# Olive Python Wrinkles



## Nero Egernia (May 7, 2018)

I've read that Olive Pythons in captivity can develop wrinkles, whereas wild specimens don't. Does anyone know why? Below is a picture that displays the wrinkles, pinched from Google.


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## Flaviemys purvisi (May 7, 2018)

Nero Egernia said:


> I've read that Olive Pythons in captivity can develop wrinkles, whereas wild specimens don't. Does anyone know why? Below is a picture that displays the wrinkles, pinched from Google.



Possible plausible explanation here around post #14.
https://www.aussiepythons.com/forum/threads/olive-age.51532/#post-781423


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## pythoninfinite (May 7, 2018)

Definitely a result of being fatter than they are in the wild, which is probably true of most captive pythons, but easily evident in a monochrome animal with very small scales like an Olive. Adult Olives eat large meals, probably very infrequently, so a feeding regime of many meals throughout the year, for a generally large and inactive snake, is what causes them to become very overweight. We have a largish (2m) intergrade python which has lived in our shed for the last 3 years. I see her at night through the summer, hanging down over my rat cages. I know where she hides through the day so I can check her occasionally. Last year I saw three occasions when she had eaten something big enough to give her a bulge (probably a wild rat), and this year 4 times. So, given that I might have missed a couple of meals, she is probably eating a moderate meal once every 4-6 weeks, which I suggest might not be unusual for a wild python. I suspect that large wild pythons we see in the bush might be a lot older than we think, given that their growth rates are related to food intake.

Jamie


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## Pauls_Pythons (May 7, 2018)

100% overweight.
One of my BHP's is the same, been on a diet for 2 years poor girl.


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## Nero Egernia (May 8, 2018)

Thanks for the replies everyone. 



Pauls_Pythons said:


> 100% overweight.
> One of my BHP's is the same, been on a diet for 2 years poor girl.



One of my carpets is overweight. She was huge when I got her, and still huge despite my feeding her sparingly. Does it take a long time for pythons to trim down?


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## Pauls_Pythons (May 8, 2018)

Takes years Kayla if I'm honest.
One of my girls was tipping the scales at 9.9kg coming into breeding season 2016.
In 2 years we have her down to 8.5kg. Still over weight but heading in a the right ditrection in a controlled manner.

If you try to stop them eating first thing they do is conserve energy so no weight loss and they can become more tempremental.
We take the lean approach, feed her regularly but much smaller meals than the other girls.


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