muscle tone ?

[geko]

My BP seems very limp/loose compared to my friends BP. My friends BP is very strong feeling and i a bit bigger.

I feed mine every week either full grown mice or rat pups and its also around 5-6 months of age. He is healthy and acts normal but i was wondering is this a serious issue and also why is he not as muscular.

Is there anything i can do to get him bigger as in muscles?

ps. he gets exercise and i handle him every day ussaly for around 15 min to a hour but sometimes more and sometimes less just depends.

[Andy_G]

He could EASILY take a small adult rat at that age. That would be a start.

Secondly, if ball pythons are ever actually limp and seem to have very little muscle tone, something is wrong either with feeding or husbandry or it could even be a health issue because even at a young age these snakes are VERY strong and only gain strength with age.

[geko]

I said i feed him rat pups... As in pups i mean eyes open furry and running around. There is no way he can go any bigger because he opens his mouth so big just to get the rat down his jaw is completly verticle and so is the top of his mouth.

The lump it leaves is almost 2x my snakes biggest part of his body so the food im feeding him is big enough and theres no way i would try to go any higher than what im at now.

Before everyone says a ball python should eat like a ball python lets get back on subject please because im not in any way going to up the food items i feed to him. I know how big he can take and thats what he is on right now!

[eyespy]

Have you had a fecal exam done? Parasites are a pretty common reason for poor muscle tone and slow growth rates.

[geko]

No i havent had that.

Where would i go about getting that and how much would it cost aprox?

[eyespy]

Any vet can do one, just take fresh poop, preferably less than 2 hours old, and ask for a fecal exam. In my area it costs about $8-20 USD. Your local herp society would have a better idea of the going rate near your home and could also recommend a vet who knows herps.

[geko]

Thanks a bunch i will do first thing monday!

[Andy_G]

You seemed a bit offended or put off about what I said, if that is the case, that is not what I meant to do and I am sorry for it.

If the rat pup is that big compared to his size, then something is definitely wrong, and, as eyespy said, parasites are a definite possiblility in this case and you should get a fecal done.

To get a fecal done you would need to go to a respectable herp vet in your area. Cost in Canada is around 20 dollars. You may need to have a physical done on your snake before they are prepared to do any fecal testing with it, which comes to around 60 bucks.

[geko]

Sorry if i sounded mean Andy_G im just tired of people treating me like a noob because my post count. People automaticly say wow 40 post hes a noob.

I felt i needed to explain myself very well to get the point across before other people would start agreeing with you and then my whole thread would be about how i should feed bigger...

Thanks for your help tho i will get him checked out!

[RepTylE]

Good plan. Let us know what you find out. This could be really valuable info.