Fat corn snake?

[Jrich]

I bought a 5 year old male corn snake a few days ago that has been eating one adult mouse once every 10 days and he was kept in a rack system. He's not quite 3ft and I think he looks overweight, especially when I look along his spine but I could very wrong so I wanted to weigh him. What's a normal weight range for this guy and where can I get a reasonably priced scale? On the other hand...he still doesn't have a name, any suggestions?

[eminart]

I'm no snake fat expert, but I do think he looks a bit chubby. My daughter's corn is on a diet too, which works out fine since she's gone off food.

Scales:
Digital Scales, Weight Scales, & Balances. Shopping Made Easy. (http://www.oldwillknottscales.com/?gclid=CMjC172q8sUCFdgRgQodi0IAmg)

[EL Ziggy]

I'm no expert either but he doesn't look chubby to me. One adult mouse every 10 days doesn't seem like it would cause him to be overweight either. I'm not sure how much an adult should weigh but my kings are both a little over 3ft and they weigh 620g & 700g. They're 2 and 2.5 yrs old. You should name him Shredder. My son loves Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles :). Here are a few more scales. You can also get them at Walmart.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Digital+scales

[jjhill001]

Tub snakes look stumpy.

[SnoopySnake]

Tub snakes look stumpy.

Care to elaborate on this...?

I do think it looks a bit chunky.

[AlexCrazy]

I'm no snake fat expert, but I do think he looks a bit chubby.
If you compare his "neck" to his body it looks a bit out of proportion.. and normally i think snakes are relatively the same thickness thru out the length of there body.. and even more with corns snakes.. at least in the photos i have seen.. just saying what i think:)

[Sasha2]

He looks fine to me. He certainly isnt being overfed. Maybe he just needs some exercise, get him a branch to climb on.BTW he is gorgeous.

[ManSlaughter33]

Was this picture taken within 48 hours of eating by chance?

[SSSSnakes]

He looks healthy to me, but picture sometimes are deceiving. You can get a digital scale from Staples, they sell them as mail scales.

[Albert Clark]

I think he looks healthy and not fat at all.

[Jrich]

Thanks for the input everyone. When I took this picture of him it had been 2 days after buying him from the expo so he hadn't eaten. I'm in the process of purchasing a scale right now because I'm really curious about all my other snakes weights as well.

[D Grade]

I think he looks healthy and not fat at all.


Agreed, also I like the advise about getting some branches or viv enhancements to get him active. Maybe increase handling to two or three times a week for about 45-60 minutes. A slightly overweight snake is better than a malnurished one and Id call that slightly overweight at best.

[CosmicOwl]

He looks good. Snakes can have different body types. My adult male is 820 grams and almost as thick as my wrist. He's a short and stocky corn.

[lady_bug87]

Agreed, also I like the advise about getting some branches or viv enhancements to get him active. Maybe increase handling to two or three times a week for about 45-60 minutes. A slightly overweight snake is better than a malnurished one and Id call that slightly overweight at best.

That's A LOT of handling... i mean do what you want but...

[prairiepanda]

If he likes swimming, a brief swim(around 5 minutes) is great exercise. Mine swim two to three times a week to keep their muscles well-toned. The only exception is my snow pine, who hates being in water. She just gets some longer supervised roam time instead, as I don't want to stress her out by putting her in water. The others will actually go into the water of their own accord, and don't try to escape until they start to tire out, so swimming is good for them.

[D Grade]

That's A LOT of handling... i mean do what you want but...

Yeah I agree, but if the OP is worried about health then some extended handling sessions should help get him a bit of a work out and would be good for him as long as the stress levels are low for the both of them. Normally I wouldn't recommend longer than 30-45 minutes once or twice a week.

[lady_bug87]

I guess....