Advice on this old BP?

[alexcessive]

hi! i'm relatively new to this forum although i've lurked around it for at least a year or two.

i'm not sure exactly how to phrase what i'm looking for, but i guess just general advice and to make sure i'm doing everything correctly? i got my first BP in September, given to me by a friend's sister who admitted she hadn't been caring for her properly and knew how much i loved snakes.

the BP in question is 10 years old, is 3.75 feet long and weighs only 1321 grams (weighed in October), and female. apparently, she'd only been fed 2 live large mice every 1 - 2 weeks for these past 10 years.

i was told they'd tried to giver her F/T but she wouldn't take it, yet i got her to switch in one attempt. right now i've gotten her up to small F/T rats and plan on getting her to medium ones.
i guess you could say i'm worried about her weight? 1300 grams seems really small for a BP that's almost 4ft long and is as old as she is. now i've had experience with BPs and snakes before, but since this is the first one i've actually owned i just want to make sure i get it right.

her feeding response is crazy fantastic for a BP, she hasn't missed a single meal or refused any food type. given her age, though, can i expect her to put on much more weight or am i worried for nothing to begin with?

[wolfy-hound]

BPs are tough animals as long as the conditions are right. She should rebound easily.

If you post a picture, we could better judge her condition as to being underweight or not.

Congrats on getting her on the FT rats. Don't try to overfeed her right away though. Slow and steady will be healthier.

10 years is not "old" per se. I know breeders who had females still breeding strong at over 25 years old.

[alexcessive]

BPs are tough animals as long as the conditions are right. She should rebound easily.

If you post a picture, we could better judge her condition as to being underweight or not.

Congrats on getting her on the FT rats. Don't try to overfeed her right away though. Slow and steady will be healthier.

10 years is not "old" per se. I know breeders who had females still breeding strong at over 25 years old.

thanks! i'm a little too proud i got her on F/T so quickly since technically i.... really didn't do anything, lol.

and i'm glad to hear you say that! i was worried i haven't been feeding her enough, mostly because she seems so willing. currently i've been alternating giving her 2-3 large mice or 1 small rat. is it okay to alternate like that or should i just stick to rats? (it's mostly because, like when i got her on F/T, i didn't expect her to take it so quickly, so i still have a bunch of frozen mice)

i just fed her so it'll take a day or two to get some more specific pics, but here's some i had lying around that hopefully might help you get a good look at her:

[Yodawagon]

She looks good to me. I'd stick with one food type. Small rats should suit her.

[Kris Mclaughlin]

Seems kinda small to me. My one boy is about 4 now and passing that fast(growing fast again). He noms medium f/t RATS like a pro. He was a sad case when we took him. Arent females supposed to be larger?

Other than being kinda smallish. Shes beautiful! Are her browns as light as the pictures make them look? More like a chocolate color.

[wolfy-hound]

She doesn't look thin. Could she be plumper? Sure, but I would not "try" to fatten her up. With a regular diet of appropriate sized rats, she will probably put on weight slowly. But she doesn't look "underweight" or unhealthy.

Good job. Rats seem to do a lot better than mice(even when doing multiple mice).

[StillBP]

She looks great to me not thin she will do well with weight gain on a normal feeding scheduled with rats

[alexcessive]

great, that's good to hear, thanks everyone! i'm not looking to fatten her up or anything, just get her to a nicer weight than what she is now. Hopefully when I weigh her next there'll be some good news!

Seems kinda small to me. My one boy is about 4 now and passing that fast(growing fast again). He noms medium f/t RATS like a pro. He was a sad case when we took him. Arent females supposed to be larger?

Other than being kinda smallish. Shes beautiful! Are her browns as light as the pictures make them look? More like a chocolate color.

this girl was headed in a similar direction! i'm super thankful my friend's sister still cared for this noodle enough to know when to give her up.

and thank you so much! the first picture shows her colors the best, she is pretty neat. i have to say i was apprehensive about taking her in at first, but i really couldn't be happier with her.

[Kibbleswhites]

How sure are you that "she" is a "she" and not a "he"? Has "she" laid eggs? That is a normal size for an adult male. My smallest adult female hovers around 2000 grams. All of my snakes, including my really big girls (3500ish grams) eat small rats or smaller every 5-10 days. Biggest is not bestest.

[redshepherd]

She could be small in size, but she's not skinny! She looks good!