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  1. #1
    Registered User Oliver_the_BP's Avatar
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    Underweight 10 m/o

    I have a 10 month old ball python who only weighs 203 grams.. his spine is slightly triangulated and his skin is a bit stretchy, i know he's underweight for his age, but he refuses to eat rats.

    He should be on small/medium rats but only eats adult mice. I've tried everything besides making a "mouse coat" for a rat.

    Other than being underweight, he shows no signs of being unhealthy. He's active, sheds great, humidity and heat is always at a constant 65-70% and 75F on his cool side(where he normally is, warm side is 85F), and I don't believe he has a tumor or infection of any kind.

    I'm terrified of what'll happen if his eating pattern (or lack thereof) continues.

    Any advice for me and my Oliver?

    Thanks.
    Last edited by Oliver_the_BP; 05-27-2019 at 12:24 AM.

  2. #2
    Bogertophis's Avatar
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    How often are you feeding him?

    Does he ever refuse meals (other than rats)?

    I assume you're feeding f/t? have you tried thawing a rat pup in with a mouse, so it picks up mouse odor? or rubbing one on a mouse?

    Have you tried chain-feeding? -first a small adult mouse, & then a rat pup immediately after while he's still in "feed mode"? (make sure the 2 items together
    are not bigger than his biggest solo-mouse meals)

    BTW, it's appropriate to feed adult male BPs on small rats, not mediums, so at 10 mos. & at his weight yours should NOT be eating either one yet, IMO.


    (is this chart showing up for you?)

    Young snakes keep growing longer so it takes quite a while before they actually fill "out"....pics would help us evaluate him, maybe your expectations are too high?

    Another thing that causes a snake to fail to gain weight is if they have GI parasites (essentially sharing their meals). Have you ever had a vet test a fresh stool
    sample of his for worms? Might want to do that, just to make sure.

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  4. #3
    BPnet Senior Member Sunnieskys's Avatar
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    He should be on rat pups at that weight. If he refuse rats but he is taking mice you can always do two mice.
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  5. #4
    Registered User Oliver_the_BP's Avatar
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    Re: Underweight 10 m/o

    Quote Originally Posted by Bogertophis View Post
    How often are you feeding him?

    Does he ever refuse meals (other than rats)?

    I assume you're feeding f/t? have you tried thawing a rat pup in with a mouse, so it picks up mouse odor? or rubbing one on a mouse?

    Have you tried chain-feeding? -first a small adult mouse, & then a rat pup immediately after while he's still in "feed mode"? (make sure the 2 items together
    are not bigger than his biggest solo-mouse meals)

    BTW, it's appropriate to feed adult male BPs on small rats, not mediums, so at 10 mos. & at his weight yours should NOT be eating either one yet, IMO.


    (is this chart showing up for you?)

    Young snakes keep growing longer so it takes quite a while before they actually fill "out"....pics would help us evaluate him, maybe your expectations are too high?

    Another thing that causes a snake to fail to gain weight is if they have GI parasites (essentially sharing their meals). Have you ever had a vet test a fresh stool
    sample of his for worms? Might want to do that, just to make sure.
    I offer him food every 7 days. After a while of refusing both mice and rats I gave him a few weeks of break to make sure he’s not stressed from the attempts.

    Ive tried rubbing it on the rat, defrosting with a rat, getting him enticed with a mouse then changing it to a rat, white rats so they replicate his white mice, feeding him a defrosted mouse dipped in sodium free chicken stock then the next week a rat dipped in sodium free chicken stock to see if the scent would help but he only ate the mouse.

    I havent tried chain feeding yet, but maybe I will next week (I attempted a feed last night).

    Thanks for your opinion on the feeding size, I’ve always measured his food on his girth instead of weight, and his girth seems it should be big enough for small rats.

    The chart isn’t showing, but I can look up weight charts and refer to those.

    These are are the most recent pictures I have of him (taken last night when he was stealing my earbuds)
    http://imgur.com/RC3j0Zq
    http://imgur.com/QZZVsx1
    Im not sure how helpful these are, but you can see his neck and spine. If you need more, I’ll send more.

  6. #5
    Registered User Oliver_the_BP's Avatar
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    Re: Underweight 10 m/o

    Quote Originally Posted by Sunnieskys View Post
    He should be on rat pups at that weight. If he refuse rats but he is taking mice you can always do two mice.

    ive tried two mice in the past, but he only takes the first one. After refusing the second one immediately after he was done with the tail of the first one, I let him sit for 15 minutes, reheated the second one a bit, and offered again, to no avail.

