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Bizarre corn snake story, help!

K

kandie_kitten

New member
Hi everyone, I'm new!

I've had many snakes when I was younger, but this is my first I am solely responsible for, and I got him in a strange way.

I have a friend who is an animal control officer, and he received a call from a lady. Apparently, her son had purchased a corn snake without her permission, and he hid it from her. He did not care for it very well, and eventually, it escaped (in the middle of winter in Pennsylvania). The snake was missing for three months, before this lady found him curled up on her dryer.

When I went to pick him up, she kept telling me he was starving, I should stop on my way home to pick up mice immediately, etc.

Well, she pulled him out, and he is the fattest snake I had ever seen. His head is smaller than my thumb nail, but I can't wrap my hand around his body. His body is so bloated, the scales are stretched so it looks like he may burst at any moment.

I told her that apparently he was eating just fine during his escape...she called the next day to say she had had an exterminator out, and he had found nests of baby squirrels in the walls

So this very gluttonous and fat snake has been with me now for about 5 weeks.

When I first had him, he absolutely refused to eat. I guess after squirrels, my mice didn't appeal to him. I would prefer to feed him frozen, but he won't have any of it. After reading a few tips on eating here (such as spraying him with warm water first), he's now eating regularly.

Now, I have a few questions.

He's an adult-about four feet-, and obviously, very fat. I took him to a vet nearby, and he seemed at a loss what to do with this snake. He's wayyyy too large, but he did not know what I should be feeding him.

The vet recommended I feed the snake 3 fuzzies a week, to keep him nourished, but to also slim him down.

So that's what he has been eating for the past 4 weeks, but there's been no change in his size.

I'm nervous about cutting his food any more. 2 fuzzies a week just doesn't seem enough to me to maintain a four foot snake.

Thoughts? Advice? What is a normal amount of food for a 4 foot corn?

And, some pictures so you can see this monster! (excuse the cage...it's what I put him in when I'm cleaning out his main cage)

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fatsnake.jpg
 
Wow! That is one big snake! If you've tried searching, there are a number of tips for slimming down an overweight snake. You could try letting your snake go up and down stairs to build muscle tone, or handle it on a regular basis so it can lose some of the fat. You can also let it "swim" in your bath tub (make sure the water is comfortable for the snake - around 80 to 85 degrees) for 10 minutes a few times a week.
As for the feeding, what I would do is 1 adult mouse every 2 to 3 weeks. That snake doesn't need to eat every week, and cutting it down to 2-3 weeks will hopefully help (along with exercise) to cut some of the fat.
I wish you the best of luck with your new Corn! Please keep us updated! :)
(I don't know if this will work, but you should take a look at this: http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/search.php?searchid=1289829. If it doesn't work, then try searching "overweight corn" and looking at the results. It should help you more.)
 
^Thanks for the link!

I've been letting him swim a few days a week in the bath tub. He seems to enjoy it. He swims around for about 15 minutes, then climbs out to tell me he's done :) But I never thought of having him climb stairs!

He's an extremely nice snake. I was afraid he'd be defensive after being loose for so long, but he enjoys being handled. When I put down a hand in his cage, he comes over and crawls his way up.
 
My adult males eat one large mouse every three weeks - they're perfectly healthy on that regime. I suggest you cut right down to that as you need the pounds to melt away.

Fuzzies have a higher fat content than adult mice, so three at a time may actually be making the problem worse, rather than better. I suggest you stick with the adult mice and just cut way back on the frequency of feeds.

It actually takes Corns months - if not years - to lose weight once they put it on, so I wouldn't have expected to see any change in his weight/size in four weeks. Having once accidentally ended up with a bit of a Bunter myself, I didn't see any real change in him for the first four months - once they're put on lower rations than they're used to, I think their metabolism slows down so they lose fat more slowly. It took me about three years to get Joshi down to his pre-binge weight, so you might have to be patient with your new boy.

The exercise regime sounds good. I know someone who runs an informal reptile rescue and she swears by stair climbing for her more "ample" snakes. Not only does it get them moving so that they start to burn fat, but it improves their muscle tone up as well.
 
Well I am a technician at a small animal clinic, and although we do not handle reptiles, I woudl imagine weight management is similar. What we tell our clients is basically what Suzy said.

