Underweight??

[earthdragons737]

This is an adult female Jayapura green tree. She is about 5- 5.5 ft long. And 3-4 years old. Does she look underweight to you?

[Evenstar]

No she doesn't. GTPs are arboreal so they should be lean and slender. Are you wondering becaues you can slightly see her ribs? If they disappear when she stretches out, then she's fine. If you still see them, then I might start to wonder.

How is her appetite? What and how often are you feeding her? How long have you had her? Has she recently laid a clutch?

[Colin Vestrand]

I would say she does, actually. You shouldn't be able to see those ribs or lateral lines that well... maybe it's the lighting, but it appears to be underweight or maybe even dehydrated in my opinion.

That said, it doesn't necessarily look unhealthy, and many many people feed their captive snakes too much.

[earthdragons737]

She eats great, her previous owner was feeding her 1 mouse a week I feed her 1med to small rat a week. You can see her ribs when she stretches out and she has a lot of loose skin.

[Evenstar]

She eats great, her previous owner was feeding her 1 mouse a week I feed her 1med to small rat a week. You can see her ribs when she stretches out and she has a lot of loose skin.

Ok, that changes my perception a bit.

First off, I would collect a fecal sample and take that and her to the vet for a workup. If she's consistantly eating every week, she should look better than this.

GTPs actually do better on mice, generally, than rats. One mouse a week is quite appropriate for a healthy animal - in fact, once every 2 weeks is even better. My 10 year old male eats one large mouse every 2 weeks and he is in perfect condition. Once you get your s healthy, I would take this into consideration. My point right now, though, is that with your current feeding practises, she should be gaining weight significantly unless there is something else going on. Hince the needed vet visit.

I would make sure to keep her misted very well right now too. That will help with the dehydration.

[earthdragons737]

The other thing is she is afraid of the mister, the person before never sprayed her. She strikes like crazy when i do. I have a fogger on her. Her humidity is between 70- 80%. She is gaining weight a lot but she was even thinner than this when I bought her. I just wanted to know if I am doing the right thing. You can barely see her ribs any more and I have had her for 2 months. She is pretty tame and tolerates handling well.

[Evenstar]

The other thing is she is afraid of the mister, the person before never sprayed her. She strikes like crazy when i do. I have a fogger on her. Her humidity is between 70- 80%. She is gaining weight a lot but she was even thinner than this when I bought her. I just wanted to know if I am doing the right thing. You can barely see her ribs any more and I have had her for 2 months. She is pretty tame and tolerates handling well.

Well the fogger will do just fine then. Is it on a timer? There should be a drying out period each day. I mist mine in the evening which raises the humidity to about 75%. By morning it's down to 60%. The drying out helps control mold issues but I also feel the slight fluxuation is good for the snake.

If she's gaining weight consistantly, then I'd say you're on the right track. I would keep doing what you're doing until her condition reaches optimal. Then back off slightly. As I mentioned before, perhaps switch her back to mice (large/jumbo) once she's up to full weight. If she holds her weight well, you might gradually work her back to feeding every 2 weeks. A maintainence feeding of one jumbo mouse every 2 weeks should work for her once she's healthy.

But if you notice her dropping weight again or looking unhealthy in any way, schedule that vet visit!!

[reptileexperts]

Third or forth by this point about the water - the snake seems to be pretty dehydrated in this image. Glad to hear that she's pounding food for you, that's a positive thing. Would like to second the mousing comment. I switched mine from a rat diet from the previous owner to a diet of strictly jumbo mice every 10-12 days. He looked about like yours did when I picked him up, and on this diet and regular misting to create a nice humidity range from 65-85%, he turned around in no time! Even though she may be scared of the misting, try and spray on her and near her lightly. use cage temperature water to make it less shocking to her. Some GTP will only drink drops of water off their coils or walls / plants. So its important to mist certain individuals to keep them hydrated regardless of cage relative humidity.

[earthdragons737]

The fogger is on a timer on four times a day for an hr each time. I feed her last night 1 small rat and then I misted her she seems kinda OK with it now. I watched her drink from her water bowl for a few minutes after she ate. She is looking better. My snake room is heated to 80 for the 3 seasons and durring summer it's 85. And of course all the snakes have a basking area of 90-92. It's also humidified to 50-60% all year round. Her cage is the only one with a fogger. This is what the pervious owner had her set up like-



Here is how she is set up now-

[StickyBalls]

Looks just a wee bit underweight- I agree with Evenstar that they are slender-bodied snakes, but it's vertebrae does seem to stick up a bit. Feed her on a regular basis and the problem should clear up. Awesome Looking snake, btw

-Also, be careful when you feed her. Green Tree Pythons have big teeth, unlike my Ball Python