How do I know if my Stimmie's too skinny?

[Ricardo64]

Hi all
I am wondering how I tell if my Stimmie's too skinny?
I reduced her meals from 1 wiener rat a week to 1 every two weeks. What are the signs of malnutrition? She is almost 18 months old. She is also showing signs of sloughing too, skin is starting to become opaque and so is her eyes.

 

[junglelove]

how long have you had her for? some dont feed at all when they are getting ready to slough, fortnightly feeds are fine you dont want a fat snake (the head shouldnt be smaller than the body) ive never seen an under weight snake as such remembering they can go months without feeding, if when you pinch its skin and the skin stays up then that can be a sign of dehydration.

 

[Renenet]

Hi Ricardo,

You're probably just going by what you were told, but it doesn't make sense that she's nearly 18 months old. She would have to have hatched in July, which is when snakes brumate (and mate). Summer is when all the snake birthdays take place so she's much more likely to be coming up to an anniversary. Can you check how long is she (use the program HerpMeasure) and, more importantly, how much she weighs?

If you can get a few pictures of her, including one that shows her spine very well, that would be great.

 

[BrownHash]

How often does she slough? If she does it regularly then she isn't under weight.

Also, 1 wiener rat every second week is generally enough to keep her healthy.

 

[Jay84]

you dont want a fat snake (the head shouldnt be smaller than the body) ive never seen an under weight snake as such remembering they can go months without feeding,

Antaresia have VERY small heads, if i saw an antaresia whose body was slimmer than the head i would think it was way too skinny!

Ricardo64, post some pics up

 

[Bluetongue1]

A snake in healthy body condition will have a small depression along its back each side of the spine and will have a gentle taper of its body towards its tail.

An overweight snake will look like a sausage or hose in cross-section and have a thick body that sharply tapers towards the tail. The depressions along its back will be absent due to fat deposition and the spine will not be clearly visible. Scales may be spread apart alerting you to the animal’s distension.

The spine on an underweight snake will jut out and in cross-section the snake will appear almost triangular. It will have loose skin and will often feel quite hollow i.e. very light for its size.

Blue

 

[Pythoninfinite]

Stimson's Pythons probably only feed for 3-5 months of the year in the wild, and would be lucky if they get half a dozen meals in that time. Snakes can reduce their metabolic rates greatly when food is scarce, so their needs are not great. Some would say that even one feed a fortnight is too much. It will be fine at that rate.

Jamie

 

[Ricardo64]

Hi Everyone

Just a bit of a follow up Charlotte our Stimmie was fed on Sunday a Weiner rat. I had an Idea that she was going to slough and she did somewhere between Sunday and Tuesday. The strange thing about this all, is her behavior was totally the opposite to her last slough. Where she was snappy and wouldn't feed this time she didn't seem to mind being held and fed quite well as well.
Cheers