gaining weight while off feed?

[Vacado]

Hey all, so I know I've mentioned my 07 female pinstripe, Penelope, who has been off feed since I got her on December 12. I believer her last meal was Dec. 9, and she was eating every three days. She weighed in around 1100 grams or so in October I was told. I moved twice in the next month and her UTH failed so she was a little cool for a few days while flexwatt was rush-delivered. Between the stress of moving and the cool temps, I think she's just cycling and off-feed for the winter, so no big deal. She made two big poos, the last was on 12/21.

I finally got my new scale (the My Weigh 7001DX from RBI) and I LOVE it. Penelope weighed in at 1277 g on 2/2 and when I weighed her again tonight (2/8) she weighed 1289 g! I weighed her multiple times both times to be sure and I get the same weight. How is she gaining weight after having not eaten since early December? This doesn't seem possible? Her previous owner said she "locked up" with a pewter a few times a couple weeks before I got her, but he didn't think she took and frankly I didn't either (also was hoping not, since I think she's too small to breed). Is it possible she's gravid and developing eggs? This still seems weird. I'll weigh her again in another few days to see if there is any change.

So, in 6 days she gained 12 grams, and both my 08 babies gained 18 grams (they probably have some poos building up in there, haha). But she is off-feed and the babies are eating every 5-7 days?

v

[dr del]

Hi,

Could be that - or it could be water weight - I always weigh mine after a bowel movement or P to avoid that clouding the results.


dr del

[stevenkeogh]

She probably had a big drink of water.
Snakes don't gain weight out of thin air. If there is no intake there is no weight increase.
Eggs do not add weight to a female.
-Steven

[Vacado]

I was wondering if it could be water weight, but ten grams of water seemed like a lot. I guess maybe it's not? She had been in her hide all day.

Yeah, I know they don't gain weight without some sort of nutrients coming in, which is why I was so perplexed.

I'll definitely weigh her again in a few days and see what's up. If her weight goes up and down around a certain number then it's just water weight. As long as it doesn't keep going down, it's fine. Either way, I can't wait for her to start eating again! These frozen medium rats are burning a proverbial hole in my pocket

v

[escomaya]

you would be surprised, a table spoon of water weighs about 6 grams, Id assume its just water weight

[Vacado]

Hm, well you learn something new every day! Thanks guys! I had no idea they could gain that much from drinking some water, but I guess it makes sense when you think about it. Good to know!

v

[Oxylepy]

You'd be surprised how much water weighs in general

1 Gallon is 8.35 lbs, which means that a single pint is actually just over a pound, and a pint is only 2 cups. So a cup of water is a half of a pound.

Personally I don't see how I keep myself under 200lbs when I drink about 2 gallons of water a day, lol.

[Vacado]

Oh yeah, I know fully well how much weight several liters of water can add to your pack. Backpacking in the desert is tough since you have to haul all of your water with you. I had six liters in my pack on my last trip and carried an extra gallon in my hand on top of that!

I just wasn't aware that the amount of water a snake would drink could affect its weight so much. I never thought about it before. Might be interesting to weigh her frequently and come up with a size for the average 1200+ g BP "drink"

v