BP Body Condition

[jjc]

Does anyone have any info on scoring the body condition of a Ball Python? I have Googled away, but found nothing conclusive. What is a fat BP, and what is a skinny BP? I don't want to get greedy, but it would be nice to see what BPs should look like at various stages of growth.

[icygirl]

I would judge how fat/skinny a BP is by how much muscle there is around their spine. Too skinny would mean their spine is sticking out with very little muscle on the sides - skinny snakes also tend to have a lot of baggy skin. A snake where the spine and the muscle are around level with each other is obese; obese snakes also sometimes have stretched out scales so you can see the skin between.

[adam_degel]

a malnourished ball will normally have baggy skin and a pyramid/triangle shaped back.. here's a chart based on an average..

http://www.thereddragonsden.com/avgweight.htm