I have had experience with an obese snake, but it was a corn snake. The advice given to me was to just not feed it for a few months. Hmm...something just didn't sit well with me on that one!



Here's what I did do:



The snake was being fed a very large mouse every week. I began to feed it a hopper every other week. As it entered the shed cycle, I held back feedings, so sometimes it was three weeks between feedings. Exercise (ie handling) was increased, and I even let him swim a bit. I also found that as his meals decreased in size, he became more active in his cage, looking for food like a normal snake. It's about 2 years later, and he's a much better looking, almost 5 ft corn snake. However, he has a softer stomach now, when he used to feel firmer.



If I were going to do the same thing with a Burm, I would follow the same protocol, simply because it worked for me. I would make sure temps were accurate, and I would feed a XXXXL guinea pig (or two) or small-med rabbit every 2-3 weeks. She will grow more active as she begins to look for food, but I would give her a chance to exercise. My big snakes have a Wal-Mart kiddie pool that they like to hang out in on warm afternoons. They get to swim a bit and hang out waiting for prey to come to the watering hole.



My Burm needs weight...maybe we can do an appetite transplant or a fat transfer, LOL!

[ Hide Replies ]

• advice, opinions, help - exitwounds, Mon Aug 4 15:49:01 2008
• RE: advice, opinions, help - bwaffa, Mon Aug 4 22:12:32 2008
• RE: advice, opinions, help - laurarfl, Tue Aug 5 07:18:27 2008
• RE: advice, opinions, help - bwaffa, Tue Aug 5 09:49:34 2008
• RE: advice, opinions, help - PHFaust, Tue Aug 5 10:28:54 2008
• RE: advice, opinions, help - laurarfl, Wed Aug 6 06:54:03 2008
• RE: advice, opinions, help - HappyHillbilly, Tue Aug 5 13:47:10 2008