Still skinny??

[Citrus]

My pastel was looking great after having her spine showing, but I moved her feeding from every 4 days to five and suddenly she looks way to skinny again. Spine showing and all. I can't get a weight because I just fed them last night but when I went to feed she (both actually) looked really skinny when compared to how she looked a week ago. Palm the pinstripe is looking good but he also has some loose skin. What am I doing wrong?



My hot spot is about 92 but I think it actually may be more like 93; if I lowered it would they fatten up more? Like does a warmer hotspot cause them to have a fast metabolism and wind up really skinny like that one guy who can eat everything but can't gain any weight?


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[AllieKin]

I think a warmer hotspot makes their metabolisms faster. My hotspot is not as high as yours, though I don't think yours is outside of acceptable ranges.

You could post pictures of the BP you think is skinny. Maybe we could learn something by looking at it.

[BWB]

Are you feeding them the proper size of feeder? My ball came with mice and I continued for some time (she ate them easily and balked at the first rat I tried) but I got her switched to rats and now she's a great, properly plump girl. It made a big difference, even when I spaced her feedings out a bit longer (and kept her on white rodents - don't know what her problem is with any other coloring!). Next up is my boa (move her to bigger feeders) but I'm not sure if she's big enough to go to rats yet as I don't like to rush things. I would sooner that my snakes eat smaller items than to scare them off eating with rats that are too big.

[Citrus]

Sorry I took so long to get back to you guys. I've been feeding with the same old method of widest part of the body but will start weighing their food.

As far as pictures, here are some after a few days of digesting her previous meal(she looks normal with a full belly). She currently weighs 303 grams:




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[BoiseBallz]

So, I only recently joined this site (although I lurked infrequently for a while), but since I've joined, I have been viewing more and more threads, and I have noticed that there seem to be multiple threads were this notion exists that if you can "see" your BPs spine, that somehow it is underweight. I don't understand this line of thinking. Ball pythons carry themselves differently from day today and even hour to hour. Sometimes they are "tall". Sometimes they flatten themselves out. But depending on how they carry themselves and how they are positioned, you can "see" their spines regardless of health/weight. When breeding females are gravid, a prominent spinal ridge is one of the signs that they are gravid (and these are healthy, heavy snakes).


Don't use the "spine" as an indication of health. If you are concerned, I strongly recommend that you get a digital scale and periodically weigh your snakes. Use objective data, not subjective silliness.

From those photos, your snake looks fine.

[BoiseBallz]

After rereading my post, it occurred to me that it could be taken as being directed at the OP, and that was not my intent.

The last sentence of my post was directed at the OP. The rest of it was a plea to the board in general. Just wanted to clarify.

[Citrus]

After rereading my post, it occurred to me that it could be taken as being directed at the OP, and that was not my intent.

The last sentence of my post was directed at the OP. The rest of it was a plea to the board in general. Just wanted to clarify.

I did think it was directed at me but also at all the members who assume that if the spine is visible then the snake is unhealthy, however I took no offense because I'm still learning about these creatures and all the info I can get is great. I know I still have many years of experience to gather.

I wouldn't be concerned about her spine showing like that if the skin didn't hang. I mean she's obviously growing because she was about 250 a month or so ago; so +50 grams is good. But she looks the way she did on her first week home when I was told she is very skinny. My pinstripe seems to have the same issue though very minor, and he actually looked perfectly plump for his size before. Tonight is feeding night and I will weigh their food out to see if I've been feeding good sizes.


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[BoiseBallz]

53 g in a month is good weight gain at that size. If your snake is eating every 4-5 days, it will grow well even if your prey items are a bit undersized. One other recommendation on weighing. Don't do it too often. There are a lot of micro-fluctuations in an overall macro-growth curve. As long as they are eating relatively regularly and nothing else is going on, I would say to wait at least a month between weighings (if not longer).

[Citrus]

Thank you


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[Marissa@MKmorphs]

Lots of good info here! OP, I think your snake looks great, I have a few (out of my 45 or so ball pythons) that ALWAYS have their spine slightly protruding like that, even with them being in perfect health. Every snake is different. As long as she is continuing to eat, she will grow eventually, and usually they start to fill out more when they get larger too.