Is My Snake Obese?

Hello all!

I just had a rather startling encounter. I am a college student, and I took my corn snake, a female named Isha (born May 07) to be sexed. The herpotologist there was SHOCKED to find out that Isha was only about a year old. She showed me to the yearlings in the lab and I was horrified. The lab's yearlings were TINY. Isha was the size of their 2-year-olds.

Isha is currently somewhere around 200 grams (8 oz) and maybe about 2 feet long. I've never measured her length, so that's a complete guess, but I do weigh her. I'm now feeding her 2 peach fuzzies a week rather than 3 as I had been for a month or so. She doesn't look obese--her head is only a bit smaller than her body, she doesn't have space between her scales--but I was wondering, how big ARE 1-year-olds supposed to be? The difference between Isha and the yearlings at the herp lab were appalling. I have no idea what's right. Isha is my first corn snake, and I've never been able to find a size chart that correlates with the age of a corn snake.

Thank you for your insight!

Can you post a good picture?

Size

Here's a pic of her that I just took. It's the best one that came out, sorry about the lack of quality. Isha is apparently longer than two feet.

I would ease up and change the feeding on your guy now.

I would follow this feeding schedule. The Munson Plan.

But that size of snake should be on an adult mouse every 7-14 days.

Malaika said:

Here's a pic of her that I just took. It's the best one that came out, sorry about the lack of quality. Isha is apparently longer than two feet.

Click to expand...

Your snake isn't obese as the term goes. Its just been fed way to much and grew really fast. I would ease up on the feeding schedule and change it. Get off the fuzzies, go with 1 full grown mouse every 10 days.

She doesn't appear obsese in that picture. Do you know when she hatched? My July baby from 06 is alot bigger than my Sept 06 babies. My 07 is tiny, but as a board member posted being born in late Nov. he's more 08 than 07.

My 06 that is 196grams is getting a weaned mouse and seems to be doing well at that size for the moment.

she's bigger than my two and half year old.

All snakes are different, but obese snakes usually have a bit if "hip" fat (a friend of mine has one - I wish I had pictures. The poor this is REALLY obviously fat) yours looks more like it's been power fed. Trickster pup gave good advice.

*wait, I found a good (scary, actually) picture of snake "hip fat", the small pic in the right
http://www.petsnakes.co.uk/Under_The_Spotlight/Overfeeding/overfeeding.html
That's what a fat snake looks like. But just because yours isn't fat doesn't mean you're not over feeding.

The lab's yearlings have probably been raised on a maintenance diet, not as pampered pets. She isn't obese, just a very well-grown yearling. I got a snake last year that weighed 26 grams when I got her. I fed her appropriate sized prey items first at five day intervals and then at weekly intervals when she topped 200g. A year later (including a two-month self-imposed feeding strike during which time she didn't lose any weight), she weighed 320g.

No this snake is obese:
http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=69477

Your snake is fine just follow everyone elses advice about what to do with prey items

to me, your snake does not look obese, but rather well fed. you could try to cut down feedings, and give your snake regular swim-time. for my snakes i just scrub out the bathtub with a clean cloth and vinegar, then rinse with the shower head, fill bath just enough so that there is a shallow end and a deeper end, and then put my snakes in, and they just love it!

I used to powerfeed to get them breeding faster, but now I just maintenance feed. They grow more naturally, and I think the benefits of long term health, and longetivity outway quicker breeding.

That snake doesn't look obese or "powerfed". It looks like a normal, healthy, although large-for-it's-age, cornsnake. I agree with Nanci,

just a very well-grown yearling.

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Makes me wonder about the herpetologists babies, lol. That snake looks great! I agree about slowing it down a bit, but on the plus side only a healthy snake will grow like that right?