So....how overweight is he, and how easily can they slim down?

I'm looking at this sweet boy, but wow...does he have some hips! I'm not sure I want to launch into adopting a corn with weight issues, because I've read they don't burn it off very quickly, even with extra exercise / handling and a reduced diet. This guy is 3-4 years old, weight 408 g.

How "bad" is this one, and would you advise against adopting an overweight reptile? (Yes, he's missing the tip of his tail. I'm going to guess bad shed).

He's actually not too overweight everywhere else, still has some definition of the spine but it is kind of hard to slim a snake down and can be impossible to get rid of the "hips," those bulgy fat deposits.

His hips aren't real bad either but if they are fat, you might not ever be able to get them to go away. They are also in non standard places for snakes to usually get hips, its not impossible for them to develop fat deposits pretty much anywhere on the body, so that might be all those are. But I'd be a little concerned that they could be something less benign, like tumors or something.

Good advice. He's quite pretty but I think I'll pass on him. Don't want a "problem" snake to start out with!

he doesn't look too bad to me. He's definitely "Healthy." You could feed him on a 3 week or even month interval and see if he loses some weight, but to be honest I don't know it's necessary.

As a point of reference, my snake weighs 405 grams (about the same as that one). Considering I have seen some corn snakes over 1000 grams, 408 really isn't that bad.