overweight BP? please help

hey everyone, my snake is getting big and im worried to big. Can they get overweight and if they do is it a problem. I have always stuck to the girth size and 10-15 % of body weight rule for correct sized rat. thanks

Some pics would be helpful.

file://localhost/Users/Aidan/Pictures/Photo%20Booth/Photo%20on%202011-07-17%20at%2021.11%20%232.jpg

file://localhost/Users/Aidan/Pictures/Photo%20Booth/Photo%20on%202011-07-17%20at%2021.11.jpg

file://localhost/Users/Aidan/Pictures/Photo%20Booth/Photo%20on%202011-07-17%20at%2021.12%20%232.jpg

copy and paste these

not working

Try uploading thru photobucket

You need to upload them to a host, like Photobucket or Imageshack.

Those are local files, you need to upload them to photobucket, or something like that.

One way to determine if a snake is overweight is to look at its skin and scales carefully. A snake at rest should not show skin between its scales. If it does, it may be overweight.

Ball pythons are naturally very girthy snakes, and many people are surprised by how robust a healthy ball python that is not overweight can appear.

Obesity is very bad for reptiles, however, and leads to problems with fertility and liver function, so obesity needs to be recognized and avoided.

A few general rules:
1) Juvenile ball pythons rarely become obese. Unlike some other species, ball pythons put extra nutrition almost exclusively into growth. They will skip a meal if they've had too much. Obesity is pretty much a non-concern until about age 3.

2) Adult snakes that are NOT breeding, and do not stop eating for several months over the winter, should be fed once every 2 weeks, rather than every week.

3) Trimming down an obese ball python is quite simple. You can feed the animal less often (perhaps once per month) until it reaches the appropriate weight, or you can reduce the size of its prey items. (Feed hoppers instead of small rats, for example).

Here is a minor example of what to look for: http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...s/DSCN1715.jpg
You can see in this photo that the skin between the scales is visible and the skin appears stretched. (This snake may not actually be obese, but simply bending her body sharply to produce this effect--in an obese snake, you will see this when the snake is straightened out).

http://ball-pythons.net/gallery/file...7_at_21.09.jpg

one minute im trying to put the other closer ones of him up

Your ball python doesn't appear even remotely overweight.

Your BP looks fine from the picture.

I am a believer that Ball Pythons cannot become overweight. BP's don't eat just to eat as some other snakes do.

When a Ball Python is not hungry it will not eat.

http://ball-pythons.net/gallery/file...7_at_21.11.jpg

http://ball-pythons.net/gallery/file...at_21.12_2.jpg

Not even close to being overweight. BPs are not like some other snakes. I also believe there is no such thing as an overweight BP. No way no how.

Here's a photo of an adult female ready to breed. She has good weight on her for the season, but she is NOT overweight:
http://eclipse3.fu8.com/eclipseexoti...ucilla_LRG.jpg

Ball pythons certainly can become obese, once they reach adulthood, and breeders warn against allowing this to happen, because of the dramatic reduction in fertility. (The other health issues are bad news, too). Ball pythons are individuals, and some of them would eat a medium rat every single week, year-round, when not bred! This is too much food for a ball python, and they will get fat.

okay thank you lately i have been so worried about him for various reasons i think i have everything right with his hot spot like 91 and cool side 79-81 and 80-83 ambient however my humidity reader broke and i have not had one in a while but its summer here in Philly and i think its humid enough. Also he hasnt pooped in abut a month but his rear end is bloating is this because of bad humidity which could cause dehydration, im getting a new humidity reader tomorrow

Here is a photo said to be of an overweight ball python (rather than a gravid one):

http://www.ball-pythons.net/gallery/...4/pets_002.jpg

You can see the skin between the scales, and the tail drops in size significantly where it joins the body. (Gravid ball pythons can look similar, I'm just going by what the person who posted the photo said).

If so, it's not very common at all.. So uncommon in fact, that you are the first person I've ever seen say anything of the sort. Though I'm sure it's possible.

His BP is still quite young and small. Still has a lot of growing to do. There is absolutely no worry of that snake being overweight.

Ball pythons that are gearing up to defecate can look pretty bloated toward the rear--that's fairly normal. If you see that in your snake, you may want to reconsider handling him for a bit, lol.

Dehydration can delay things a bit, yes, but sometimes they just seem to like to store things up for a while. Snakes in shed will often do this, and defecate immediately after shedding (or even during).

Agreed, his snake is a juvenile, and obesity just isn't a real concern in ball pythons under 3 years old. It can be induced through power-feeding, but that has to be the type that uses trickery to get more food into the snake than it intended to eat.

Obesity in adult ball pythons is more common. I had a breeder female myself who was a great eater--too great. I wound up having to put her on a diet, to slim her down before the breeding season, lol.

I'm not going to argue w you WW but in the second photo you posted, without knowing that snakes age and size, that is not a good example. If that is a yearling female, it would very likely thin out in the coming months. It does not look to be an adult but that photo is deceiving and there is no way to tell how big it really is.

With the exception of the kinks and what looks like some bloating/blockage action going on, that looks a lot like one of my yearling females that hit 1000 grams and then went on her fast.

okay well thanks to everyone i really appreciate a lot of my worry has been because he is a bit stressed because i upraded hides and changes to a different substrate and hes been to active, but thanks to all

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by WingedWolfPsion

Here's a photo of an adult female ready to breed. She has good weight on her for the season, but she is NOT overweight:
http://eclipse3.fu8.com/eclipseexoti...ucilla_LRG.jpg

Ball pythons certainly can become obese, once they reach adulthood, and breeders warn against allowing this to happen, because of the dramatic reduction in fertility. (The other health issues are bad news, too). Ball pythons are individuals, and some of them would eat a medium rat every single week, year-round, when not bred! This is too much food for a ball python, and they will get fat.

---

Pretty snake, but you should post a pic holding her, in that tank its hard to judge her size.
A pic of her compared to your arm would be a better size scale.

The girl in the photo there weighed about 2100 grams at the time the photo was taken, and went on to produce an 8 egg clutch the following summer. Her name is Drucilla, and she's a het albino.

Foschi, the photo of the fat snake was posted by a forum member in another thread, who labeled it as an example of a fat ball python.

I don't have any photos of my big female when she was portly, so you'll just have to take my word for it.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by WingedWolfPsion

Foschi, the photo of the fat snake was posted by a forum member in another thread, who labeled it as an example of a fat ball python.

---

I'm sorry, this is the one I was talking about. The third one, not the second. That's the one that doesn't appear to be a sexually mature adult. Plus it looks like it has other "issues".
My fault.

agreed not overweight at all.
Bps are very hefty snakes. He will grow much larger than what hes at now and will be just fine.