I've never heard of this but then again, I'm not so much into the BPs. If it's a symptom of any sort of illness, I'd wonder about a lack of enzymes (to fully digest food that supports normal growth) or some genetic anomaly, but these are not things I've actually heard of- hopefully, someone else here has more to add? TrustyNubNubs, have you asked the MM source you got him from? Many of the snakes I keep have slightly keeled scales, so BPs have always felt soft to me.