Why are some ball pythons so fat?

[theartofsolitude]

Like literally got very wide body but the head is smaller.

is that good or bad thing?

[Adam Chandler]

Well to a point that is normal. They a heavy bodied constrictors so its to be expected for their bodies to be alot bigger than their head.

Are you talking about obese ball pythons? It is possible to overfeed a BP and that is not heathy. But you would have to be feeding multiple rats a week for that to happen.

[theartofsolitude]

actually i just saw some on petco.. could it be a sickness too?

coz according to petco guy those snakes ate last like 7 days ago.

if given a choice, should you get the wide one or a bit more normal thickness bp?

[West Coast Jungle]

Snakes in captivity are very easily overfed until obese. This usually shortens their lifespan and makes them poor breeders. A vet once told me this happens alot in captivity as they get no exercise and are fed much more often compared to the wild . Yes they are wide snakes, in comparison to colubrids for example, but still can be fed to obesity.

Someone here posted a necropsy of a rattlesnake that died and although it looked fine from the outside when opened up you could see so much fat that it was taking up the space of internal organs causing all kinds of problems and eventually death. You would imagine a wild rattle snake would burn off fat quite easily just trying to survive but not the case in captivity.

Lesson here is dont over feed

[Emohooker]

actually i just saw some on petco.. could it be a sickness too?

coz according to petco guy those snakes ate last like 7 days ago.

if given a choice, should you get the wide one or a bit more normal thickness bp?

I just wouldnt get one from petco haha

But yea they can be overweight, as long as you stick to the 15% rule you should be fine

[greghall]

I like my girls fat!

[stratus_020202]

I like my girls fat!

Lol.

If you see skin poking out from between the scales, they are overweight. Otherwise, I say take a healthy plump one At least you know it's a good eater. As long as they don't force feed. I would ask, many pet stores will.

[kellysballs]

I second the not buying from petco. There are plenty of people on here who bred balls and can get you a great healthy normal baby.