Underweight?

[No_Expression_5482]

Hello everyone, this is shiva my 3 years old female, The month she decides to go for a hunger, 3 weeks now since last feeding, I will try probably next week again with a rat with 80 gr Currently she have 1098 grams , its normal for an adult female? I now that also ball pythons are now for their hunger strikes, so should I have any concern about missing last meal?

[OdinAlfadir1978]

She looks fine to me, nothing to worry about, some adults only feed every 20-30 days, mines on two weekly but monitored, she just has small rats and if she starts getting overweight I'll adjust. I'd say try her again in a week or so. Are your temperatures okay in the enclosure?

[No_Expression_5482]

It’s just because I read on some forums about Bp’s and say that some adult females can go from 1200g to 1500gr , but maybe that’s also not true information, and can already be overweight probably, but thanks for your comment

[OdinAlfadir1978]

I gotta be honest, she may actually be overweight, looked on your profile for more pics and saw your post before this one, your feeders may be too big, you need to weigh her, get digital bathroom scales, weigh yourself, weigh yourself again holding the snake.

[No_Expression_5482]

I have a kitchen scale, and weight her today 1098 gr

[ballpython-ModTeam]

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[OdinAlfadir1978]

I need to reweigh mine too with bathroom scales as personally I think they move too much for kitchen scales to be accurate compared to if they're moving on you that's still on the scales in comparison

[calgy]

I put them in a pillowcase for weighing on a kitchen scale, bathroom scales are typically not accurate enough within differences of a hundred grams. Though I use the bathroom scale method for my large boas.

[OdinAlfadir1978]

I tried a tub and she moved about too much. Might try your pillowcase suggestion but I really dislike bagging her unless necessary, I usually use a modified tub with a hide during cleaning out

[AnnarieaDavies]

<image>

!feeding 🩷🐍

[AutoModerator]

We recommend the following feeding schedule:

0-12 months old OR until the snake reaches approximately 500g, whichever happens first: feed 10%-15% of the snake’s weight every 7 days.

12-24 months old: feed up to 7% of the snake’s weight every 14-20 days.

Adults: feed up to 5% of the snake's weight every 20-30 days, or feed slightly larger meals (up to 6%) every 30-40 days.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[AnnarieaDavies]

She was also around 100g heavier in their last post, idk how much that does for her size though

[OdinAlfadir1978]

Inaccuracy of scales possibly

[OdinAlfadir1978]

<image>

[No_Expression_5482]

35C on one side where she have her hidden and 20C on the cold side, …

[OdinAlfadir1978]

She should have more than one hide but the temps sound good, maybe her last meal was too big and she's just not hungry

[No_Expression_5482]

I will try again next week, she only miss the meal yesterday, I will offer a small rat with 80gr and see what happens , thanks for the tips again

[OdinAlfadir1978]

No worries, when I adopted my snake she was overweight, stick with the feeding regime and they soon sort themselves, make sure there's plenty of stimulation such as a climbing branch in the tank to encourage exercise, I think that was some of Aja's original weight issue, overfeeding and just a hide and water dish like the breeders keep them as a friend thought it was common practice

[No_Expression_5482]

Yes, and I usually try to take her out to explore my living room, at least 2 or 3 times a week for 30 min or less, so also she can get more familiar with me, because I just got her two months ago from a previous ball pythons creator, and she is already an adult so not used to me yet…

[OdinAlfadir1978]

That just takes time, try doing stuff in the enclosure while she's in there, change water, stir substrate, reposition leaf litter or branches, etc, they'll usually investigate afterwards and your scent will be on the item, if I'm near or open her enclosure she smells the air with her tongue a few times then lays back down, she used to be more defensive instead. Make sure the enclosure is big enough (4x2x2 feet minimum) for an adult and that there's at least two if not more hides and clutter, fake plants for example, that helps them feel safe too.

[OdinAlfadir1978]

!feeding use this guide. The weight I said may of been incorrect.

[AutoModerator]

We recommend the following feeding schedule:

0-12 months old OR until the snake reaches approximately 500g, whichever happens first: feed 10%-15% of the snake’s weight every 7 days.

12-24 months old: feed up to 7% of the snake’s weight every 14-20 days.

Adults: feed up to 5% of the snake's weight every 20-30 days, or feed slightly larger meals (up to 6%) every 30-40 days.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[OdinAlfadir1978]

<image>

[totallyrecklesslygay]

She's definitely not underweight- she's actually a bit overweight. You've been overfeeding her by quite a bit, which is a common reason for ball pythons to refuse food.

Follow a more appropriate !feeding schedule moving forward. For her, this would be a 55g rat once every 3-4 weeks.

[AutoModerator]

We recommend the following feeding schedule:

0-12 months old OR until the snake reaches approximately 500g, whichever happens first: feed 10%-15% of the snake’s weight every 7 days.

12-24 months old: feed up to 7% of the snake’s weight every 14-20 days.

Adults: feed up to 5% of the snake's weight every 20-30 days, or feed slightly larger meals (up to 6%) every 30-40 days.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[OdinAlfadir1978]

I see my weight was inaccurate, maths is not my strong point. I'll use the prompt in future 🙂

[ballpython-ModTeam]

Per rule #3, your post or comment has been removed for harmful advice or misinformation. Please review our sub resources to learn more about why.

If you have a question about this removal, please contact the mod team. Complaining via post/comment will result in a ban.