Ball Python Deformity/Injury

[Jayrhamlin]

Hello - Hoping someone can help me identify something. I received an adult female BP several months ago as sort of a "rescue" so to speak. She has a weird injury or deformity and I was hoping maybe someone could tell me what they thought. It's kind of hard to explain and even harder to get a picture of but I'll do my best. about 1/3 down her body she is mis-shapen.....her body is taller and thinner and her spine does not line up centered over her belly.....there are pics below. The one with my foot near her is the best. Other than this she is perfectly healthy and eats small rats just fine.

[driceftw]

It looks like she underwent a severe weight loss, as she does look pretty emaciated (spine showing and "side suck" as I like to call it). If she is eating small rats keep feeding her those every 5-7 days. Hopefully as she gains weight it will go away. As long as she is eating and voiding regularly she will be just fine after putting on some size. If it does not go away after weight gain; don't feel bad, be happy knowing you nurtured her back to health and gave her a better home!

[Jayrhamlin]

Thanks for the input . . . . when I got her in mid July she was 1100g and now shes up to 1275g so slowly but surly she is gaining weight. Her "condition" doesn't seem any better, though. It doesn't seem to really inhibit her in any way so I'm not too worried about it. Her previous owner allegedly bred her . . . . . could that have caused this issue since she would have been underweight for breeding?

[Sita]

She definitely seems underweight, and that may be what you're seeing. It may be that she's just shifting her weight to one side or the other, causing her to be "mis-aligned". As she gains weight you probably won't notice it as much. I had a scrawny adult male BP come in as a rescue that only weighed about 1200g. and looked very similar to yours; he's up to 1800g. now, and I don't see it at all. And a schedule of properly sized food once weekly will be all you need to keep her gaining healthy weight.

[BallPythonGuy007]

Well adult females range around 1500-2500 so she probably won't show any signs of change yet