Stargazing? Poorly ball python

[Banjoballs12]

Judging by those two pics, it looks overweight, not underweight. Sometimes that can be hard to judge from a pic or two because of how they tense up being bothered, but there are a few indications like the way the skin is folding where it bends, space between scales, and the way the skin wraps the spine.

The upper jaw looks either deformed or like it is quite swollen. Going so long with stuck shed could have caused pretty serious problems that really need (very experienced) reptile vet intervention. Stuck shed can block up tear ducts and nasal passage to the point that bad infections in the mouth and jaw can occur. I would recommend trying to get a look inside the mouth for signs of URI, mouth rot, and so on *if* you know how to do it without damaging them.

I wouldn’t say he’s overweight, I think it’s probably just the way the photo is taken, my phone isn’t great for photos. Most of the shed is now off, I have checked in his mouth and there’s no sign of a RI or mouth rot. To me he looks slightly underweight, I have 13 other pythons who are all a healthy weight but this one seems slimmer though not drastically underweight. The person I got him from was a first time breeder and inexperienced, they had one of his siblings which was being assist fed, both were kept in tiny tubs with aspen and a water bowl, no hide as there wasn’t room. I had been keeping him my rack which doesn’t have much else in so not in close contact to my other snakes but close enough for me to worry 😬, the tubs in my new rack are black and I’m wondering if he didn’t like the lack of light in there? He’s now in a clear tub in my room and no longer has his nose pointing upwards, he’s actually gone into a hide for the first time in a few days. He had literally been in the position in my photos for 3 days. I only removed the majority of the shed last night after lots of soaking and rubbing a cotton bud over his face for ages.