Is my ball python underweight or overweight?

It’s been a long time since I posted and the last time everyone was very nice and helpful. My ball python was already about the size of my palm maybe slightly bigger when balled up. That was last august, now she is about two feet long and 223 grams in weight. I looked at charts for weight and she seems underweight but pictures for overweight look like her too. I was wondering if anyone had any advice.

Who knows?? It kinda depends on body condition which is hard to tell without pictures. If you're able to post some pictures of her stretched out that may help. They shouldn't be a perfect circle if you look down their body straight from head to tail, you should see more of a full but triangular shape with some spinal definition. Too much spine, however, could indicate being underweight.

I find posting pics via the Tapatalk app the easiest.

https://i2.wp.com/www.reptifiles.com...40%2C493&ssl=1


I would take a look at the below document as well. Pictures would help.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1...WitIdcm-k/edit

That’s the picture I went by for the overweight side of it a while ago but she has slimmed down slightly. I’m unsure how to post pictures though because I’m on mobile.

What are you feeding her and how often?

I’m currently feeding her one medium mouse every other week because she slightly had the physique of the middle (overweight) python in the picture. She eats readily but hasn’t pooped for a couple weeks and it’s worrying as in that time she at a clump of sphagnum moss.

What does her spine look like?

Did you look at this document? https://docs.google.com/document/d/1...WitIdcm-k/edit It describes the different weights of a BP and what they look like.

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Originally Posted by EldritchPreacher

I’m currently feeding her one medium mouse every other week because she slightly had the physique of the middle (overweight) python in the picture. She eats readily but hasn’t pooped for a couple weeks and it’s worrying as in that time she at a clump of sphagnum moss.

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She is being underfed. She should be double that weight if not more. A medium mouse is waaaay too small as well. By 9 months all of my animals are on small rats and 500+ grams. She should also be fed weekly as well especially if she was being given mice. The animal isn't passing anything because it is using everything for nourishment. I haven't heard of snakes eating moss but in this case it wouldn't surprise me because unfortunately she isn't being fed appropriately. I would go to weaned rats every week for a month and then move her to smalls.

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Originally Posted by Moose84

She is being underfed. She should be double that weight if not more. A medium mouse is waaaay too small as well. By 9 months all of my animals are on small rats and 500+ grams. She should also be fed weekly as well especially if she was being given mice. The animal isn't passing anything because it is using everything for nourishment. I haven't heard of snakes eating moss but in this case it wouldn't surprise me because unfortunately she isn't being fed appropriately. I would go to weaned rats every week for a month and then move her to smalls.

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she isn’t wide enough for a rat sadly, I used to feed her every week but her body started being larger and you could see a bulge where her tail started like she had hips a bit. She ate the moss by accident when eating a mouse, it got caught on the mouses leg and she eat it when swallowing her meal.

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Originally Posted by vivi

What does her spine look like?

Did you look at this document? https://docs.google.com/document/d/1...WitIdcm-k/edit It describes the different weights of a BP and what they look like.

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live seen that document before, she looks in between the overweight and ideal look with her weight.

I would actually heed Moose84´s advice.

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Originally Posted by EldritchPreacher

live seen that document before, she looks in between the overweight and ideal look with her weight.

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She is not overweight I can guarantee you that. Posting a picture of the animal would go a long ways. Coming from someone who has multiples animals I can assure you that unless the animal is deformed in some way it is NOT too small for a weaned rat at that weight.

Download the free app Tapatalk and upload pics.

Moose is on point but without seeing the animal it's tough to know for sure.

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...=w998-h1330-no

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Sorry for the wait for a reply, I was trying to figure out how to post a pic from mobile.

What is it sitting on? A bed or a pillow?

Post another photo with your hand next to it or a soda can or something for size comparison.

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...=w998-h1330-no

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She’s on a bed

Something isn't adding up here. That snake from what you have told us is going on 11 months old. I have 5 month old BP's that are bigger than that. I don't powerfeed any of my animals.. Even the breeding females. But, with that being said for a female that is almost a year old she is too small. Just based off of that picture I would have no issues feeding it a weaned rat. Thickest part of her body is the size of two fingers put together and to be honest that would be about a small. She's just not going to grow at normal rates if you continue to feed her medium mice every 14 days. She will start to become aggressive and that can lead to undesirable situations.

