Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Thanks to Todd and DZ for thier replies (thread below) to my post about burmese obesity.

I'm sorry to say - I own a fat burmese python.

I didn't think I was over-feeding him. He's about 10.5ft now, and just over 40lbs. He definitely looks slightly flattend when lying flat, and doesn't seem to have any of the muscle tone he once had in his youth. And he almost always has that swollen look up to his vent, just before the tail. Indeed, he is fat.

Nowadays he's eating two medium rabbits (just over 3lb total) per meal, once every two weeks. And he eats eagerly every time.

Here's my plan to get him back in shape - let me know if this sounds reasonable to you:

- First and foremost, I'm going to cut his meal size in half (down to 1 medium rabbit every two weeks).

- Build a "jungle gym" for him to climb on for exercise. I know he's getting a little big to still be a climber, but if I keep placing him at the top - well, then he can get his exercise climbing down...

My questions are only:

1) Will I be 'starving' him on that diet?

and

2) What would a healthy weight be for a 10-1/2ft burm? (ie, what's a good goal to shoot for?)

Thanks very much for any input on this,
- Mark

* This is a relatively recent pic of him - though it doesn't show how fat he really is. I'll try to get a couple pics this weekend to show accurately how 'plump' he's gotten. *

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My personal site: www.antegy.com
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My Kingsnake.com Picture Gallery
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I think many of us overfeed our snakes, but it really shows on the more lethargic ones. My burm is 13' and probably about 85-90lbs (just a guess because I don't have a way to weigh her at the moment). I last weighed her back in November just before I got her from my best friend and she was 70lbs but a bit on the too thin side. She's fed one rabbit in the 6-10 pound range once every 4-5 weeks. Lately I've been purchasing rabbits closer to 6 pound size, partly because they are more readily available but also because she had begun to put on too much weight. The 6 pound rabbits seem to fill her up well enough though there is no really recognizable bulge after she's swallowed it.

As for the feeding schedule, most of my adult boas and pythons are fed once every 3-4 weeks, juveniles and subadults every 2-3 weeks, and hatchlings or neonates every 7-10 days. Most of my snakes are basically lean and muscular. The adult burm is currently a bit heavier than I'd prefer and I have a Colombian rainbow that is a bit chunkier than I'd like, however both are still well within a healthy weight/size. I cannot count the number of times I have been told that my boas aren't thick enough. If I had a quarter for every time, I could probably retire. My feeding schedule is lean by choice and I prefer to grow my snakes much slower than most keepers. Only my corn snakes are fed more heavily and that is simply because of their much faster metabolism...even so, I don't feed them as often as most corn keepers recommend, prefering to feed 1-2 prey items every 2-3 weeks. All that said, whenever my vet has seen one of my snakes, I have always been complimented on their condition and appearance so I figure I can't be doing but so bad with my feeding schedule.

Here's a pic of my big girl, just so you can see her overall size & appearance. The tub she's in is her holding tub, for when I clean her cage. It's just shy of four feet long and 18 inches wide (give or take a bit).

Your burm looks great! Even though I have a labyrinth I still like the normal phase burms best.

Thanks for the info on your feeding routines. That should help me gauge my goals in feeding my burm.

Thanks agian,
- Mark
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My personal site: www.antegy.com
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My Kingsnake.com Picture Gallery
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Man, that's a nice lookin snake. His pattern looks like a tire tread and I don't mean that in a bad way. Because of his weight I'd be careful with a jungle gym so to speak. If he falls onto something he could get hurt bad. I'm not finished but my new cage is several sections stacked. There is a small hole for him to transit the sections so if he falls, he will have enough body left to support himself. From the pic your snake doesn't look overweight but it is a long shot rather than side. My snake will flatten out allot, but only if he is full AND relaxed. When he's soakin up the sun, it's as if he melts. His head even widens. Once he takes a dump he looks allot smaller. Still tryin to figure out why he poops so seldom.

DZ

That is - as much as he eats, he seems to poop relatively seldom. It's my understanding that movement/activity stimulates bowel movements. Seems to make sense to me. So maybe now that summer is coming back and I can get him outside more often, he should start getting more "regular".

I'm really looking forward to getting him in shape. I love the idea of having a lean, muscular burm - as opposed to a squishy, dumpy burm.

I'm going to start him on an 'exercise routine', starting this weekend! Hopefully he won't respond to it like a person would (most people can't seem to be bothered to exercise). Of course, his 'routine' is probably just going to involve more frequent, and longer, handling sessions - along with playing on the jungle gym (yes - carefully supervised of course).

>>Man, that's a nice lookin snake. His pattern looks like a tire tread and I don't mean that in a bad way. Because of his weight I'd be careful with a jungle gym so to speak. If he falls onto something he could get hurt bad. I'm not finished but my new cage is several sections stacked. There is a small hole for him to transit the sections so if he falls, he will have enough body left to support himself. From the pic your snake doesn't look overweight but it is a long shot rather than side. My snake will flatten out allot, but only if he is full AND relaxed. When he's soakin up the sun, it's as if he melts. His head even widens. Once he takes a dump he looks allot smaller. Still tryin to figure out why he poops so seldom.
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>>DZ

it is difficult to equate lengths with ideal weights as each burm is different in addition to teh type of environment that they are raised in. as i mentioned below, a good sized meal once or twice a month will keep an adult burm in healthy condition if also given opportunities for exercies and an optimal heat/humidity gradient. there are few absolutes in reptile keeping and diet is one of them due to our scant knowledge of even this popular species. we can base our judgements on wild caught animals and from what i have seen, most wild burms are on the lean side making me thing that many captive burms are a bit overweight...but this could be due to many factors not exlusive to diet. your burm will adjust just fine to whatever feeding schedule you switch to but i would recommend doing it gradually. good luck. Rob