How can I tell if my snake is overweight?

[NewSAHSnakeMom]

So we've had Blaze since July, he's about 2' long and at points as big around as my thumb. He's a sinaloan milk snake. He eats 3 small fuzzies every 7 days. I am guessing he's about a year old. The pet store wasn't very knowledgeable but my 5 yr old had to have him. (Her bday present lol) I will post a pic that's about a week old but he's in shed again so I can't take a new one. He's shed every month since we got him. I thought they grew longer then fatter but he's bulked up a lot in the six months we had him. The pet store was only feeding him pinkies and everyone said fuzzies we needed. He'll eat 3 most of the time, only two near shed. He eats so easily I worry about over feeding him. We do try to wait until he's hunting to feed him but it's usually every 7 days. I just don't want to make him unhealthy and fat! I wouldn't worry but he's bulked up faster than I thought. And also how soon should I move him to a bigger terrarium? The one we have is 24x18x18 and he already can't completely stretch out, not that he does it often anyway. Thanks y'all in advance.

[Aaron_S]

He's fine.

You can switch to 1 adult/hopper mouse per week most likely.

[NewSAHSnakeMom]

I still have a bunch of fuzzies we bought in bulk. He'll have to eat all of them before we buy bigger prey. Last time we offered 4 but he didn't eat the 4th one. But I'm glad to know he's not a fat butt! Unless I can talk my hubby into a new baby!

[Will0W783]

You can tell when a snake is overweight- it develops a space of visible skin between the scales. Some species, especially some of the ones with more keeled scales, will have some little hint of visible skin, but when the snake looks stretched out (like a pair of pantyhose too taut), the skin between scales will expand and the snake will look rather like an overstuffed sausage. That's a fat snake and time for a diet.

My female albino WDB is actually on a food restriction right now- she was underweight when I got her, and still growing, but I've been noticing that she looks a bit thicker than I'd like her to be now, so she's getting her food cut back to smaller meals.

[CosmicOwl]

Some extra fat isn't really a problem. It just means that if they ever get sick or go off feed, they have extra energy stores to depend on.

However, when snakes become obese, you will notice some obvious changes. You'll start to see some rolls(what some people call tires) when they curl up and their scales might develop dents from being bent. Their shape will change, although this depends on the species of snake. In extreme cases, they'll develop fat deposits around the base of their tales. Realistically though, the only snakes that really get fat are adult snakes that are being fed too much. A growing snakes that is being fed a reasonable diet isn't going to get overweight.

[NewSAHSnakeMom]

Thanks! I'm glad to know he's not a fatty!