Healthy weight for 3 1/2 year old ball python?

[jinhomyung00]

I recently weighed my 3 1/2-year-old ball python and he only came out to be 400 grams? He doesn't look too underweight though and he eats an adult mouse every other week. (he ate small rats for a bit but than stopped) How concerned should I be? Thanks.

[dangernoodles]

Is it possible you could show some more pictures?
The sharp ridge sticking out on a BPs spine indicates it could be underweight.
He should be on small or medium rats right now (You are going to have to get him adapted to eating rats, you could scent a rat with a mouse.)
Its not exact, but a 3 year old male should be at least 800g.
Weights can vary.

[jinhomyung00]

Is it possible you could show some more pictures?
The sharp ridge sticking out on a BPs spine indicates it could be underweight.
He should be on small or medium rats right now (You are going to have to get him adapted to eating rats, you could scent a rat with a mouse.)
Its not exact, but a 3 year old male should be at least 800g.
Weights can vary.

here is another image https://ibb.co/QmdstXb

[dangernoodles]

An underweight BP will have a ridged back, triangular body shape, hallow belly, hanging skin, and in extreme cases, loss of definition of the jaw muscles and sunken eye sockets.
(Got this quote from here https://tser.tumblr.com/post/127650285398/how-do-i-know-if-my-ball-python-is-too-skinny-or)

Honestly, he looks like a good weight. Does he eat consistently?

[jinhomyung00]

really appreciate you responding, yes he eats consistently (1 adult mouse about every 10 days). but he did go off feed for about a month.

[jinhomyung00]

wow I'm stupid I think it was just an issue with my scale, just reweighed him and he's about 800 grams

[dangernoodles]

That´s normal for BPs to go off feed.
It can be hard to determine what weight they should be.
Signs of a good weight-
Sorta rounded triangle spine that does not stick out.
Has no trouble swallowing food (Not having to restart, snakes take forever to swallow something but any signs of struggle can be a sign.)
The neck should not be thinner than the head, they should be pretty proportional.
An eating snake is a happy snake.. and as far as I can tell, he looks to be a healthy weight.

[dangernoodles]

Oh perfect- that makes much more sense. Cause... He looks healthy but 400 grams does seem underweight. 800 grams is much better.

[craigafrechette]

One small adult mouse is way too small for an adult BP. He should be on small rats every 10 days or so. Feeding and adult mouse you're likely averaging 25 grams per meal. A small rat is around 70 grams per meal. BIG DIFFERENCE. BPs should move up from adult mice once they reach about 350 grams.

That snake is definitely too thin from being under fed. To give you an idea, my males are about 3 years old and 5 years old. They weigh in the 1300-1400 gram range and are in fantastic shape.

Please do your snake a favor and start feeding him appropriately sized meals. Poor guy.

[craigafrechette]

The neck should not be thinner than the head, they should be pretty proportional.

An eating snake is a happy snake.. and as far as I can tell, he looks to be a healthy weight.

The first part is absolutely INCORRECT. Some species of snake do have necks that are about the same size as the head. BPs are definitely NOT one of those species. A healthy BPs head is actually a good amount larger than it's neck.

And no, a snake that's eating isn't necessarily happy or healthy. Snakes are extremely good at hiding illness and many will continue to eat while sick.

Please stop spreading info if you don't know what you're talking about. Correct me if I'm wrong, but you don't even own your first snake do you??

OPs snake is definitely underweight, so please stop feeding people false information that can be dangerous to their animals.

[dangernoodles]

I feel really bad now... Sorry, just disregard what I said.

[craigafrechette]

I feel really bad now... Sorry, just disregard what I said.

I don't want you to feel bad, just please be responsible. Unfortunately the internet is full of false information and many people don't do proper research and just believe anything they read. So by you sharing false information it can be dangerous to the animals as well as potentially spread. This guy told that guy and he told this guy....

Your eagerness to help is admirable, but you don't need to reply to every thread. Leave the advice to those with experience.

[dangernoodles]

Alright, well, thanks for correcting me again. I know what you mean and from now on I wont reply to threads that I´m not 100% sure about the answer.

And you definitely need to get your bp on rats asap. That I know for sure.

[craigafrechette]

Alright, well, thanks for correcting me again. I know what you mean and from now on I wont reply to threads that I´m not 100% sure about the answer.

And you definitely need to get your bp on rats asap. That I know for sure.

I got nothing but love for ya, my friend.

Just put yourself in other shoes, you wouldn't want to be misled if you were doing research on a specific topic. That's all I'm saying. No hard feelings, we're all still learning.