Overweight Jungle Python?

[MrSquigglesPencil]

Hi, I have a female jungle python who is about 5 years old & is 2.5 to 3m long. I am a bit concerned as someone suggested that my snake is overweight. She is a big girl & I can’t wrap my hand around the middle of her. I feed her a large rat every 2-3 weeks. She isn’t very active in her tank but when she gets handled, she is quite active. Can snakes get overweight? If so, are there tell tale signs to know that my snake is overweight?

 

[cement]

Yeah they can, but a large rat every 2-3 weeks wouldn't do it. If she has good strong muscle tone I wouldn't worry. Pythons don't all have the same body type, some are naturally more solid or chunky, while others are more lean. I had a large coastal who for her length was really solid, she was extremely strong and thick bodied, to the point that a vet thought she was gravid, but there was definantly no eggs, just a thick bodied individual.
Tell tale signs are a soft layer of fat under the skin, to the point where muscle tone is lost and she would look more rounded out along the spine, and they feel "soft" when handled, rather then hard bodied muscle. If your concerned, just stop feeding her at the end of March and don't feed her again till October. Climbing trees and a run on the ground out of the cage is good exercise too.

 

[Prof_Moreliarty]

That’s a big jungle length wise pics?

 

[Scutellatus]

That’s a big jungle length wise pics?

Whilst it definitely isn't the average length, three metre plus Jungle pythons are around.
I have seen one that would have been longer than three metres at Currumbin Sanctuary on the Gold Coast. It was an Atherton Jungle and had a head the size of an adult man's fist.