Is my BP underweight?

[zac1184]

Hi everyone,

I am a new BP owner, and I was just curious what the average weight should be for a 5-6 mounth old ball python?
He is just under 2 feet long, and is currently feeding on 1 rat pup/week.

While holding my BP last night I noticed when he coiled around my hand, his "spine" sticks out a bit, and his body kinda looks a little triangluar? is this normal? I will try and post a pic later tonight(i'm at work right now) if that will help more.

Thanks to all who reply.

[JLC]

It's really impossible to say without pictures or even numbers to guess by. Even chunky snakes can look a little triangular sometimes (have their spine ridge prominent), when they get themselves in certain positions.

If she's eating regularly and not gaining any weight, you might want to have a vet check her out for worms...which isn't a bad idea to do regardless, if you don't know her background history. (Pet store ball pythons are almost always imported from Africa and may host any number of parasites)

[littleindiangirl]

It's a great idea like Judy said to get a test for internal parasites just to be on the safe side. A lot of imports do come with little hitch hikers.

If you go buy a kitchen scale that measures in grams, you can actually see their progress from month to month. I have often thought my young ones were looking thin, when actually they were putting on a lot of weight and growing longer before they 'filled out'. They were growing really fast, and I chalk it up to rapid growth spurts when young.

It doesnt hurt to buy a scale regardless, it's nice knowing how much your animals weigh.