Hard to fatten up snake?

I have an '09 female that I bought in April and she weighed ~300 or so grams. The old owner said she fed well each week and just had a hard time gaining weight. I weighed her last week and she is only up to 375 grams.

She eats every week without fail, sometimes twice a week, and always digests her food. She poops every few weeks. Is it normal that she only weigh 375 grams? I keep seeing pictures of other '09 snakes that are much bigger. Should I have her fecal matter tested?

Thanks for your time!

altho im new i would say it wouldent hurt to visit the vet, i would think it would of gained more than that

justin

realize too that the size fo the prey would effect the weight gain ( each snakes groes at it own pace) but I guess at about 375 grams should be eating rats crawlers I say if not smalls. i know i offer crawlers when I can , but I also feed adult mice ( males ) when I need ot thin the mouse colony down.

When I first got my male bp he was almost 2 years old and only 250 grams! Its was shocking. He wouldn't gain weight, even eating mice every week. He never refused food. Then I switched him to rats and whoa those saved me a vet visit. He he hadn't started gaining weight w rats I was going to get him checked for parasites. But now 8 months later he is 1090 grams! So there is hope!! Feed rats! & keep hoping. If not get the bp checked for Parasites. :D
Good luck!!

She's on rat weanlings right now, they are just the right size for her girth. I just bumped her up a few months ago and I feel that if I went up a size she might be oversized.

She looks absolutely fine and sheds well, it's just there is no weight gain. If she had a parasite, would there be any other symptoms or is it a test-only sort of issue?

Thanks for the answers! :)

I believe I would have a fecal done, JUST to be on the safe side.

It could be something as simple as not large enough prey, but it could also be very serious.

I will say that I've seen personally a ball that was fed what seemed an appropriate size prey but was only maintaining weight and barely gaining.

When I got over my unease and offered larger prey, he started gaining steadily, and proved that ball pythons really are made of rubber. :D

Gale

Test that poop! Take a fresh sample into a vet and they can give you meds if he has anything. If not, try slightly bigger prey and make sure all the enviromental things are as they should be. A stressed animal gains less weight than a calmer one. Is he in a high traffic area? Getting handled a lot? Try reducing any stressful events and see what happens.

Balls can handle a little larger meals. You should see a noticeable lump after the meal. Feed every five days until she gains a little weight. Hope this helps.

Temps and humidity are right on. She's handled at most two times a week, usually she is handled once every week or two.

I just put an order through for new rats and ordered all the same size, should I just try giving her two at one sitting? Or would it be better to two on two consecutive days? I've always had the feeling that her prey isn't big enough, because she never hides for more than a night after eating. I think it's time for Mommy to stop being a worry-wart and let her have big-kid meals. :rolleyes:

Thanks for the suggestions! I'll wait for her next poop and have that tested. :)

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Originally Posted by El_Dorado

Temps and humidity are right on. She's handled at most two times a week, usually she is handled once every week or two.

I just put an order through for new rats and ordered all the same size, should I just try giving her two at one sitting? Or would it be better to two on two consecutive days? I've always had the feeling that her prey isn't big enough, because she never hides for more than a night after eating. I think it's time for Mommy to stop being a worry-wart and let her have big-kid meals. :rolleyes:

Thanks for the suggestions! I'll wait for her next poop and have that tested. :)

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I would try two in one sitting. As soon as she gets the first one down, offer the second.

I would bet if you gave that snake a 60ish gram (small rat) every week for about 2 months she will be up in the 500's without a problem.
To be realistic that snake can prob take down a rat up to 75-80 grams. Now she will look like a sausage but she is fattened up.
To be honest it's MUCH better to wait on normal sized meals until she is up to size rather than "fatten her up". If your planning on breeding, fat = slugs, which means no babies for you.

I agree, it may just be that she needs a larger prey item or she may have parasites. I haven't done a fecal float on a snake, but I had one done for my dog and I know it was less than $20, for some reason $12 sticks out in my head. You don't have to take the animal in and pay for all that baloney, all you have to do is ask them to do a fecal float and they will give you all the information you need.

Oh, I thought it was much more expensive to have it tested. Good news is always nice!

I'm not too concerned about fattening her as in, well, getting her fat; I just wasn't sure if she was supposed to be fatter than she is at the moment!

Thanks everyone! I will try to offer two on the next feeding day and keep my fingers crossed! :)

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Originally Posted by SlitherinSisters

I haven't done a fecal float on a snake, but I had one done for my dog and I know it was less than $20, for some reason $12 sticks out in my head.

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Vets around here "don't do snakes". They say "the fecal test is for mammals not for snakes". I tried to explain to them some insight but were perplexed (shocking) so they sent me to a "herp" vet.
No vet visit needed, but here it cost $25 for a "snake" fecal
Petsmart wanted over $40 for a dang poo test and a vet visit was a must, so add 60 more bucks. Looking at $100 before meds......if the snake needs any.:colbert:

I swear add the word "reptile" to a vet bill and it gets ALOT more expensive.

Helpful little link if you want to do it yourself or learn about the process:
http://thelizardcorral.proboards.com...ay&thread=1530

I haven't seen evidence that ball pythons under age 3 can actually get fat if offered food when they want it--they just seem to grow faster. They can get plump, but not actually obese. I've only seen obesity with adults (cutting back prey size and feeding frequency for a few months solves it).

I'd feed every 5 days. I feed all my holdbacks every 5 days until they're 3, if they'll accept it. (Some insist on switching to every 7 days between age 1 and 2).

I've only had one female slug out on me during a breeding season, and she was a huge old female that threw 13 egg clutches. Only happened once.

Vets will pretty much universally insist on seeing an animal before they'll run tests. They just want to give it a general checkup and enter it in the system before treating it for anything, understandably. Fecal checks here aren't expensive. You're best off finding an experienced herp vet. ARAV.org will help.

You want the vet to do a fecal float, not just a smear. They need to identify what types of parasites (if any) are present, because different types of parasites are treated best with different drugs.