Is it important to weigh a snake?

[SCWood]

I keep asking to weigh our BP but my partner gets very confrontational about it. She says buying a scale is unnecessary and will just add to our clutter. I wanted to know if documenting weight is important or of you can simply go by length and width. They seem healthy, but I just want to know for future reference to their diet and such.

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[carlisleishere]

The reason why most people weigh snakes is to keep track of their health. Snakes are very good at hiding illnesses so regular weigh-ins can help tell you if there's a problem. It's ultimately up to the keeper, but I personally like to keep a record.

[Daigga]

For pets, no, not really. It isn't even that important to know length or width, as long as you can eyeball your feeders compared to your snake and know you have the right size, and know when your snake is looking thin or overly thick. If you're planning to breed it's more important to get weights and I would consider a scale a valuable tool of the trade.

[PitOnTheProwl]

to me weight is more important than anything else.

[Spoons]

I think a scale would be extremely important if your BP goes off it's food. After a 5 month fast you need to know if your snake is maintaining or dropping, and sometimes - especially with larger snakes - a drop in weight isn't immediately noticeable. Scales don't have to cost a lot of money or take up a lot of room - I have an UltraShip shipping scale (that I actually bought to monitor the weight of a bird I have when I first brought her home, she's very small so I needed a very sensitive scale). It works great, goes up to 35 lbs, which is plenty for a BP.

[rlditmars]

to me weight is more important than anything else.

I agree with this whole eartedly. Imagine your looking for a particular female and someone is selling the exact morph you've been looking for. It is a 2011 Blah Blah so being 3 years old it should be ready to breed. But when you recieve it you find you have a three year old snake that weighs 900 grams. Either the snake is sickly or its a finicky eater or it has been malnourished/neglected, etc.. Regardless of why, the weight is the indicator that tells you something is amiss. The same is true for animals in your possession. Especially when they go off feed which they will. It isn't a matter of if, it's a matter of when. Weight is the way you know how they are faring through the period in which they are off feed. Hope that helps.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

A scale is not gonna add to the clutter it's very small.

Now do you need to weight a snake? It's up to you. I VERY rarely weigh mine almost never, most of the weighing I do is on customer's request.

[200xth]

Length means nothing. Weight's important for both breeders and pets.

Breeders already know why they need to monitor weight, but it's useful for people who just keep BP's as pets. Situations like fasts where the snake hasn't eaten for three months tends to cause some people to panick and think it's losing large amounts of weight. A reguarly weigh-in can keep you from panicking. It's also always good to have the weight records when you go to the vet in case they request it.

[SCWood]

Thank you, all she just took her first small rat last night so I'm thinking she's just fine 😉 She was definitely looking tubbier than usual after a meal...before I never noticed a change. I can't wait to see her grow more

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[RoyalRegius]

Create clutter? A scale won't be much bigger than a dinner plate.