  7. #6
    Telling it like it is! Stewart_Reptiles's Avatar
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    He should be on small/medium rats but only eats adult mice.
    That would be physically impossible at his size to be on small or medium rats additionally a male does not need medium rats.

    At this size you are looking at rat pups, and what matters here is to feed what works, if mice work feed mice, gram per gram if you feed the right amount the prey type does not matter (the only thing that makes a difference is the convenience of feeding one prey versus 2 when the animal is full grown and again not what matters)

    So feed an appropriate mice every 7 days and if the animal is not gaining, not growing and even losing weight have a fecal done.

    And BTW that snake looks fine.
    Last edited by Stewart_Reptiles; 05-27-2019 at 01:54 PM.
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  9. #7
    BPnet Senior Member Sonny1318's Avatar
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    I have nothing but mousers, they at most eat 4 to 6 jumbo mice a month. Most don’t eat 4 to 6 months outta the year. All on larger side of the spectrum for their age, I know I brag about it all the time (making fun of myself there). There’s is no need for Med rats, not for an animal that’s gonna stop eating eventually anyway (because most are overfeed in captivity). Personally I would double check my husbandry and handling and if necessary the vet. Just trying to help, sorry if I ranted. Best of luck.
    Last edited by Sonny1318; 05-27-2019 at 12:36 PM.
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  10. #8
    Bogertophis's Avatar
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    "These are are the most recent pictures I have of him (taken last night when he was stealing my earbuds)
    http://imgur.com/RC3j0Zq
    http://imgur.com/QZZVsx1
    Im not sure how helpful these are, but you can see his neck and spine. If you need more, I’ll send more."

    From what I can see he looks to have normal weight. I suspect you are trying to over-feed him, thinking he should be bigger & eating more
    than what is realistic for his age & size. A better shot of his body would help, but I think mostly this is a perception issue on your part, and
    packing excessive weight on a snake is no better for them than it is for us. I'm sorry the feeding chart didn't show up (I was afraid of that),
    but it's all over this site & you need to refer to it.

    Feeding chart is in this thread:
    https://ball-pythons.net/forums/showthread.php?243687-Ball-Python-Feeding-Guidelines
    Last edited by Bogertophis; 05-27-2019 at 01:49 PM.

  11. #9
    Registered User Oliver_the_BP's Avatar
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    Re: Underweight 10 m/o

    Quote Originally Posted by Bogertophis View Post
    "These are are the most recent pictures I have of him (taken last night when he was stealing my earbuds)
    http://imgur.com/RC3j0Zq
    http://imgur.com/QZZVsx1
    Im not sure how helpful these are, but you can see his neck and spine. If you need more, I’ll send more."

    From what I can see he looks to have normal weight. I suspect you are trying to over-feed him, thinking he should be bigger & eating more
    than what is realistic for his age & size. A better shot of his body would help, but I think mostly this is a perception issue on your part, and
    packing excessive weight on a snake is no better for them than it is for us. I'm sorry the feeding chart didn't show up (I was afraid of that),
    but it's all over this site & you need to refer to it.

    Feeding chart is in this thread:
    https://ball-pythons.net/forums/showthread.php?243687-Ball-Python-Feeding-Guidelines
    Thank you so much. Should I worry about him only being slightly over 200 grams and almost a year old? I’ve seen 9 month olds who are already 400 grams.

    Also, I’ll be sticking to adult mice every 6-7 for everyone correcting me. I apologize for having my information incorrect, I thrive to be a successful care taker for Oliver, but I must’ve gotten mixed up.

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  13. #10
    Telling it like it is! Stewart_Reptiles's Avatar
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    Re: Underweight 10 m/o

    Quote Originally Posted by Oliver_the_BP View Post
    Thank you so much. Should I worry about him only being slightly over 200 grams and almost a year old? I’ve seen 9 month olds who are already 400 grams.
    and I have animals that are 900 grams at 9 months there is a lot that comes into play when it comes to weight and a lot of variance with animal that are the same age.

    Weight out of the egg some weighs in at 40 grams while some weighs in at 90, how fast they take their first meal on their own some will do soon as their first shed and some will 6 to 8 weeks later, after that you have skip meals, fast etc, and most importantly genetics some are predisposed to be a lot bigger than others.

    Worry less about weight and more about overall proportions.
    Deborah Stewart


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