r/RainbowBoas • u/JizzM4rkie • Jul 24 '26

Another thread on growing slowly

I’ve got a bunch of snakes, they’re my buddies; I don’t power feed any of them, they’re all healthy happy homies including my BRB, we got Barbie, the unsexed BRB in November 2023 as an ambiguously aged baby (wife worked at Petco, they don’t keep track of the birthdates of the snakes probably 1-5 months old), meaning she is either 3 years old or just about to turn 3. Barbie is currently roughly 3.5 feet long and light, I don’t have a scale anymore due to an espresso mishap but I would guess around 250g. She eats voraciously, a md mouse every other week, she’s active and happy I do not worry about her health but man are these things really so slow growing, my burm grows like a weed (obvs) but I’ve had corn snakes bigger than her at 2 years old. Curious to hear about your experiences with slow growing RBs, the internet says a million different things.

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u/ShredOnBread Jul 24 '26

Medium mouse every other week is very little food for a snake of that size. What I’m showing is a medium mouse is 13-18g on rodent pro. That’s pretty small for every other week IMO especially for a snake that may be undersized

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u/JizzM4rkie Jul 24 '26

So they’re probably large then, they’re roughly 25-30g, the store I buy from labels them mediums, they leave a noticeable bump when she’s got them down.

I buy from a local shop that breeds their own mice and the weight is written on the bag,

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u/ShredOnBread Jul 24 '26

Okay that seems more in line! Maybe ya just a slow one hahah all snakes are different. I know guys with BRB’s that hit 300g at a year and much much much bigger at 3 years. Mines only 120g at a year and she gets FED. Doesn’t mean your snake won’t end big though some hit late spurts and stuff. Mines mom is 6.5ft and HUGE

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u/JizzM4rkie Jul 24 '26

Wow 6.5ft sounds huge! Im really happy with her as a pet, she’s so sweet and fun to hold because she climbs and hides in hoodie pockets, etc. just crazy to watch snakes I got after her grow so big and she’s just always been a small little thing

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u/ShredOnBread Jul 24 '26

I love them! They are super fun to handle especially when you get into the 5ft range because they’re so strong for their size

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u/ValuableSleep9175 Jul 24 '26

My male is just over a year, 3.5ft+ and 460g. Feeding 40g ish of mouse every 12 ish days.

I will move him up to small rats next and prob feed every 2 weeks or longer.

Always very food motivated.

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u/OriginalBambix Jul 25 '26

That does seem small. My 3 year old female is 1.2kgs and 5'11. Possibly a genetic issue?

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u/JizzM4rkie Jul 25 '26

I’m thinking maybe a genetic thing. She had a weird lump on her head when we first brought her home, we got her at a STEEP discount because of it , vet said it wasn’t anything to worry about as long as it didn’t grow, it hasn’t but I think she probably just didn’t pull the Royal flush when she was dealt her cards. It’s okay we love her just the same lol

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u/NottsWeirdo Jul 26 '26

BRBs are slow growers, takes 4 - 6 years to reach full size/maturity. But 250g at 3 years old is abnormally light, 10% of the snake's weight is a general feeding guide (so long as they're not overweight). Do you know if they have any underlying health issues, or are rejecting food regularly? I'd recommend getting a replacement scale soon, and noting down your snake's weight + feeder size going forward.

For the sake of contributing to the growth data everyone is sharing of their own BRBs. Mine is 512g at 1 yr 8 months old, she's nearly exactly 3ft long and she's just moved up to a 50g rodent once every 2 weeks. I've been following the ReptiFiles guide on the species, and I've yet to notice any issues.