Adopted first BP, wondering about weight, please help!

[luckycharm318]

Hello everyone, I'm new here and I got my first BP from a friend over the weekend. Along with the BP I have two corns, and I am a member over on cornsnakes.com. The previous owner's husbandry was less than exemplary, but I've improved his habitat as much as I can at this point, and will continue to improve it after pay day.

Getting on to my question. I have a few pictures of Fidel, and I'm wondering if he looks underweight? I don't have a scale, so I cannot give a weight, but if better pictures/different angles are needed, I can provide those.

Fidel is ~3 years old and I don't know when he was last fed. I will give him a few more days to settle, and to get his viv up to snuff before I try to feed him a f/t mouse.

(The dollar in this photo is for size reference)












Thanks in advance for any advice!

[llovelace]

Welcome to Bp.net, Look over the sticky section, for proper husbandry tips. I'd put him on a 5 day feed schedule of 1 small rat, to put some weight on him, you can pick up an inexpensive digital scale at Wally World or BB&B

[luckycharm318]

Thanks for the advice! He doesn't look too terrible though does he?

[llovelace]

No he doesn't, and he'll fill out nicely on a 5 day schedule, don't worry

[blackcrystal22]

He's a bit small for his age, but that's not too unusual if he was underfed.

His build looks fine though.

Just get him on a regular feeding schedule and he should be fine.

[luckycharm318]

Whew! I'm pretty unfamiliar with what's underweight and what's healthy in snakes, but I've read up on the husbandry for BP's in the past. Sounds like I'll need to pick up some rats as well as a properly sized UTH on my next trip to Petsmart.

[luckycharm318]

Also, is there anything special about him, or is he just a nice little normal?

[BPelizabeth]

He is a beautifully colored normal and yes he is super special....he is your first!!

Here is a copy of the care sheet....it was a life saver when I was new!!

[seeya205]

He looks pretty good! He is not what I would consider underweight but the 5 day schedule will beef him up in no time! A couple 100 grams wouldn't hurt!

[luckycharm318]

Alright so I got myself a digital kitchen scale tonight, and Fidel weighs 617 grams. Sounds low to me, but I am far from being an expert!