Is she fat?

[towelie4365]

Huh? What part of their genetic make-up or DNA would tell them to stop eating?

They're opportunistic eaters. In the wild, there's tons of uncertainty as to when their next meal is. BPs don't have the ability to understand they are in captivity, being cared for by an "overly generous" owner who will offer a nice plump rat the next time, if they decline this meal.

There certainly are fat BPs out there - I see it all too often in breeders who are plumping up their females in order to get to breeding weight ASAP. Maybe I'm the only one out there, but I'm keeping my pied lean.

Have you owned snakes other than ball pythons? In my experience, an opportunistic feeder will eat anything in sight. Ball pythons don't tend to have obesity problems because they lay off food once they get to be a bit fat. Keep in mind that when they get a bit fat, and go off of food, they can easily go 6+ months without eating and be fine.

Some people here might have snakes they refer to as a "garbage disposal", because they eat anything in sight, at any time. Ball pythons generally don't do this.

People leave food out 100% of the time for house cats, and they can stay relatively skinny like that. Now, if you had a Labrador retriever, and you left food out 100% of the time, he would be morbidly obese. Some animals regulate their own body weight even when given the chance to eat as much as they want, others don't. Ball pythons seem to be able to know when they need/don't need to eat. That can be in the DNA.