I've heard it off and on: that older male ball pythons can become obese and even suffer from classic heart disease. But is there any truth to it?

... I recently made the acquaintance of an 8-year old male by the name of Monty (yes, of course). His owner adopted him when he was 5 years old, and at least two vets told her that the snake was obese.

So when I met Monty a few weeks ago, he'd been eating one pre-killed rat a month for the last several years. And lately he's been exhibiting some cage aggression.

Well, I had just been feeding my hatchlings f/t hoppers back home. And you know how hard it is to wash the smell of mouse guts off....? Monty has never ever even tried to bite anyone. But wow, he bit me. This was one of those astonishing bites where the snake won't let go, and even starts constricting your hand while you're jamming a pencil into his mouth.

So the first thing I did (after applying first aid to my finger and cleaning up the blood) was go home and get a package of 25 frozen rats for Monty. He ate 4 in the first sitting, and his owner reports that he's eaten another 7 in the last two weeks.

Now I'm kinda questioning the "obesity in older males" wisdom. My own males are pretty young, but I've had some of them go up to 5 months without eating. So I'm afraid to curb their eating in late summer too much. Because that's when they're storing up fat for breeding, right? And old Monty was clearly starving.

Is "obesity" ever actually a concern in ball pythons?