Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I picked this male up recently. In my estimation he's obese. His skin resembles Sylvester Stallone's in that most rececent Rocky film (in a permanent state of stretch). I don't even feel the picture shows just how big around this guy is. His head is just barely larger than the female I posted. She's around 6.5' while he's around 8'- 8.5', I'm guessing. Any thoughts or opinions are welcome.

Her body is obscured by the male but you can see her head is almost as big as his.

It looks like it's puffing up it's body in a threat gesture. If too heavy it shouldn't be holding fat in it's upper body like that. If it's not a threat gesture I would wonder if it might have some sort of respiratory issue going on. Beautiful snake whatever the case might be. Randy W.

At the time of this photo he is definetely not puffed up. I've seen him puffed up in the neck area. He seems perfectly healthy and without any visible sign of a respiratory infection. This is his normal look. He's fat right up to his neck! Still beautiful but I just feel he needs to lose some weight. The best method for that I'm am unsure of.

I dont mean to argue because I am on your side here but snakes dont carry weight like that in the neck area. He might be heavy but he would not look like that just due to being overweight. I would like to hear others opinions. Randy

Now you've really got me thinking 'cause I don't recall ever seeing a snake that's fat this far towards the head either. I've had a few chubby kings and they carry their weight more caudally. I'll try to get some better pics (no easy task with this guy).

If it's neck or the area just below it just seems to be holding air and will give easy if you lightly squeeze the area, I would think its a respiratory thing which usually can be cured fairly easy. It can be caused (as I'm sure you know) by something as simple as a clogged nose which a shed could fix. It could be something a little more serious like a respiratory infection.
If the area is real firm and appears not to be respiratory related I would be REAL concerned. Good luck. Randy W.

The only animals I've seen like that were ophiophagus and ate another animal larger than itself!!!
Have you counted cage mates recently?
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Regards, Bill McGighan

Wow!,.......I've seen a pretty good number of Spilotes pullatus, and I've NEVER seen one that comes close to that!

* Does the feces look normal?

* Can you see his body moving up and down smoothly as he breathes?....do you hear anything during this?

* Does the snake feel as heavy as he looks?

I have never seen, or heard of a respiratory problem that made the animal seem to "grow" like that in my 40 years of snake experience either.

If the snake does indeed feel very heavy from mass, and not "hollow" from being filled with air,....and all the other things noted above seem to be okay,....I guess it really could be just a simple case of obesity,.....that surely would be an under-statement though!..hahaha..........keep us posted about this.

I would keep a close eye on the stools to see if he's passing what he's ingesting.

best regards, ~Doug
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"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!"

If he's always like that, he's definitely fat.

Billy

n/p