Is my ball python underweight?

[Bp_girll]

Hey, so I'm kind of worried about my bp. We got him in September (he was a rescue). He ate regularly, except for when shedding, until November and hasn't eaten since..he was around 1040 grams(2.3 lbs) when he stopped eating, and now has dropped to about 950 grams (2.1 lbs). It's coming up on 4 months that he hasn't eaten and I just feel like he's losing a lot of weight and am questionable on is current condition. I know my aunt had a full grown bp that didn't lose weight even after several months of "hibernating" or fasting, but my bp still worries me. The humidity is around 30-40 (I try to keep it up but winters are so dry in Minnesota) and the temp Is high 80's one side and low-mid 80's on the other. We were told to give him frozen/thawed medium rats so that's what he was previously eating. Do you think he's underweight and have any ideas of what to do?
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[Archimedes]

At first glance he doesn't look too bad, but his spine is very prominent, which is unsettling. Have you had him scanned for parasites by a vet? You may want to jump start with a live feeding, small rat is perfectly fine. If you need tips on live feeding safety, let us know.

[Bp_girll]

*ignore this comment* (sorry new user!)

[Bp_girll]

Exactly what I thought...and if the place we got him from had a parsite check, it must've been negative. I was hoping it wouldn't come to that because I really wouldn't want to start live, but maybe just to get him to start eating again. Also, I would like some tips because I've never fed him live before. And if there is any other thing to try I would prefer it

[Slim]

First off, a 90 gram weight drop after a 4 month fast really isn't too bad. As long as he's got fresh water at all times and can drink, he should be fine until he's ready to eat again.

Now,

I would like some tips because I've never fed him live before.

Feeding live is pretty simple; the snake does most of the work

Just monitor the feeding after you drop the prey in the enclosure. Don't worry about feeding live, Ball Pythons are born to wreck rats. Just keep an eye on it just in case your snake still doesn't want to eat. If your BP hasn't struck and killed the rat after about 20 minutes, I'd remove the rat and try again in a week. And after a hunger strike, sometimes it's a good idea to start out with a rodent that is a little smaller than the snake is used to.

[angllady2]

He looks like a perfectly healthy male ball python going through a completely normal winter fasting period, with the totally fine minor weight loss that accompanies a winter fast. As strange as it sounds, in my experiences females who fast don't loose much weight, but males can loose enough to see the difference. It's rarely a cause for concern.

As hard as it is for you not to panic about it, and we've all been there, I'd just wait him out. If you are really nervous about feeding live, then don't yet. He could loose another 90 grams before I'd freak out. You can see his spine yes, but he's still mostly rounded. When he starts looking triangular and you can see his ribcage and he still hasn't eaten, then you can panic.

As for the impossible-to-keep-up humidity when you have to run the furnace full blast, just make him a humid hide. Get yourself a plastic bowl, I like the brown Tortilla bowls from the dollar store, turn it upside down, cut a door in one side and stuff it full of clean sphagnum moss and mist the moss every couple of days. He'll use it if he needs it.

Gale