Overweight or not?

[Colin41]

It's me again. My Stimson's Python is now 10 months old. I was watching a video put out on You Tube by Snake Discoveries, giving information about overweight and underweight snakes, and wondered if my snake looks overweight. I would rather deal with the situation early if it is, but I also do not want to over worry if it isnt. I have attached a couple of photos that I took this morning at her feed, I am feeding a weaner mouse on Wednesday once a week.
Can anyone help me please? Many thanks.

 

[Ramsayi]

Hard to see from the second pic but on the first pic it's definitely overweight however once it defecates it will be back to a healthy size.

 

[Herpetology]

I’d stop feeding her for a while , let her pass anything in her system (looks like a lot) majority of captive snakes are overweight, you’d have to feed them once every few months to keep them “at a good size

 

[Licespray]

I’d stop feeding her for a while , let her pass anything in her system (looks like a lot) majority of captive snakes are overweight, you’d have to feed them once every few months to keep them “at a good size

Yeah we do ours fortnightly for juvis and monthly for adults, and that’s subject to change depending how they appear come feeding date.

 

[AmyDefty]

That is definitely an obese snake. Try reducing the food to a hopper once a month. If that doesn't work no food at all for 3 months +. I was speaking with my vet and someone with a PhD in carpet pythons about obesity. As I too have one who is over weight, I had tried not feeding her for 6+ months over breeding season / winter. She lost the smallest amount of weight, no food at all basically just slows down their metabolism. Small infrequent meals are best (like a hopper a month for a smaller species). Over time she will loose weight. This keeps their metabolism working but not digesting enough food to gain weight.

Hope that helps.


Just too add also the vet and woman with a PhD In carpet pythons and I were also discussing how most people over feed their snakes in captivity. They aren't moving anywhere near as much as their wild cousins and the wild ones usually only eat once every 2-3 months she had noted from a study of local carpets.