How much weight loss acceptable?

[DWRVT]

Hi guys, I have an approx 1 year old male bp. He was a great ft eater as a baby and had him on med rats when he stopped eating a couple months ago. I am weighing him every couple weeks and tonight I noticed he is down about 30 gm and starting to look like he's lost weight. What I am wondering is does anyone know the percentage of weight loss that can be expected during their winter fasting?
I can't help but worry a little about him even though I know this is not unusual at this time of year.
Thanks in advance for your opinions!!

[SquirmyPug]

How much did he weigh before he quit eating? How much does he weigh now?

Sure all the temps and humidity are correct in the terrarium? Have plenty of places to hide on the warm and cool side?

[Craiga 01453]

Sounds like he's taking a much needed break. Most adult male BPs never need anything bigger than a small rat, nevermind a yearling. He's likely overfed and therefor taking a break to allow his body to catch up.

What does the snake weigh?

[DWRVT]

Thanks for your replies! I was feeding him based on the recommendations of the local reptile store. I have been offering small rsts for the last 6 weeks.
I have 90-92 in his hot spot, overall ambient of about 80 and far end of the tank away from the rhp is usually about 76. I try to keep his humidity around 50%. Nothing in his husbandry has changed since he was eating well except I changed his uth from heat tape to one of the zoomed sticky ones.
He has two plastic box type hides, one on each end and he has hardly ever moved to the hot side of his tank since he stopped eating.
He weighed about 980 gm shortly after he stopped eating and he is down to 949 gm now

[Hannahvh]

To be completely honest with you, for a yearling, 900+ grams is kind of quite a lot (depending of course on his length as well). Average yearlings should really be closer to the 600-700 gram range. My 3 year old female is still on small rats as well (also depends on what you and your reptile store define as "small" and "medium" I suppose) and even she weighs only 1100 grams.

I would keep offering him small amounts of food (try with just a small mouse once a week until he eats again), but it sounds like he's a little chubby and trying to go on a diet! Are you also sure of his age? Could he possibly be older than you think?

Can you also post a pic so we can see what he looks like?

Here's an age to weight chart for you:
http://thereddragonsden.com/avgweight.htm

[DWRVT]

Wow - ok thank you!! Yes I will get some pics pf him posted tomorrow.
He was definitely young when I got him (May 2018) but I can't seem to find his hatch date so yes, I guess he could be older than I think.
This is kinda breaking my heart - I did so much research and had so much anxiety making sure I was taking good care of him and sounds like I still wasn't doing the right thing for him.
I truly appreciate your help!!

[redshepherd]

To be completely honest with you, for a yearling, 900+ grams is kind of quite a lot (depending of course on his length as well). Average yearlings should really be closer to the 600-700 gram range. My 3 year old female is still on small rats as well (also depends on what you and your reptile store define as "small" and "medium" I suppose) and even she weighs only 1100 grams.

I would keep offering him small amounts of food (try with just a small mouse once a week until he eats again), but it sounds like he's a little chubby and trying to go on a diet! Are you also sure of his age? Could he possibly be older than you think?

Can you also post a pic so we can see what he looks like?

Here's an age to weight chart for you:
http://thereddragonsden.com/avgweight.htm

Different individuals can grow at vastly different rates, there isn't an exact "weight vs age". It all depends on the snake's growth and body condition.

A 3 year old female at only 1100g is actually very small.

[Reptilius]

Wow - ok thank you!! Yes I will get some pics pf him posted tomorrow.
He was definitely young when I got him (May 2018) but I can't seem to find his hatch date so yes, I guess he could be older than I think.
This is kinda breaking my heart - I did so much research and had so much anxiety making sure I was taking good care of him and sounds like I still wasn't doing the right thing for him.
I truly appreciate your help!!

Don't beat yourself up. I have been keeping snakes for around 18 years or so, and I still learn new things about them all the time.

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[pretends2bnormal]

Different individuals can grow at vastly different rates, there isn't an exact "weight vs age". It all depends on the snake's growth and body condition.

A 3 year old female at only 1100g is actually very small.

I agree.. I have a male who I got at 4 months old and 130g make it to 850g by 1 year eating probably 11-12% weight meals on average once a week. He just never refused meals, even in shed or on attempt 1 for frozen or rats vs mice. Definitely not power fed and folliweedthe feeding chart posted so often on here. His growth shot up fast when he started on the small rats at 500g.

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[DWRVT]

This is Chester at his current weight

[IMG]20190126_141723.jpeg[/IMG]

- - - Updated - - -

Oops - sorry everyone. Can't figure out how to post his pictures