Underweight??

This is an adult female Jayapura green tree. She is about 5- 5.5 ft long. And 3-4 years old. Does she look underweight to you?

http://i1278.photobucket.com/albums/...A08E48C2F5.jpg

No she doesn't. GTPs are arboreal so they should be lean and slender. Are you wondering becaues you can slightly see her ribs? If they disappear when she stretches out, then she's fine. If you still see them, then I might start to wonder.

How is her appetite? What and how often are you feeding her? How long have you had her? Has she recently laid a clutch?

I would say she does, actually. You shouldn't be able to see those ribs or lateral lines that well... maybe it's the lighting, but it appears to be underweight or maybe even dehydrated in my opinion.

That said, it doesn't necessarily look unhealthy, and many many people feed their captive snakes too much.

She eats great, her previous owner was feeding her 1 mouse a week I feed her 1med to small rat a week. You can see her ribs when she stretches out and she has a lot of loose skin.

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Originally Posted by earthdragons737

She eats great, her previous owner was feeding her 1 mouse a week I feed her 1med to small rat a week. You can see her ribs when she stretches out and she has a lot of loose skin.

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Ok, that changes my perception a bit.

First off, I would collect a fecal sample and take that and her to the vet for a workup. If she's consistantly eating every week, she should look better than this.

GTPs actually do better on mice, generally, than rats. One mouse a week is quite appropriate for a healthy animal - in fact, once every 2 weeks is even better. My 10 year old male eats one large mouse every 2 weeks and he is in perfect condition. Once you get your s healthy, I would take this into consideration. My point right now, though, is that with your current feeding practises, she should be gaining weight significantly unless there is something else going on. Hince the needed vet visit.

I would make sure to keep her misted very well right now too. That will help with the dehydration.

The other thing is she is afraid of the mister, the person before never sprayed her. She strikes like crazy when i do. I have a fogger on her. Her humidity is between 70- 80%. She is gaining weight a lot but she was even thinner than this when I bought her. I just wanted to know if I am doing the right thing. You can barely see her ribs any more and I have had her for 2 months. She is pretty tame and tolerates handling well.

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Originally Posted by earthdragons737

The other thing is she is afraid of the mister, the person before never sprayed her. She strikes like crazy when i do. I have a fogger on her. Her humidity is between 70- 80%. She is gaining weight a lot but she was even thinner than this when I bought her. I just wanted to know if I am doing the right thing. You can barely see her ribs any more and I have had her for 2 months. She is pretty tame and tolerates handling well.

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Well the fogger will do just fine then. Is it on a timer? There should be a drying out period each day. I mist mine in the evening which raises the humidity to about 75%. By morning it's down to 60%. The drying out helps control mold issues but I also feel the slight fluxuation is good for the snake.

If she's gaining weight consistantly, then I'd say you're on the right track. I would keep doing what you're doing until her condition reaches optimal. Then back off slightly. As I mentioned before, perhaps switch her back to mice (large/jumbo) once she's up to full weight. If she holds her weight well, you might gradually work her back to feeding every 2 weeks. A maintainence feeding of one jumbo mouse every 2 weeks should work for her once she's healthy. :gj:

But if you notice her dropping weight again or looking unhealthy in any way, schedule that vet visit!!

Third or forth by this point about the water - the snake seems to be pretty dehydrated in this image. Glad to hear that she's pounding food for you, that's a positive thing. Would like to second the mousing comment. I switched mine from a rat diet from the previous owner to a diet of strictly jumbo mice every 10-12 days. He looked about like yours did when I picked him up, and on this diet and regular misting to create a nice humidity range from 65-85%, he turned around in no time! Even though she may be scared of the misting, try and spray on her and near her lightly. use cage temperature water to make it less shocking to her. Some GTP will only drink drops of water off their coils or walls / plants. So its important to mist certain individuals to keep them hydrated regardless of cage relative humidity.

The fogger is on a timer on four times a day for an hr each time. I feed her last night 1 small rat and then I misted her she seems kinda OK with it now. I watched her drink from her water bowl for a few minutes after she ate. She is looking better. My snake room is heated to 80 for the 3 seasons and durring summer it's 85. And of course all the snakes have a basking area of 90-92. It's also humidified to 50-60% all year round. Her cage is the only one with a fogger. This is what the pervious owner had her set up like-

http://i1278.photobucket.com/albums/...0CF5D4FCE2.jpg

Here is how she is set up now-

http://i1278.photobucket.com/albums/...0DD133A211.jpg

Looks just a wee bit underweight- I agree with Evenstar that they are slender-bodied snakes, but it's vertebrae does seem to stick up a bit. Feed her on a regular basis and the problem should clear up. Awesome Looking snake, btw

-Also, be careful when you feed her. Green Tree Pythons have big teeth, unlike my Ball Python;)

Your setup looks pretty good. I would add some more plants up near the top to help her feel more secure. And I'd be very careful to take steps to keep your room at 80 all year long and not allow it to get warmer in the summer. If you need to use fans or mini air conditioner or something else, then do it. Many snakes do not do well at higher temps and GTPs are one of them. Mine is kept at 77 ambient with a hot spot at 88. This generally works better for GTPs. Ball pythons tend to do ok on slightly warmer temps, but not certain boas or GTPs. And 85 with a 90 hotspot is not enough of a gradient to allow the snake to thermoregulate. JMO.....

I also agree with reptileexperts. Even though she doesn't much like it, I'd try to mist her directly at least once a week. Even if she's drinking from her bowl, this will do wonders for her. And rather than wait until she's up to weight, I'm going to adjust what I said earlier and suggest that you switch her to mice right away and not continue to feed her rats. There is a reason most GTP keepers and breeders feed their snakes mice. These snakes have different metabolisms and nutritional needs due to their arboreal nature. In the wild, their diet would not consist primarily of ground-dwelling rodents such as rats. Their diet would be birds, bats, and small tree-dwelling mammals such as small marmosets and sugar gliders. Mice more closely meets these snakes' nutritional needs than rats do. As such, your snake will actually gain weigh better on mice than she would on rats even though rats are larger. But a large or jumbo mouse will be almost the same size as a rat pup and provide better - more appropriate - nutrition for your GTP. :gj:

Do you think it would be a good idea to feed her chicks, because I can get them from rodent pro? The reason for my temps is because I breed ball pythons so the temps in the room are controlled by a thermostat. I can keep it at 80-82 in the summer. I agree it would be betterfor her. Also spraying is no longer and issue, She is OK with it now that it is done regularly.

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Originally Posted by earthdragons737

Do you think it would be a good idea to feed her chicks, because I can get them from rodent pro? The reason for my temps is because I breed ball pythons so the temps in the room are controlled by a thermostat. I can keep it at 80-82 in the summer. I agree it would be betterfor her. Also spraying is no longer and issue, She is OK with it now that it is done regularly.

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I personally would not feed chicks. Chicks are not like the birds these snakes would catch in the wild. Just like mice are different than rats. Many snakes seems to have really messy, sticky, and stinky poos with chicks. Colubrids, such as kings or indigos, seem to do ok with them, but even then keepers only occasionally supliment them with rodents. Stick to mice and don't do anything fancy and you'll be fine! :gj:

If the temps in the room are not right for her, perhaps you can move her out of the BP room? I keep mine in our basement rec room. The room temps are around 72 and the RHP is all that is needed to keep Hunter's temps perfect. Just a thought. ;)