Ball Python Underweight?

[annamarie]

i’ve had my ball for about four years, he was born May ‘17. He’s been a pretty good eater & ive never had any major issues from him. Recently i’ve noticed that he’s relatively skinny for his length & age. He’s 660 grams & about 4 foot long. I’ve taken him to the vet a few times for regular checkups & he’s always came back perfectly healthy. His spine is not showing, there’s no loose skin, he eats a small rat once every 10-12 days, etc. My question is, is it okay that my 4 almost 5 year old is so small? The vet is even stunned that he is so healthy, such a good eater, and yet is still only 660grams. TIA❤️

[Lord Sorril]

Greetings,

I think is within reason that you can have a healthy 660 gram male @4-5 years of age.

For comparison: I have a 4 year old male that is currently 849 grams (shown below).



He has a stocky shape right now, however, if he was 'empty', had a slimmer build, and just came off a food strike...I would expect him to weigh much less.

[nikkubus]

It's perfectly reasonable as long as the proportions are correct. I've got 2019 males in the 450g range and once they hit 500g and go on smalls, you really want a slow growth rate from a male.