hatchlings)?

Kyle

archie underwood

what's "popped" mean?

Archie

ronald crawford ii

Popping is a term used to express the procedure used
to physically evert the hemipenes in snakes. A slight
rolling pressure near the cloaca vent will expose the
hemipenes (male). Please don't try this procedure
without consulting with a professional beforehand.


Regards,
Ron Crawford
RC Reptiles
http://www.RCReptiles.com


Ron Crawford
RC Reptiles - Professional Breeder of Ball Python Morphs
http://www.RCReptiles.com

Also check out Ball Pythons in the Wild (DVD) at http://www.SteveGorzulaPresents.com (2 hrs, region code free DVD)

archie underwood

So you can *** a snake when they are hatchlings with this procedure? I thought that was only
possible after they aged a bit?

Archie

ronald crawford ii

Archie,

It's actually the opposite. You generally pop as
hatchlings because they haven't built up their
strength to keep their hemipenes from everting. When
they get older, they get stronger. When they get
stronger, they have better control over their muscles
and can actually keep their hemipenes from being
everted when popping is attempted.

The preferred (and more accurate) method is probing
them at this age. A probe is inserted in their cloaca
towards their tail and inserted until (gently!!!)
until resistence is met. The probe is then marked with
a finger and measured against the subcautal scales
(from cloaca vent towards tail) in an effort to count
the number of scales between the opening of the cloaca
and where the probe ended.

The count is then referenced to determine the *** of
the snake. Males probe much deeper than females (~7+
subcaudal scales) and females generally probe ~2-4.

Hope this helps.


Regards,
Ron Crawford
RC Reptiles
http://www.RCReptiles.com

Ron Crawford
RC Reptiles - Professional Breeder of Ball Python Morphs
http://www.RCReptiles.com

Also check out Ball Pythons in the Wild (DVD) at http://www.SteveGorzulaPresents.com (2 hrs, region code free DVD)