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Old BPs and their muscle tone

aleria

aleria

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So I have a 14 year old ball python that I got as a little worm when I was 10 years old. For a few years I left him with my mother as she had fallen in love with him and I had gotten married to a guy that joined the air force so we would be moving around quite often those first couple of years and I just really didn't want to subject him to all of that stress.

I finally got him back earlier this year and it seems like his muscle is just shot. He's really squishy but no where near over weight. It just seems as if his muscle tone is terrible.

He was always a really picky eater that would very commonly go months without food. But he would always come out of his hide and start banging himself against the side of his cage when he was finally hungry and would eat with no protest. Since I got him back he's been eating every week without fail which is great.

So my question is, is it normal for BPs that old to start losing muscle tone, or is it likely due to his lackluster feeding schedule over the years? And if it's not age related has anyone had an experience helping a snake gain back that nice firm muscle tone through any particular method? :shrug01:
 
I have some balls like this. Both older and young. Their belly seems to "spread out" more on the floor of the tub and the ridge in their back is more prominant than in "firm" snakes. They are also not under or over-fed. Doesn't seem to affect them other than it makes their appearance it bit unusual. Sorry I can't give an explanation for it.

I hope someone will come a long and give you some better information.
 
I'm thinking some snakes are just flabbier than others. Not all of us get to be lucky mesomorphs, eh? I had two older rescues who were kind of mushier than my younger snakes, but their eating habits didn't change much. Can you bring him out for some daily exercise as well as a more regular feeding regimen? Maybe he can build a little more muscle by being active.

My experience working at vet is that older animals, whether lizards, cats, ferrets or dogs, tend to get skinnier and mushier as they get older and it often gets worse the older they are. The ones that don't get as bad are usually fed really good foods and exercised reasonable amount of time for their age and activity level!
 
He's been out about once a week now, far more than he used to be. He's also been eating once a week without fail, which is a big improvement from his previous eating habits. If that makes a difference then at least I'll know why he started looking softer.
 
awesome! yeah, my remaining older snake eats well and holds weight fine, just a little softer feeling than the others. I've had her about three years and really no problems with her at all aside from less muscle tone.
 
I have a 10 y/o bp that is the same way. He feels softer than my younger snakes. He eats fine and holds weight just like all the others.
 
That's good to know. I know furry pets tend to get softer as they get older and really wasn't sure if reptiles worked the same way. It seems difficult to even find many people with snakes that are 10+ years old to easily get information on possible changes in their later years.
 
This is my 'squishiest' ball. She's around 1100 grams. You can see how flat she is near the tail end. Unusual. On another note, check out the yellow lips on her. :)

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How much are you guys and gals handling your snakes? My snakes get their exercise in when I'm handling them. I think that's an important part to keeping a snake healthy. They don't get a lot of movement when they are in their tubs/tanks. Movement and handling burns calories and works muscles. I'm no scientist but it makes sense to me that they would stay better looking with regular handling/exercise. It's kind of like people that have obese dogs and wonder why... but never walk or exercise the animal. Just my $.02...

Regards,

B
 
I only recently acquired her so I couldn't say her age. My thought was it looked like she may have had broken ribs, but she firms up during handling like normal.
 
I usually have my boy out once a week for around an hour or so. That's why I was wondering if it was just an age thing due to the fact that my other snakes that are handled the same amount but are much younger are still nice and firm.

An obese dog that gets that way from over feeding and a complete lack of exercise is a bit different than a reptile that moves much less and is 14 years old. Most dogs are lucky to reach that age.
 
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