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How to know if your snake is too thin.

Spencer

Spencer

New member
So.... as the title says... I thought Roxy was fine, but lately, I've noticed she looks a little thin when she moves.... is there a surefire way to know if your snake is too thin.... I've heard if their spine sticks out... I mean... I can see her backbone... but It's not protruding really.... just a bit visible. It's when she moves that I see it. Shes a yearling.... about 1.5 year old now. 217 grams today. She was bigger, but went off food a couple times this summer, so she lost probably 15 or so grams. I'm just wondering.... How can you eyeball and know that the snake is good.
 
You want your snake to look like a loaf of bread. Flat on the bottom, and rounded on top.
If your snake has a triangle look, it is too thin. If it is round all the way, it is overweight.
 
217 at 1 1/2 years old sounds like it's not too thin, but I would have to see a photo. Many yearlings are under 200 grams. I would worry if she continued to lose weight, though.
 
Yea, Maybe, This is the most recent pic... Its like... a month or two old... So... I guess its not too recent... but, you can kinda see what I mean still.. Her spine is visible... For a more recent pic, you would need to wait until I got home from work in 3 hours. Its maybe a bit more prominent now... but not soo much... But as you can see its a bit more triangular on the top than the rest of the body...
 

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No no, Dont get me wrong, I dont think she is in a DIRE situation... Like I am sure she is fine. Ill post a more recent picture later maybe.. Just last feed I fed her a bit more, And noticed she pooped less than I expected. So I thought maybe just a LITTLE bit too thin?
 
I. Was shown by what I believe to be the best vet on the planet if you run your finger down the spine and can count vertibra WITHOUT pushing they are thin if the spine is smooth but you can feel it they are good but if you barely feel the spine they are fat. However this was for my boas but it seems to be the same with my corns as far as I can tell.
 
What is your question? :)


And a better way to tell if corns are overweight is if they start developing "hips"
05-03-10allmaysnakes051.jpg
 
I thought my girl was bad what do you feed that tubby. Here is a pic of mine I thought was fat.
 
Spencer, I don't think the spine is visible in yours. What you're seeing is the muscles in the back, and they'll be more visible when she's moving or hanging on your arm or something. Basically, you'll see her muscles when she's using them. Inspect her when she's been resting in her enclosure for a while, when she's relaxed.
 
Older females which have pushed out lots of eggs during their lifetimes also develop hips. It's not always an indication of being overweight. Some morphs (cinder, terrazzo, and some of the barrier island localities with predominantly lizard feeding diets) have a pear-shape body form without the bread loaf look.
 
Agreed with Dave P. I have been considering making a thread with pear shaped cinder photos, all my cinders seem to get that, funny thing is that the het cinders from the same clutch don't seem to get it as much from what I am able to tell with my holdbacks.
 
dave partington said:
Older females which have pushed out lots of eggs during their lifetimes also develop hips. It's not always an indication of being overweight. Some morphs (cinder, terrazzo, and some of the barrier island localities with predominantly lizard feeding diets) have a pear-shape body form without the bread loaf look.
Click to expand...


That's good to know. My adult snow has hips. She has as long as I have known her. She seems to be a perfect weight yet she still has hips. She was overweight at one point but then she got very sick and lost a lot of weight. Even then she had hips. The store I rescued her from thought she might be an old breeder.
 
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