Increase exercise and feed the obese animal what a "normal" sized animal would eat, not less. A normal adult corn would eat probably exactly what she said 1 adult mouse every 2-3 weeks. With a normal calorie intake, and burning more than the calories they take in, they will begin to tap into those fat supplies they have stored up. Sounds like you are doing the right things =)

It always makes me laugh how resourceful corns really are.. baby squirrels in the walls =) Best of luck with him
 
If you had posted that without any explanation, I would've definitely said that snake is pregnant. What's interesting is the lack of "hips" ( these are fatty deposits that accumulate anterior to the cloaca and give overweight snakes a lumpy look). They may actually be there under all the fat, but it doesn't look like it.
I also would feed an adult mouse every three weeks.
Best of luck with Chubby!
 
That is a very cool story! Gotta be proud of that snake finding a food source, If I was that lady I would have asked for that snake back and maybe a few more to release to deal with the squirrel problem! lol, J/K!

I got an obese rescue snake and yeah, I only fed her about once every three weeks, did the swimming and the odd time of stairs. Once she was a little more than 1/2 her original size I bred her and after that shed was back down to a pretty normal healthy weight. So it took a couple years, and mine never truly lost the hips though they did reduce quite a bit!

Good luck with your new pet! Thanks for sharing a very cute story!

Rebecca
 
Wow, he is chubby.... With as heavy as he appears once every three weeks is more than enough, excercise him. Wheather you let him swim or just come out and play on the living room floor ect... Thanks for sharing the story....
 
More questions, sorry! I searched but I could only find debates on Frozen vs. Live, and I'm concerned about feeding an adult mouse.

My snake will not eat frozen. I've tried every trick I could fine, thawing and placing the mouse in a box of live mouse bedding (to get the scent), even braining (something I hope to never have to do again). He steadfastly refuses.

The live fuzzies, however, he goobles like its his job. But he eats a little weird.

He doesn't constrict, like every other snake I've had does.

He just goes up, sniffs at them, then just starts eating, usually eating the mouse backwards (tail first) rather than the head first.

Obviously, this won't fly with an adult, as the adult will have plenty of time to cause some damage if need be.

Anyoen else had this problem? What can i do?
 
you could always stun them...get a live mouse and just give it a good whack to the head..not hard enough to kill it..but hard enough to send it into shock so it can't move..then your snake can eat something live and not have to worry about injury..
 
Are you absolutely SURE that's a male? As another poster said I would almost SWEAR that's a pregnant female.

I have never had a corn that wouldn't eventually eat f/t. Give him time....if he misses a meal or two obviously it's not going to hurt him at all...
 
Update

Yes, I warmed the mouse, did all kinds of maneuvers (and felt very morbid) with the corpse using tongs. The snake just looked at me like I was a crazy person.

No, I am not positive about his gender. And at first, I did consider the possibility that he/she is pregnant. But she's not displaying any of the typical pregnancy signs (other than the monstrous body).

And we've had him now for almost 6 weeks, and the lady we got him/her from had him for about a month after his escape (where he lived in the house hidden for three months).

Wouldn't she have laid eggs by now within 10 weeks?

Now, of course there's always the chance that this lady is lying to my face just to get rid of a pregnant snake, but she seemed genuinely bewildered and afraid of this snake. And she also has been very courteous since I took him in, returning my emails, calling to check how he's doing, etc, so i don't think she's lying.
 
I'd put in a lay box....just in case. Typically they will lay 8-10 days or so after a shed.

As far as the mouse...have you tried leaving it in the cage overnight?

As a side note, female snakes do sometimes exhibit strange feeding behaviors when gravid.
 
^Yup, the mouse was in with him for about 36 hours. When I went int he following morning, the snake was curled up with the mouse on the heat pad *bangs head in*
 
Haha.. I have a little kenyan sand boa hatchling who is a terrible eater. She does the exact same thing. Wont touch or look at a f/t pinky (even if it is "dancing") and when I put her in the feeding tank with a live one and leave them be I come back to find the pinkie all cuddled up to her and she seems to like it. Sigh. =)
 
Try fresh killed or stunned. I have one that will take that. I then chain feed it a f/t trying to convince him that f/t is just as yummy as fresh.
 
You could also try scenting the mouse with some dirty bedding, feces or urine, to get it nice and stinky. Then tease feed the snake by bumping it against the body of the snake. Some times this ticks the snake off enough, that they will eat it out of spite.

Good Luck,

Wayne

PS... This post is my One Thousandth Post!!
 
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