Too thin?

[PecanPied]

Good morning! I’m coming for help after a recent vet checkup left me (and the vet) with more questions than answers. BP’s vet said that she wants him to weigh about 500 grams (he was ~400 at the time of the appointment) but when I asked how to help him gain the weight, she just… reiterated that she had no idea, no suggestions, no comments on his current diet, etc.

My BP is around three years old, and eating a small rat every other week (when he decides to eat, he’s a picky baby) which the vet said she thinks is what he’s supposed to be eating at his age. I know the default idea would be to feed him more often, but he doesn’t take to a “once a week” diet, and I worry about trying to feed him bigger portions because everything I’ve found says the largest male BP’s are meant to go is small rats. He also weighed in at about 370 grams when I weighed him yesterday (he’s been on a bit of a hunger strike) despite having just as much energy as ever, still I’m concerned what it means if he’s underweight, I’d REALLY hate to be depriving him of food and comfortable health.

TLDR: vet says my BP needs to gain 100+ grams in weight, said she had no idea how I would do this, so now *I* have no idea how I would do this. Please help?

[Armiyana]

Can we see photos of him?
Is this an exotic specialist vet? It doesn't really sound like it if they have no idea on how to help...

Honestly the only time a ball python should be hefty or thick is breeding females or growing babies before a growth spurt.
A lot of people let them become obese.

And while I agree that he sounds very small for a 3 year old, it's still something that it's better seen than just agreed upon.
And the 'largest males eat small rats' always amused me because my oldest male outsized and outweighs all of my
females currently at over 3000g and almost 5 feet long. He gets a medium every 2-3 weeks. Hahah

[Homebody]

Tough to say if a ball python is too thin from its weight. Assessing its body condition is better. Here is a chart to help you.

Post a pic and we'll be happy to give you our opinions.

[Armiyana]

Also... How are you judging your rat sizes? How much do the rats you are feeding him weigh?

Different distributors have different weights but they tend to be fairly close.... One of the frozen feeder vendors have 45.00 - 84.99 grams listed for small rats. Most of those are far too large to feed a snake of that size...

[Bogertophis]

You know there IS something between feeding "every week" & every two weeks". You might try offering every 10-11 days & see if he takes it. But some snakes just have their own idea about when they want to eat, & most of the time, a little "light" is better (healthier) than a little "heavy".

Bear in mind that we're not seeing your snake at all, so it's always possible that your vet has a different idea about what a healthy BP looks like? I do find it odd that your vet says she has no idea how to make him gain weight...??? Silly question, but is she very experienced (qualified) with exotics, & snakes in particular, or is she just a vet that's willing to see all creatures & do the best she can? It matters.

But assuming she's right, did she do a stool check??? If not, it would be a good idea to get one done. Most vets- when they've just seen your snake- can do a stool check without seeing your snake again- just ask & drop off a FRESH stool sample when you get one. (Disregard this if you already had the stool checked for this recent exam.) One thing that commonly keeps a snake from gaining weight is internal parasites- ie. "worms" -that they can catch from eating live prey, even if that was "ages ago".

Another thing- a "picky snake" might be one that's breeding age, sure, but could also be one that's not being kept warm enough. What are the temps* in your snake's home- how are you measuring them? How warm is the room he's in, & what's the photoperiod? (Snakes sense shorter days in winter & take a cue to eat less- so if you provide more "daylight" in the room, it might help his appetite. See?)

I love that by the time I posted my response, the "BP team" was already all over this.

[PecanPied]

Unfortunately I genuinely don’t know how to add photos on here

The vet is advertised as an exotic vet but I’m not the biggest fan of them (I boarded him there once, they turned off his heating… every night… in the middle of winter. I don’t board him there anymore) but unfortunately options for exotic vets are incredibly limited in my area, this one is already over an hour away. But I digress

Would you recommend trying to feed him bigger/more often then? He’s not particularly long, maybe 2.5 feet. I’m just genuinely so lost on what to do, I worry about keeping him happy and healthy

[PecanPied]

I buy from arctic mice and get their “small rats”, should I be looking for new feeders as well?

[Bogertophis]

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...-Post-Pictures

[Homebody]

Unfortunately I genuinely don’t know how to add photos on here

This thread should help you: https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...-Post-Pictures.

[Armiyana]

I honestly feel like the weight makes no sense if he's eating the artic mice 'small rats' and is 2.5 feet. Which is about the length of one of my 2 year old males on sm. Rats.

I have 6 months old snakes that are shorter and weigh more.
I wish I was at home this weekend to run some quick weights on my babies as comparison.

There's really not a way for me to judge any other way to go from here except as Bogertophis suggested and get a fecal done. I can't really suggest more without photos to see the body condition