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I think Emily is getting fat!

Miqote

Miqote

New member
Okay, I'm really embarrassed. When I got Emily, she was only 180g at 6 years old. When she reached 300g, I was really happy! Unfortunately, she just keeps gaining weight. She is eating a fully grown mouse every 2-3 weeks, I started doing 3 weeks because she just keeps getting bigger! Here is a picture:

emilyfat.jpg


Not sure if you can see, but she is now 450g! She isn't a very long snake, and I can tell her back half is getting a little chunky. I don't want her to be unhealthy. I pick her up and let her run around on the floor almost every day, my husband does too, but I think maybe she isn't getting enough exercise. I've read about stair climbing (not an option), and swimming (I could do this), I'm wondering if anyone has a good idea for a exercise regimen for Emily, like how many times a week and how many swimming sessions should she get? Is 3 weeks too long to go without feeding?

She is a very active snake, always moving around her cage, seeing what we are up to, and generally curious and inquisitive. I just don't want to shorten her lifespan due to obesity. Any help is appreciated. :)
 
That's about the weight of my females. I feed them every two weeks except when they are in breeding season.
 
Oh, that's great!! Thank you Nanci. :) I hadn't weighted her in awhile and I was kind of startled by the number. I'm actually not sure that Emily is a girl, she could very well be an Emilio.. would that be okay for a male?
 
You know, I was going to say she's got an awfully masculine-looking tail...So some of my males that are eating every three weeks are in the 500-600 gram range. You want her to have a cross section that looks like a loaf of bread. You don't want the top side of her to be bulgy and rounded. But watch the area for an inch or two right before her vent- if she starts to get fat deposits there (do a search for "hips") then you need to cut her feedings back.
 
I was going to say, she doesn't look fat to me but she does look a bit big. If that makes sense. Ya know what I would do? I would go down a feeder size and feed every 2 weeks and see if that helps. Its what we did for our rescue male, Ixxi. He came to use just under 1000 grams and you could see the skin between his stretched scales. Now you do not see skin between his scales though he does have a bit of hips and is still building his muscles. He looks kinda like uncooked french bread lol, but he is getting better! Good luck :D
 
Emily is definitely on the rounder side, kind of more like a fat loaf of Italian bread then sandwich style bread.. No hips though. Maybe I will look for some toning exercises and take your advice about bumping down a size. I love Emily and want her(or him) to be around for a very long time so I just want to take the best care possible. :)
 
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