Very small snake -Worried?

Howdy Folks.
My very first corn, a creamsicle really, who should be getting towards a year old now, is still very little. She just isn't growing much. All of my other corns near the same age are huge compared to her. To give you an idea, she is still on large pinks/peach fuzzies! (One or two depending.)

Should I be worried? She seems healthy in every other way.

I know that some snakes grow at different rates to others, but I don't know how much of a difference there is between such snakes.
Have you had this creamsicle a long time? Do you know her history? I ask because my caramel was VERY underweight when I got him - he was at least half the size of other snakes his age, and he was so thin because he was extremely stressed (abusive first owner.) He's growing like a champ now though. Could it be anything like this?

I have had her since December. I found her in a pet shop (grrr) in a five gallon setup with a ball python. She was hiding under the small water bowl, in that nasty/dusty pellet-type bedding. Her breeder was a local breeder who knows what he's doing, (except for selling hatchlings to this pet store). I think she was anywhere from 3 to 5 months old when I bought her, but thats a guess. She was stressed, I'm sure, but has been babied, ever since, She is briefly handled once a week, and in a proper enclosure/set up. She has two hides, etc, and doesn't seem stressed at all. She has never given me any shedding or eating problems. Never a regurge. She just grows extremely slowly. I have 6 month olds that are a lot bigger than her. I have heard that creamsicles actually run big, but I don't know if thats true.

Howdy Folks!

I wanted to update this, and get some opinions. I found out that this girl (I think she's a girl), Clementine, is not a creamsicle, but from a banded amel project. She is the prettiest little banded orange and white candy cane I have ever seen. No "vomitmel" colors here. The problem is the "little" part. I doubt I will ever get to breed her, which is a shame since she is gorgeous. I need to get a camera and post a pic. I guess she will just stay a pet.

I have had her for over a year now, so I'm guessing she is around a year and a half old. She is still very small, and only eats large pinks. She can take a fuzzy, and has a couple of times before, but not recently. She is growing at a snails pace, though she seems healthy in every other way. Has anyone else had this problem? It's so odd. My other yearlings, which are younger than her, are really huge in comparison.

If she was in with a royal python.... is it possible she has some sort of intestinal parasite which might be using up more of her nutrients than she is?

Personally, I would take her to a local herp vet for a physical. Ruling out any physical problems, then I would start her on a 4 day feeding program (if she's not already) and I would start cutting her up her mice to allow maximum digestion. Have you tried feeding her multiple pinkies since that's the size she's taking?

My corn is exactly a year old now, and only eats peach fuzzies/fuzzies, and only one if its a normal sized fuzzy. Nothing is wrong with him physically though, as far as mentally goes, who knows! He doesn't act stressed at all, deals with handling nicely, never misses a meal and his poo's look normal!

I think they all grow at different rates, and to different sizes. As well as hatching at differnt sizes, ive heard there can be big differences in hatchling size, in/between clutches.
So who knows how big your corns gonna be just because its small now. Or we might both just have smaller corns.

Yeah, I guess I will have to shell out the cash and take her to a vet, or at least her stool sample. She did have mites when I got her, so who knows what else. I do try to feed her two pinks, and she usually takes them. (I forgot about that.) It may be more nutritious for me to split a larger prey in half, so I may try that. (Yech!) I think I'll try the four or five day feeding schedule also. Thanks for the suggestions!

I'd agree about the fecal. It could be an internal parasite that is robbing her of the nutrition her food should be providing.

I would also definitely put her on a 4 or 5 day feeding as well as doing the bigger prey cut down to size for her to manage. I had a similar issue with my first corn a really gorgeous amel who when I brought her from a pet shop as a 05 was the size and weight of a hatchling, she was about 12 inches long and weighted 9 grams. This little girl went straight onto a 5 day feeding schedule and has not looked back since, she is now nearly 3 foot long and weights 124 grams. You may need to keep your little girl on a 5 day feeding schedule for a little longer than normal to help her catch up and gain the nutrition she needs to put on a growth spurt so she can catch up but other wise I am sure your doing everything right. A visit to the herp vet for a fecal test also wont be a bad thing to be on the safe side.

Have you read the thread about slitting the mice? Pretty amazing...That might work out well for her.

Nanci

She ate a fuzzy! Woo hoo! I wiggled it and then stayed very still when she grabbed it. One thing I noticed last time (and this time) I fed her is that she seems to have a hard time physically eating. I don't think her jaws work very well for her, or her skinny neck ... I really don't know what is the problem, but it seems that there is something defective there. It takes her a really long time to eat, compared to the other corns, and her jaw/neck area doesn't seem to expand well. That is really odd. Well, at least she took a fuzzy, and I will feed her again in five days. I won't breed her in the future though, if she even ever gets to a breeding size, because I think there is some kind of problem going on there. Best keep that out of the population. I need acamera for Christmas so I can take a picture of how really pretty she is!

Also, Howdy Nanci!
I've slit mice for my checkered garter until he was big enough to take on pinks. It was very yucky. Major ewww factor there. Of course I'll do it if Clementine goes back to pinks instead of progressing with the fuzzies, but I wont like it. :sidestep:

I was going to say that if she's taking two pinkies she should be able to take a fuzzy. That said, I have a female that is probably half the size of the others her age. She does have some physical defects that will most likely preclude her from my breeding projects. She's a lovely aztec. She eats weanling mice when the others her age are taking weanling rats. She's never refused a meal, she's just small. I also have a lavender male that is still on smallish pinkies when the other two hatchlings from the same month are on fuzzies. He's just small. Nothing wrong with him and he eats like a champ. I'm trying to keep him on a 5 day feeding pattern while the other's are on a weekly.

It might not be a problem with her neck some of them just seem to eat slow and seem to struggle with their food when they are smaller. I guess all you can do is monitor it and if you are really worried get her checked out by a vet. When they go up a size in prey they also tend to seem to be struggling for a meal or two till they get used to the new size at which point they do fine.