Quote:
Originally Posted by bitsy
Unfortunately, this is a recipe for an obese snake. In the wild, they're opportunistic eaters - they'll eat everything they find, as they don't know when they'll successfully hunt for their next meal. They don't change this behaviour in captivity as they don't know that their next meal is guaranteed.
Most Corn Snakes will exhibit feeding/hunting behaviour for much of their active time. If you feed on demand, they'll eat everything you give them - sometimes to the point of regurging (which is a health risk in itself). Harden your heart and stick to the schedule. No matter how "hungry" they act, remember that they aren't (as long as you have a sensible feeding regime). They're just acting on an instinct that's not appropriate in captivity.
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This is all very true and I know from experiance! One of our rescues was extremely underweight and small for her age. We kept feeding her like normal but if we noticed she still was acting "hungry" we would give her an extra mouse. Well, it didn't take long and she went from very skinny to getting overweight and hippy in no time flat! We actually had to put her back down to normal feedings with no "seconds" and start exercising her. She now looks normal again but still has those little hips which I heard will probably not go away.