Hi people,
Had a few people on Reddit label my new Ball python as obese, just wanted thoughts on this as I’m new to snakes in general. Any advice or suggestions would be appreciated
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@ashleyraeanne posted this about 4 years ago. It’s still relevant.
I would steer clear of Reddit for BP advice.
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I said this to my partner, unfortunately Reddit has many keyboard experts on all topics.
Partly the reason I joined the MorphMarket community. There isn’t a better way to get constructive and factual information than from other snake owners or enthusiasts.
Thanks for the link my partner will check him in conjunction with the chart
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You were given a really good guide for determining the physical condition for your BP.
While there are good people on BP Reddit that genuinely want to give helpful advice there are also people, like you said, that are “keyboard warriors” and want to tell you only what they feel is the right thing which is not always what is good for the animal.
What is the weight in grams and age of your BP?
A tip I can give you for a healthy feeding regimen is giving your BP rats that are 10% of the snake’s total body weight every 10 days. At least in my personal experience keeping BP’s for ~5 years this is the optimal way to keep my BPs at a healthy weight.
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I’ve asked my fiance to weigh him when she can, we haven’t had chance to yet.
The sellers add says he was born in 2024, and add was posted a few weeks ago, so I’d imaging anywhere between 6-12 months but that would be a complete guess
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Another question, I was wondering I’m using lignocell, and coco bark as the substrate, lignocell as a dry base layer but the coco bark on top to try and boost humidity.
My fiancés worried as people on Reddit are saying it’s dangerous to BP’s but I thought it would be good for burrowing
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I personally have never used Lignocel or have much knowledge on it, but as far as I’m aware its a substrate specifically for snakes. As far as being harmful I don’t believe it is, substrates I know for a fact that are harmful is any wood shaving/chip bedding that contains pine or cedar, the resins in it are toxic to all reptiles, any paper bedding that contains ink, or bedding that is so damp that it can grow mold.
It isn’t really necessary to have a burrowing type substrate though as BPs don’t burrow that often, coco bark by itself would work just fine.
BP’s do well at a humidity around 50-60%, with humid hides provided that offer a bit more humidity without raising the overall ambient humidity.
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Perfect, so lignocell is from my understanding is essentially a substitute for aspen as aspen moulds quickly and lignocell is much more mould resistant.
Humidity wise again everyone I’ve seen on her Reddit is hitting her with 70% ambient humidity but I had researched that 50-60 is find just as it is with my corn snake
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The higher the humidity the higher the risk for mold and respiratory infections, you ideally do not want the ambient humidity going over 65%. 70% is fine if its confined to a humid hide only, anything below 40% ambient humidity can cause shed issues and dehydration.
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Hes so pretty congrats on the new noodle thats y i joined here to who better to get advice from than other owners online reasearch can get you far but i like hearing about personal experience to
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Reddit communities are a bit frustrating. They can mean well, but they became so overzealous about everything needing to be one way (theirs) that it gets frustrating. Especially when you have a snake that doesn’t vibe with factors they insist on.
Regarding your little guy…I think this photo may make him look a bit chunky, but I would need to see pictures of him stretched out as well.
That being said … I do tend to keep my boys lean once they’re past 2 years old.
I typically follow the 10-15% meal size rule and they get their meals spread out to 2-3 weeks depending on the male.
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High humidity in and of itself does not cause respiratory infections. But high humidity, usually coupled with poor husbandry (like leaving snake or rodent poop in the enclosure too long), promotes the growth of bacteria, viruses, fungi and mold. And these four will lead to respiratory infections.
A really good measure of a good humidity level is the snake’s sheds. Does the shed come off (mostly) in one piece? If so, then the humidity level is probably high enough.
Low humidity can also lead to retained eye caps. Always unroll the shed all the way to the head piece and look carefully for the shed eye caps.
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Please correct me if im wrong in doing it this way its what i had read and have been doing but want whats best for the noodles to and just because something has worked doesnt mean it will continue to work i raise my humidity in the entire tank to 70-80 during shed otherwise its about 50 or is just using the humid hides better sorry in advance to for asking on this post just saw it and now im questioning my ways 
im a worry wort about them
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Thanks for the advice,
We’ve literally had him 1 night and hearing the word Obese mixed with a snake that is 5 months old for a new snake owner is panic stations, from what the breeders said we’re looking at him weighing around 260g and he did eat Saturday night.
My fiancé wanted to weigh him tonight but he went into ambush mode (that’s what I call their balling up defence) so we decided to leave him alone for tonight,
My plan is to get him moving and exercising but also to try and just drop his f/t mice size
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From my understanding (I have a cornsnake who I used a humid hide to shed) I kept ambient humidity in the health range but create and higher humidity in a hide with bark chips and a few holes punched in to prevent any moulding. And it worked a treat was just a hide alone
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If you can maintain 50-60% humidity on the regular, I would not bother boosting the humidity beyond that or providing a damp shed box. Let the BP go through a couple of sheds. If you get good sheds, your 50-60% humidity is good enough. It you get bad sheds, then you want to take measures to boost the humidity leading into a shed cycle.
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Good to know suppose it’s not a 1 trick fits all with snakes
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My 7 month approximately is around 244 grams at his last weigh in hes not much to far off from that and is going to upgrade food size soon if that helps but i kinda look at it like people to its not a 1 size fits all depends on the particular animal to
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It sounds like you’re mucking with your BP too much right after you got it. When you first setup a new BP, you should really not mess with it for a good 7-10 days. Let it acclimate and settle in before you attempt to handle or even feed it. Many keepers keep hands off until it feeds a couple of times. Moving into a new enclosure is stressful for a BP. You don’t want to add to that stress by handling or feeding. A stressed BP will probably not want to eat. Let it acclimate and destress before feeding or handling. We all know that it is EXTREMELY difficult to hands off a new BP. Just some sage advice. And yes, one size does not fit all and there’s more than one way to skin a cat.
Do you have plenty of tight hides in the enclosure? I couldn’t tell from the one picture. Preferably one on the hot side and one on the cold side. And lots of clutter. This will add to the security of the BP, which is it’s #1 priority. They are crepuscular if not downright nocturnal, so your BP will most likely hide all day when you want to see it. A hidden BP is a happy BP.
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I would stick to the 10-15% though like others were saying unless u notice to much weight gain or loss its a good general statistic physical condition matters most i try to go by weight of the snake for mine and how often to feed and compare that to the charts since i dont know how old a couple of mine are forgot to ask the age on 1 and the other was from a pet store so hes a big ? for his age
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