For example, some of my aggressive feeding females are on MEDIUM rats at 14 months and that hardly puts a dent in them. The males could probably do it as well but I tend to leave them on smalls unless they are getting ready to breed. A comparable animal to my collection at the same age currently is around 750 grams feeding on small rats. That's once a week unless they are in shed. Once the females hit around 900 they go to mediums..

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Originally Posted by EldritchPreacher

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...=w998-h1330-no

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She’s on a bed

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To bring things into perspective the snake is not in bad shape just on the smaller side of the spectrum. The problem lies in the behavior the animal will display as it grows and continues to be underfed. It's an excellent way to get bit.

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Originally Posted by Moose84

Something isn't adding up here. That snake from what you have told us is going on 11 months old. I have 5 month old BP's that are bigger than that. I don't powerfeed any of my animals.. Even the breeding females. But, with that being said for a female that is almost a year old she is too small. Just based off of that picture I would have no issues feeding it a weaned rat. Thickest part of her body is the size of two fingers put together and to be honest that would be about a small. She's just not going to grow at normal rates if you continue to feed her medium mice every 14 days. She will start to become aggressive and that can lead to undesirable situations.

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that’s what I’ve been trying to figure out, I got her at a convention mid to early august and she was about a foot maybe foot and a half at most and now she’s two feet but I thought she should be growing more. I’ve been feeding her mice the width of her stomach and tried to keep her up on feedings but then she started getting fatter and the charts for weight issues got me worried.

A medium mouse is not the width of her stomach. I know it might LOOK like that but it isn't an adult mouse is not the width of her stomach either. If you are feeding FT take the mouse by the tail and by the head and stretch it gently. You will see that they are a lot smaller than they look frozen. If you are feeding live the same thing goes.. Once the snake has killed the animal the body is obviously limp and much smaller than it looks alive or frozen. Mice are very lean too. Another reason why are you aren't seeing the animal poop as much because it is using everything in the meal it has every two weeks. Switch her to weaned rats for a month and then go to smalls. She will put on size pretty quickly. I will reiterate the fact that you will run into biting and constant searching around the enclosure if you don't up her prey size.

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Originally Posted by Moose84

A medium mouse is not the width of her stomach. I know it might LOOK like that but it isn't an adult mouse is not the width of her stomach either. If you are feeding FT take the mouse by the tail and by the head and stretch it gently. You will see that they are a lot smaller than they look frozen. If you are feeding live the same thing goes.. Once the snake has killed the animal the body is obviously limp and much smaller than it looks alive or frozen. Mice are very lean too. Another reason why are you aren't seeing the animal poop as much because it is using everything in the meal it has every two weeks. Switch her to weaned rats for a month and then go to smalls. She will put on size pretty quickly. I will reiterate the fact that you will run into biting and constant searching around the enclosure if you don't up her prey size.

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ok I’ll go up in size but I’m unsure where to go to get frozen mice with everything closed, I had stocked up on mice that I believed were good for her but I’ll try and figure out something. It was hard to tell as any time I’d get a mouse close to her or try and get a measurement she would move around

You don't have to get rid of the mice. Just feed them to her weekly until they are gone. If you notice her hunting around the enclosure a day or so after looking for food again, give her two mice when you feed her until they are gone. A medium mouse is at best 15 grams.. Two of them during feeding would be roughly 10% of her bodyweight. Also, there is nothing wrong with it showing a lump in the snakes belly. Doesn't have to be pushing scales out but you SHOULD see a bump. Nothing wrong with that.

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Originally Posted by Moose84

You don't have to get rid of the mice. Just feed them to her weekly until they are gone. If you notice her hunting around the enclosure a day or so after looking for food again, give her two mice when you feed her until they are gone. A medium mouse is at best 15 grams.. Two of them during feeding would be roughly 10% of her bodyweight. Also, there is nothing wrong with it showing a lump in the snakes belly. Doesn't have to be pushing scales out but you SHOULD see a bump. Nothing wrong with that.

