Weight Gain/Loss Issue

I'm curious if anyone here has had a problem with their Ball losing weight, rather than gaining it, even though it's eating regularly and is otherwise healthy.

I have a Pastel Ball that has lost some weight over the past couple of months. He is eating great though and is active and healthy otherwise. I'm just curious if anyone else has experienced this and what, if anything might be wrong.

Ideas??? :confused:

How much weight? How much does the snake weigh currently?

If the snake is loosing a considerable amount of weight considering the amount of food going in, it probably has some sort of internal parasites.

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Originally Posted by Kaorte

How much weight? How much does the snake weigh currently?

If the snake is loosing a considerable amount of weight considering the amount of food going in, it probably has some sort of internal parasites.

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Agreed..things like tapeworms or the like will cause a snake to eat you out of house and home and then not gain a gram of weight..

I'd get the vet to do a fecal float done just in case.

I have also heard the things like renal failure will cause them to have stunted growth..

He/She (You said he but have it listed as a female in your sig lol) may have a faster rate of digestion. What is the feed schedule? One every week? If so, you could try to bump it up to one every 4-5 days. It may be something just as simple as that. I'm sure others will chime in.

I am feeding him 2-3 hoppers per week. He eats very well and has not missed a feeding. According to the scale last night he is weighing in at 176 grams. His digestive system seems to be in good working order as well. He has regular bowel movements and his urate output also seems to be consistent with what he eats.
He is shedding regularly and his sheds are one piece complete with eye caps, so he's even healthy in that regard. I may be over protective, but I just want to make sure he's doing good. He's beautiful and the prize of my collection so far.
Oh...he is a male too. I just hate trying to keep that danged 0.1, 1.0, 1.1 and so forth straight.

Depending on the "hopper" I can tell you that 176 gram snakes in my collection get something the size of an adult mouse..every week..It may be that your is getting just enough food to maintain its weight. and nothing more..

Agreed with the above post...try an adult mouse every 5 days...this should put the weight on. It may look big, but trust me, she'll get it down. If you dont notice any difference after that, I would then suggest a trip to the vet...

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Originally Posted by Freakie_frog

Depending on the "hopper" I can tell you that 176 gram snakes in my collection get something the size of an adult mouse..every week..It may be that your is getting just enough food to maintain its weight. and nothing more..

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Hmmm...That may be the case. I have been going by the size of the snake and I have found that an adult mouse still seems to be a bit too big. That's why I've been making sure he has access to the hoppers to ensure he does get enough to eat...

Again you an I may be calling hoppers different things.. to me a rat hopper is one that is not bigger than a quarter..I feed all of mine rats that are as big as my thumb..

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Originally Posted by grim reaper in NY

Hmmm...That may be the case. I have been going by the size of the snake and I have found that an adult mouse still seems to be a bit too big. That's why I've been making sure he has access to the hoppers to ensure he does get enough to eat...

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My 180 gram lesser is eating weanling rat pups that are the size of large medium mice. I only feed hopper mice to my hatchlings for the first two or three meals and then move them up gradually on rat fuzzies and then pups.

Are you possibly weighing it full some times and empty sometimes? If you weighed right after eating some of the weight was food and after it digests it and poops the weight will go down a bit. It wouldnt hurt to have it vet checked for parasites too though.

Thanks for the input and suggestions people. I will try going up a size in the rats I'm feeding him and see how that works. It amazes me how some people are able to pack the pounds right on their pythons. I guess I'm afraid of overfeeding him and I don't want him to eat so much he becomes sick or starts regurgitating his food. I will try a rat pup pr two tonight and see how he does with those.

One thing I will say here, these snakes can eat a lot bigger prey than you think they can and still do fine.

I started all mine on weanling mice, an average of 13-19 grams each. Within 3 weeks, it became apparent I wasn't feeding enough. I went from 1 weanling each to 2 each, and then 3. When the weanlings were all gone, { I ordered from RodentPro} The next size up was adults at 20-29 grams each. I've got to tell you, those mice looked WAY too big, but it was all I had so I took the plunge and offered just one to see how it went. The babies inhaled them despite the size change and wanted to know why I was holding out with just one each.

The next week they all got one again, and again, despite seeming just huge for my babies, they had no trouble at all with them, other than being crabby mom was "starving" the babies. From there I moved up to two adult mice each, and I do believe they could have taken three if I had let them. My babies weighed between 200 - 260 grams then.

When it came time to get more food, I moved up to weaned rats, at 30 -44 grams each. When I first got them, they looked even bigger than the mice had at first and got me nervous all over again. But everyone has their rat every five days, and my biggest girls, who now top 420 grams apiece, want to know where the seconds are!

So, don't fret too much. As long as the baby can swallow the prey pretty easily, and have a good warm spot to digest, they'll be fine. At least that's my experience.

Gale

Thanks Gayle and everyone else for the replies. I am going to move up a bit and try a grown mouse with the snake in question. I will see how that goes this weekend as Saturday is feeding day at the "zoo". I'll keep everyone posted!