Obesity

[Wintermute]

I took my four year old male Ripley to the vet recently, concerned about a "spongy, squishy swelling on the lower third of his body". Well, turns out that it's fat. I feel rather silly that I never thought of fat as the culprit, and also I feel terrible that I didn't realise earlier and may have harmed his long term health. He's only just coming out of the spring-time fast, so I'll be feeding him a small/medium mouse every two weeks for the forseeable future. I'm also taking him out more often. He sees the vet again in six weeks to check his progress. Until then, I was wondering if anyone has any experience with obese snakes and has any advice?

 

[outfishin7]

Well, i'm new to all this, but my recently acquired snow was/is obese. Previous owners fed him 2 or 3 mice every week. A senior member of this forum(i think it was Nanci) said one mouse every 2 or 2-1/2 weeks, and lots of exercise. So I try to get Pudge out everyday and let him run through my hands and on the livingroom floor(supervised!). His "hips" are still there, but he has lost a few grams. Hope this helps!

 

[wade]

Some people are over weight because it's in their genes and it's not their fault and it's not very nice to point it out to them. Sometimes no matter what they eat they just stay the same size and words like obese are hurtful and can make a person lose their self confidence. Then they go around looking at their shoes/belly all the time. How would that make you feel? Would you like it if people called you names and pointed to you all time. Some people should think about the effects of what they say might have on others. I mean really. :rofl:

 

[outfishin7]

I found the email from Susan, not Nanci. Here it is...
Hi Irene,
If he is that over-weight, I would not only decrease the size of his meals, but the frequency as well. Feeding every 10 days and occasionally going to 14 days would be good for awhile. But you will also want to increase his activity. Exercise is always recommended in any weight loss program. He may never lose the hips, but he would be in better over-all condition.
Susan

 

[bitsy]

I have an male that was overweight and is still inclined to run to fat. I've taken his feeds down to one medium mouse a fortnight, or even one large mouse every three weeks when he was particularly bad.

I've also had a viv built that's four feet long and three feet tall, with shelves and branches for climbing. You can't make them move around if they're naturally sedentary, but luckily my guy took to to his jungle gym and has been a lot more active since he moved in. Although he's usually chunky, he's rarely flabby any more.

If you don't have the room or resources for a bigger viv, then someone I know who has taken on tubby rescues, swears by letting them go up and down a flight of stairs (under close supervision) two or three times a week. That's especially handy for those that get stressed by actual hands-on handling.

Basically it's the same principle as a human diet - decrease calorific intake and increase activity. But be warned, sometimes it can take a while to slim a Corn down. My guy took about a year before he was back to what I'd consider an acceptable state.