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Ok, I’ll stretch out a mouse I have to see how wide they actually are. I just want to do the best I can for her.

I understand totally. Don’t put too much pressure on it. Hahaha. FT will break apart if you unthaw then too quickly. Keep us updated.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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Originally Posted by Moose84

I understand totally. Don’t put too much pressure on it. Hahaha. FT will break apart if you unthaw then too quickly. Keep us updated.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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I did my count of mice I had stocked up on and I think I have around eleven. Any advice for a feeding schedule? I used to feed her every Monday

Ok, feed off the mice you do have and get her onto rats.

Also keep in mind length means nothing. I see you referring to her length. Try to get length out of your head and focus on appropriately sized meals on a consistent 7 day schedule for now.

Not trying to be rude, but this is all stuff you should know BEFORE bringing an animal home. Please do your snake a favor and do some independent research on the species as well as keeping them in captivity.

I would feed her tomorrow and then again next Monday. If she is still acting hungry and searching around, the following week I would thaw two and give them to her. Wait about 20-30 minutes after the first one is down and give her the second. Do that until the mice run out and then try and get her on rats.

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Originally Posted by Craiga 01453

Ok, feed off the mice you do have and get her onto rats.

Also keep in mind length means nothing. I see you referring to her length. Try to get length out of your head and focus on appropriately sized meals on a consistent 7 day schedule for now.

Not trying to be rude, but this is all stuff you should know BEFORE bringing an animal home. Please do your snake a favor and do some independent research on the species as well as keeping them in captivity.

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it’s fine, I had done research in feedings and stuff but I was always told ball pythons couldn’t really get fat. I didn’t think about something like that and I feel bad about not doing more research into over feeding or how to fully tell a mouses width as I always used the frozen width.

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Originally Posted by EldritchPreacher

it’s fine, I had done research in feedings and stuff but I was always told ball pythons couldn’t really get fat. I didn’t think about something like that and I feel bad about not doing more research into over feeding or how to fully tell a mouses width as I always used the frozen width.

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It's not just about eyeballing width either. You could get yourself a scale and weigh your snake and follow the link below:
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...ing-Guidelines

You're willing to learn and open to advice, so you'll be fine in no time. Just do a little homework and ask any questions you have. I'm always happy to help people who are willing to learn.

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Originally Posted by Craiga 01453

It's not just about eyeballing width either. You could get yourself a scale and weigh your snake and follow the link below:
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...ing-Guidelines

You're willing to learn and open to advice, so you'll be fine in no time. Just do a little homework and ask any questions you have. I'm always happy to help people who are willing to learn.

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I’m saving that chart, I just weighed the average mouse I give her and it’s too small. I’m really thankful you showed me that chart

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Originally Posted by EldritchPreacher

I’m saving that chart, I just weighed the average mouse I give her and it’s too small. I’m really thankful you showed me that chart

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Happy to help.

Keep doing all tge studying you can. We're right here if you have more questions :gj:

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Originally Posted by EldritchPreacher

I’m saving that chart, I just weighed the average mouse I give her and it’s too small. I’m really thankful you showed me that chart

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Very good. Craiga said it right. I will admit sometimes I come across a little harsh but when you KNOW you KNOW something like prey sizes after feeding off a TON of prey we just feel like we have to be kind of blunt.

I was once a first time owner as well and believe me I thought the "smaller the better" and I learned real quick that wasn't correct. You will have her right in no time. I was less concerned about the health of the animal because it doesn't look terrible but I knew what would happen next had that feeding regiment continued. We are here if you need anything!

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Originally Posted by Moose84

Very good. Craiga said it right. I will admit sometimes I come across a little harsh but when you KNOW you KNOW something like prey sizes after feeding off a TON of prey we just feel like we have to be kind of blunt.
!

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Well said. Sometimes our "bluntness" isn't very well received. I'm glad OP understood.

So an update for everyone who has been helping me. She has been putting on some size and weight but her tail has become very noticeable from her body now though. I should have pictures soon