Getting chunky?

Weighed Lucy last night while cleaning her tank and found she gained almost 700g in the last month! Wowza! She went from about 1450 to 2120.

She didn't eat in January, so I'm wondering if she is gaining back the weight or just getting a little too thicc. I also know she has a poop in there. A little concerned about that as it has been almost a week since she ate.

Anyway, here are some photos, since I know numbers are not everything. I just want to make sure I am keeping her healthy.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...61e8c1c9b2.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...b3bc6583ee.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...739d905f10.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...8fe0255020.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...25e8f97733.jpg

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From what I can see in the pictures, she does not look overweight to me. However, I would recommend only weighing her only after she poops. As with many other things, consistency is the key. So weighing her empty will yield the most accurate results and allow you to track her weight better.

Thats impossible unless she was feeding on 100 gram Rats every week.
It takes a healthy female Ball Python 6-8 mos to gain 700 grams and a lot of males aren't even 700 grams until the first year.
Sounds like you have a couple big mess's coming up or your scale is off.


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Originally Posted by CALM Pythons

Thats impossible unless she was feeding on 100 gram Rats every week.
It takes a healthy female Ball Python 6-8 mos to gain 700 grams and a lot of males aren't even 700 grams until the first year.
Sounds like you have a couple big mess's coming up or your scale is off.


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Yeah, I thought it was a odd number. I haven't noticed a huge difference in her appearance either, just a bit of extra girth a few days back.

Well, my husband weighed her the first time, so perhaps we did something differently.

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Originally Posted by Lirenn

Yeah, I thought it was a odd number. I haven't noticed a huge difference in her appearance either, just a bit of extra girth a few days back.

Well, my husband weighed her the first time, so perhaps we did something differently.

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Waste is also VERY dense. You would be surprised how well they can hide a few hundred grams of poop hahahaha.


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I am actually a little confused about feeding though. The table that gets passed around shows I should feed her a 100g rat weekly, but I have seen a lot of people say every two weeks is best.

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She doesn't look overweight to me at all.

I guessing her next deuce will be a good one. She could be holding onto it because she's going into shed.

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Originally Posted by craigafrechette

She doesn't look overweight to me at all.

I guessing her next deuce will be a good one. She could be holding onto it because she's going into shed.

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Any idea why they tend to hold their poo until after they shed? Seems holding it in would just add more irritation to the shed process. Then again, I'm not a BP.

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Originally Posted by Sgt7212

Any idea why they tend to hold their poo until after they shed? Seems holding it in would just add more irritation to the shed process. Then again, I'm not a BP.

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It's probably so they don't need to switch ambush positions as much... sitting in your own filth is not only unsanitary, but the smell advertises your position to anything with a nose.

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Originally Posted by Alter-Echo

It's probably so they don't need to switch ambush positions as much... sitting in your own filth is not only unsanitary, but the smell advertises your position to anything with a nose.

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That makes sense. I should’ve thought of that. Thanks!


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Originally Posted by craigafrechette

She doesn't look overweight to me at all.

I guessing her next deuce will be a good one. She could be holding onto it because she's going into shed.

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She actually just shed last week and dropped a nice big one. Haha.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Sgt7212

Any idea why they tend to hold their poo until after they shed? Seems holding it in would just add more irritation to the shed process. Then again, I'm not a BP.

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I don't believe it's a choice at all I just think the moving from shedding and the pushing hard ends up making them go...


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Originally Posted by Lirenn

I am actually a little confused about feeding though. The table that gets passed around shows I should feed her a 100g rat weekly, but I have seen a lot of people say every two weeks is best.

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I do not follow that chart after the "500-100 gram" snake recommendation".
I feed around a 100 gram rat to my 1600 gram female. I feed under sized prey also to my 700 gram female. Hers are usually about 50-60 grams or if i have smaller i just give her 2. I breed all my own feeders so I do what ever is easy to get rid off access Rats too...
As far as every 7 days I don't do that after they are a year old otherwise they just go off a few times a yr from over feeding.



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Originally Posted by CALM Pythons

I do not follow that chart after the "500-100 gram" snake recommendation".
I feed around a 100 gram rat to my 1600 gram female. I feed under sized prey also to my 700 gram female. Hers are usually about 50-60 grams or if i have smaller i just give her 2. I breed all my own feeders so I do what ever is easy to get rid off access Rats too...
As far as every 7 days I don't do that after they are a year old otherwise they just go off a few times a yr from over feeding.



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So every 2 weeks would be ideal?

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I've had a few ball pythons that put on weight fast, it's possible to get 700 grams in a month. I had a couple that were starved for the first year before I got them, super skinny. I gave them all my extra rats and they grew like a rocket. Also if you have a large snake that just laid eggs it's possible to gain that much. I think some of my big snakes lay eggs about 100 grams each and with 10 eggs that's 1000 grams of weight loss. Some will eat three rats back to back right after laying since they have been fasting for so long.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by CALM Pythons

I do not follow that chart after the "500-100 gram" snake recommendation".
I feed around a 100 gram rat to my 1600 gram female. I feed under sized prey also to my 700 gram female. Hers are usually about 50-60 grams or if i have smaller i just give her 2. I breed all my own feeders so I do what ever is easy to get rid off access Rats too...
As far as every 7 days I don't do that after they are a year old otherwise they just go off a few times a yr from over feeding.



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I agree, the 10-15% rule is out the door at a certain point. Once they hit adult weight as long as they're getting a decent regular meal and maintaining good body proportion I go smaller as well.

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Originally Posted by Sgt7212

Any idea why they tend to hold their poo until after they shed? Seems holding it in would just add more irritation to the shed process. Then again, I'm not a BP.

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My best guess is to conserve energy. As ambush predators, they're not going to be out hunting with compromised vision, so a new meal is unlikely.

Even in captivity they tend to not leave their hides during a shed cycle. I'm guessing they want to stay put, conserve energy and not attract predators. Since feces and urates have an odor, they probably hold it to not attract predators as well.

But, those are just my hypotheses...

So 80-120g every two weeks sounds reasonable?

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Visited the vet today for a checkup and it looks like she was just bouncing back up to her original weight. She's actually about 100g less than she was at her first appointment and doc said she looked good. So no worries about being chunky. [emoji16]

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