Weighing my snake

[B.P.'s 4me]

How does one get an accurate weight on their snake? I placed my bp in a bag and the bag on a digital scale. Each time the snake shifted in the bag (which was constantly) the weight changed SIGNIFICANTLY. Apparently, he weighs somewhere between 369 and 713 gms. There's got to be a better way.

[Slytherin's Mommy]

Have you tried a tub or is he too big?

Sent from my SM-J700T using Tapatalk

[tttaylorrr]

i use a tub or their hides to place them in to weigh. you need something with walls to stop the snake from shifting on top of the scale.

[cchardwick]

You need to use a good scale too, cheap scales will change depending on where you place the weight on the pan. Use something else and move it around on top of the scale to see if you can get accurate readings. This is the one I have, it's awesome. Right now it's $110 on Amazon but well worth it. I use it for my rats to dial in the 10% of the snake weight and use it to weigh all my snakes, works for all but my retics (of course!). I put bigger snakes in tubs, small snakes balled up work fine right on the scale.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I use this one for my retics, not too good for smaller snakes like ball pythons but anything over five pounds is perfect, works great for my 30 pound dwarf retic!

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[cchardwick]

Posted this in the wrong thread, had to delete this post!

[SDA]

This is what I use. Just a cooking scale I already had at home but any really will do. Just have it be able to weight up to say 5000 grams (that's what mine tops out at).



I take a tub and put it on the scale, tare it, then put the snake in. I don't care if I am off a few grams because I am not needing precision, only accuracy.

Please excuse Dante, he is in a mood so I had to use a stunt double

[oodaT]

I use their hides to weigh them.

Zero out scale with empty hide on it, place snek in said hide, sometimes I cover the hide with my hand to settle them back down if their being snek like and wanting to get secure feeling again, then place it on the scale.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

[ckuhn003]

My scale has a dish with sides that seems to work pretty well. In fact, he usually hangs out here while I clean his enclosure.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[B.P.'s 4me]

Thank you all for your help and suggestions. My scale is a good one, maybe too good as it tries to adjust the weight whenever he moves. I think the problem is that the platform isn't that big.
The reason I wanted to weight him in the first place is because he seems thin to me. I've only had him since Wed. and was told to wait a week before attempting to feed him but I truly think he's hungry. He's fairly active, very curious and not acting the least bit stressed. He does spend some time in his hides, but does a fair amount of roaming about as well.
As per your suggestions, he's about 2 ft. long, and very curious so it's hard to find a container that I can put him in and get the lid on before he's over the sides. Eventually, I solved the problem by simply placing him on the floor. The difference in texture and temperature prompted him to curl into a ball and I quickly scooped him up and popped him onto the scale. Luckily he didn't budge, and I got an reading of 360 gms., which again, seems light for his size.
Would there be any harm in offering him food tonight even though it's less than a week? I was told he's used to live, but will eat f.t. if I'm patient. I don't have live, but do have a few frozen fuzzies (rats) ranging from 12 - 16 gms. and one frozen weanling rat that weighs 20 gms. Would I be right in assuming the weanling would be the way to go at the moment and what would be the best size to buy for him from this point forward.

[Vipera Berus]

I use cooking scales with a tub to plonk my danger noodle or tortoise in. The scales I have I stick the tub on and then set the scales to ignore the tub and then plonk the reptile in it and weigh them. Since the tub is still big enough to fit them and stay on the scales it makes my life easier.