how to exercise a lazy snake?

[theklaw]

my male cream, yeah finally got that cleared up is beyond LAZY!! and im not happy with his muscle tone at all. he eats f/t one fuzzy a week and he LOVES to eat, but doesnt really have to put much effort into it ya know?he never moves around in his cage and ther is more then enough room for him to be perfectly straight and still have 4 inches of space by his head and his tail so a total of 8 inches. i have an overhead light at one end and the temp gradient is good. like 85 at the hotest part and usually room temp on the cooler side 72ish and under his water bowl is about 69ish. but it dosent matter where i place him. he usually stays there untill i move him, and when i pick him up he doesnt really move. the only time ive seen him exert anything was when he saw Bobby my other male then he made a mad dash to get away. he is soooo lazy i can leave the top of the tank open and he wont make any attempt to get out!!!!!!!!!! i might be exaggerating a bit he does move just not alot. the only activity he partakes in is burying himself in the substrate. ive never seen such a lazy boy besides my X haha. i took him to a herp guy today to be sexed and he is healthy although not in great body shape, he commented he wasnt as toned as he was like to see either. so how do i get this boy moving other then feeding live or chasing him with my other snake? neither of those sound like good options to me. oh yeah no parasites or any other notable health concerns other then lazy. i call him push pop but maybe i should change it to pot head, just laying around waiting to eat ahahahaha.

 

[bitsy]

Try getting him on a saet of stairs and see if he'll move of his own accord. Apparently up and dwn a flight of stairs, a couple if times a week will help over time. Or myabe a swim in the bath?

Other than that, I'm not sure. Some are just naturally sedentary and don't move around. You can keep their feeding in check but you won't be able to help with muscle tone.

As you suspect I wouldn't recomend live feeding for the usual reasons, and having him chased by another male could stress him badly.

 

[Nanci]

What do you do with him when you handle him? You need to learn how to do the Cornsnake Treadmill! It's hard to explain. You hold the snake a few inches down from his neck with your right hand, and then wind him in a figure eight around the fingers of your left hand. He'll start crawling, and you alternate your fingers to keep him going, and holding his head keeps him steady. I'd better try to make a video of it...

 

[patm1313]

What do you do with him when you handle him? You need to learn how to do the Cornsnake Treadmill! It's hard to explain. You hold the snake a few inches down from his neck with your right hand, and then wind him in a figure eight around the fingers of your left hand. He'll start crawling, and you alternate your fingers to keep him going, and holding his head keeps him steady. I'd better try to make a video of it...

It's just as fun watching him or her as it is for the corn. Also, this gets a bit hard for the corn once he gets bigger, I can imagine.

To add on: This is a method that I'm not going to suggest, but I've heard of it. All it is is when feeding move the prey around so that the corn must constrict it, thus some exercise.

 

[Snake Dave]

Gentle routine handling (48 hours after a feed), for about 10-15 minutes each time is usually enough to help build up the muscle tone. Do you handle him often? Swimming is good exercise, but they're not entirely comfortable with it, and usually only overweight adult snakes are forced to swim to lose weight (apart from constipation in all ages).

All the best

David

 

[Voodoo]

Get your snake a membership to a local gym, and sign up for a yoga class or two? haha

 

[Nanci]

You could have him join the Cornsnake Ladies Exercise Club. I made this video, I had visions of taking fatty Lila out for leisurely walks to help condition her, like Maizey in this video:



(Ok, sorry about the wind noise and I don't know why, when it saved at Photobucket it got all choppy- but you can still get the gist of it!)

So I get Cherry and Lila out, and all Cherry would do is burrow- she wouldn't go anywhere. Lila would lay there, and then just bolt off! Then she's whip around and go under me. I had to keep chasing her down and bringing her back to Cherry. Then at the end she just took off, like the snake in the Rabbit vs Snake video.



http://youtube.com/watch?v=_Ez5QPW-ku4

 

[jamay]

Wow, Nanci, you should consider making a line of snake exercise videos! Snake pilates, snake yoga, snake aerobics, etc. :rofl:

 

[theklaw]

yeah if i put him on my hand he just chills. i actaully drove all the way to local herp guy with him just balled in my hand. made no attempt to do anything! i have not actually put him on the floor though or on the grass outside. kinda afraid too. yeah i handle or uh hold him all the time. at least twice a day although not after he eats. guess i just have a lazy fat a** hahahaha

 

[alan]

When we first started putting our snake on the ground outside we kept a hand on or near her at all times. After a few times out I became more comfortable with it. You get to know the snakes abilities and what they will normally act like. Just remember that they can go very fast for a short stretch and make sure there are no hides or holes nearby.

 

[kocorns]

I can't wait!!

Speaking of exercise.....I just moved my snake room and have had long time dreams of building snake exercise tracks and I can now build them!!! I am soo excited. I am going to build two 12" wide by around 12" tall cages (excersize tracks) that run the full length of my cieling. This never ending cage should give an adult corn plenty of exercise. I plan on rotating them so that they each will get at least 24 hours straight at least every 10 to 14 days. I plan on switching then right at dark, so they will explore all night. I may do studies with video cameras someday to see how much they actually move around, but I think having a continuous circle of cage that will be around 10' by 10' should keep them moving. I will post pics when I am done. I barely have time to walk my two big dogs let alone walk each of my snakes. And I am about to get a leash for my 2 year old (LOL). Good luck with getting her in shape.

 

[theklaw]

****UPDATE****
letting him play in my wet hair is working wonders!!!!!!!! i can already see a difference, some muscle is now visbible through all the goo!!!!!!!!! i cant belive this is actually working. hahahahaha

 

[patm1313]

****UPDATE****
letting him play in my wet hair is working wonders!!!!!!!! i can already see a difference, some muscle is now visbible through all the goo!!!!!!!!! i cant belive this is actually working. hahahahaha

Wow, that would be a weird feeling, a snake crawling through your hair...

 

[Flagg]

Are you sure the snake is healthy? I haven't heard of one being that sedentary unless it was ill.

 

[theklaw]

yeah i had him checked out. the only reasoning i can come up with is the people that had him before me, from when he was a baby till now about 2.5 years NEVER gave him any heat. he was kept at like 65-68 his whole life. so i think maybe the low temps made him sluggish.

 

[JustineNYC]

It's just as fun watching him or her as it is for the corn. Also, this gets a bit hard for the corn once he gets bigger, I can imagine.

.

No. Then you just change from hand to neck. I sit here and wrapped mine around my neck, she'll go down my back around my arm, across my stomach etc. Bigger snake = bigger crawling ground.