overweight BP? please help

[Adam Chandler]

Your BP looks fine from the picture.

I am a believer that Ball Pythons cannot become overweight. BP's don't eat just to eat as some other snakes do.

When a Ball Python is not hungry it will not eat.

[Amp625]

[Amp625]

[Foschi Exotic Serpents]

Not even close to being overweight. BPs are not like some other snakes. I also believe there is no such thing as an overweight BP. No way no how.

[WingedWolfPsion]

Here's a photo of an adult female ready to breed. She has good weight on her for the season, but she is NOT overweight:


Ball pythons certainly can become obese, once they reach adulthood, and breeders warn against allowing this to happen, because of the dramatic reduction in fertility. (The other health issues are bad news, too). Ball pythons are individuals, and some of them would eat a medium rat every single week, year-round, when not bred! This is too much food for a ball python, and they will get fat.

[Amp625]

okay thank you lately i have been so worried about him for various reasons i think i have everything right with his hot spot like 91 and cool side 79-81 and 80-83 ambient however my humidity reader broke and i have not had one in a while but its summer here in Philly and i think its humid enough. Also he hasnt pooped in abut a month but his rear end is bloating is this because of bad humidity which could cause dehydration, im getting a new humidity reader tomorrow

[WingedWolfPsion]

Here is a photo said to be of an overweight ball python (rather than a gravid one):

http://www.ball-pythons.net/gallery/...4/pets_002.jpg

You can see the skin between the scales, and the tail drops in size significantly where it joins the body. (Gravid ball pythons can look similar, I'm just going by what the person who posted the photo said).

[Foschi Exotic Serpents]

If so, it's not very common at all.. So uncommon in fact, that you are the first person I've ever seen say anything of the sort. Though I'm sure it's possible.

His BP is still quite young and small. Still has a lot of growing to do. There is absolutely no worry of that snake being overweight.

[WingedWolfPsion]

Ball pythons that are gearing up to defecate can look pretty bloated toward the rear--that's fairly normal. If you see that in your snake, you may want to reconsider handling him for a bit, lol.

Dehydration can delay things a bit, yes, but sometimes they just seem to like to store things up for a while. Snakes in shed will often do this, and defecate immediately after shedding (or even during).

[WingedWolfPsion]

Agreed, his snake is a juvenile, and obesity just isn't a real concern in ball pythons under 3 years old. It can be induced through power-feeding, but that has to be the type that uses trickery to get more food into the snake than it intended to eat.

Obesity in adult ball pythons is more common. I had a breeder female myself who was a great eater--too great. I wound up having to put her on a diet, to slim her down before the breeding season, lol.