Diamond weight

[Boegey]

Hi I have a 6 month old diamond python I purchased about two months ago he's going really well but he hasn't shed since I got him and I was just wondering if he is around the right weight I weighed him last night at about 80 grams and also his skin kind of wrinkles when he bends really tight is this normal close to shed or does it mean something else
cheers

 

[Bushman]

Wrinkly skin folds can indicate dehydration but more likely in this instance that a slough is imminent, especially as it's due to slough.
Either way, make sure that your snake is well hydrated with fresh water in its bowl (changed frequently) and it wouldn't hurt to give it the occasional spray (until it sloughs) if temps are kept up.
Has it had milky eyes lately?
Has the animal had good constant access to fresh drinking since you bought it?

 

[Boegey]

Yer he always has fresh water I change it every second day and he hasn't had milky eyes as yet but ill try spraying him a little bit to help him and is that around the right weight

 

[Ramy]

How often have you weighed him, have you noticed any weight gain/loss? That sounds like a reasonable weight. I don't have any young pythons for a weight comparison.

Snakes do get some folds in their skin when they turn around tightly (in a rather understated kinda way), but if it's more wrinkly it might be that the skin is a bit loose. Indicating dehydration, or being underweight, or being close to a shed. The most likely of these is shedding. You might have missed his eyes going cloudy, it's not hard to miss.

Since you're here, what do you feed him? I personally go with approx 15% of his weight fortnightly for growing snakes. It's pretty common to get young 'uns a little underfed, people don't realise just how much they can eat.

 

[Boegey]

No that was the first time I weighed him he's definately getting bigger yer the wrinkles just seemed to be getting bigger and I just moved him up to fuzzy rats feeding once a week and he loves them

 

[Ramy]

Sounds like you're doing everything right. It's probably nothing. Keep a eye on him, you'll probably notice it's shedding time soon or something. Diamonds are great little pythons, I'm sure you two are getting along just fine

 

[Bushman]

Yer he always has fresh water I change it every second day and he hasn't had milky eyes as yet but ill try spraying him a little bit to help him and is that around the right weight

The right weight is relative to length, so in order for us to give you an opinion on this you need to post a pic up of your snake or tell us his length.
A good indicator that a Diamond is underweight is pronounced posterior lateral compression and in severe cases a posterior lateral skin fold.

 

[Boegey]

My best guess is that he is about 50 to 60 cm

 

[Ramy]

I personally would say that if he's visibly growing, he's probably doing fine... generally speaking, an underfed python will barely grow, and a well/over fed python will grow quite fast. I don't personally know what a good weight-length ratio would be, so I'll leave that to anyone else if they'd like to comment.