Is my coastal carpet python undersized/underfeed??

[Olive.99]

I brought my coastal carpet Gini from a breeder last August, who said she was born in February that year. With that said she's only 3 months shy of being too, but she seems really really small when I compare her to other snakes her age and breed. I'm worried she might have worms or that I've just been underfeeding her. She gets fed a hopper mouse every week? I've tried feeding her rats or bigger mice but she never goes for them. She's super placid and never seems snappy/hungry. She's grown considerably from when I got her but she still seems small when I look at other Coastal's her age!
She's about a meter long now but at her thickest her body would be smaller than a 50 cent piece! Is she healthy or the right size for her age? Please help!

 

[kittycat17]

I brought my coastal carpet Gini from a breeder last August, who said she was born in February that year. With that said she's only 3 months shy of being too, but she seems really really small when I compare her to other snakes her age and breed. I'm worried she might have worms or that I've just been underfeeding her. She gets fed a hopper mouse every week? I've tried feeding her rats or bigger mice but she never goes for them. She's super placid and never seems snappy/hungry. She's grown considerably from when I got her but she still seems small when I look at other Coastal's her age!
She's about a meter long now but at her thickest her body would be smaller than a 50 cent piece! Is she healthy or the right size for her age? Please help!

She is a bit smaller than most coastals would be at her side
And really should be on much bigger prey that a hopper mouse as most coastals can eat them as soon as they hatch

I have a female who is the same though and won't take anything bigger than a jumbo mouse but compared to other snakes the same age she is tiny

Have you tried bumping up the heat to increase her appetite?

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[Olive.99]

Thank-you so much for you're advice, I'll try increasing her heating and start getting her accustomed to bigger prey. Really thank-you so much though, I was getting really worried and I wasn't sure what to do!

 

[kittycat17]

Thank-you so much for you're advice, I'll try increasing her heating and start getting her accustomed to bigger prey. Really thank-you so much though, I was getting really worried and I wasn't sure what to do!

All good it's so crazy how much food size can influence there weight/length


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[Raymonde]

There is no exact right size for a snake of any age. Snakes grow compared to how much they are fed. As long as a snake is not loosing weight it is probably healthy. It is not like in humans or other mammals where the size is a strong indicator of age. It doesn't matter if she is small compared to her age, simply feed the right size food and frequency for the size she is now. You are suppose to feed them about 10-20% of their body weight each time, weekly when they are young, decreasing to monthly by the time they are full grown. The food should be big enough that it leaves a clearly visible bulge when they eat it.

 

[vampstorso]

If she's got good muscle tone I wouldn't worry

Most people overfeed their snakes and a lot are obese.


Will she take multiple small prey items, or only the one?

If she isn't too skittish, when she's got most of one mouse down, you can slip anither one in behind it so she just keeps swallowing as if it's the same original mouse.