what weights a healthy corn

[ruby]

i have two corns roughly 4yrs old, ones 4feet male who weighs 310grams and ones about five feet female who weighs 630 grams does any one know roughly the right weight they should be

[Athravan]

Well most people recommend 300g on a female for breeding and 200g+ on a male for breeding.. having the female bigger is better for breeding.

Most of my females are around 500-600g and I consider that to be healthy and not horrifically overweight.. I have some 800-1000g corns that have fat deposits and do need to go on a diet.

[SiUK]

im no expert but I would of thought it all depends on how they have been fed from a baby and the individual snake

[ruby]

thanks for replying so quick. you say 200+ for a male and yet my male is stick thin after years off not enough food (last owner) you can visibly see his back bone

[Athravan]

Well it all depends on age.. a 200g breeding male you would expect to be pushing 2 years old. A healthy corn snake varies from snake to snake - obviously if they are showing bone and looking skinny they are underweight for their length/age.. I have a 250g female who is 6 years old and 3 foot in length - not big enough to breed, eats like a horse, but never grows and I don't expect she will ever grow anymore.

If however they are showing fat deposits, or bulges on the abdomen or near the cloaca, are lethargic, or constantly hunting for food, they are probably overweight, which is also very unhealthy.

[ruby]

so i should just keep feeding him up until he looks healthy thats great thanks for help

[1949_sam]

Originally Posted by Athravan

Well most people recommend 300g on a female for breeding and 200g+ on a male for breeding.. having the female bigger is better for breeding.

Most of my females are around 500-600g and I consider that to be healthy and not horrifically overweight.. I have some 800-1000g corns that have fat deposits and do need to go on a diet.

Hello i have a female at 800g and she is fat and does have fat deposits, she was like that when i bought her, so how can i get her to lose weight?

Thanks

Sam

[Athravan]

Originally Posted by 1949_sam

Hello i have a female at 800g and she is fat and does have fat deposits, she was like that when i bought her, so how can i get her to lose weight?

Thanks

Sam

Well breeding will help - but so will really cutting down on the food that she eats and also - exercise exercise exercise! The problem with breeding at that size is sometimes they just won't have any of it - and sometimes the male just can't do the job. I don't know if obesity lowers fertility like it does with humans and some other species but i have had success with losing 50-100 grams or so on big females by breeding.

Exercise will help muscle tone, try and provide plenty of things to climb on in the viv (I use suspended rope) and also get it out for handling as much as you can. It sounds a bit strange but a bath doesn't hurt once every few days and swimming is good exercise, and 15 minutes in the bath is probably as good exercise as 2 hours of handling. If she feels squishy/watery underneath then she's missing muscle tone, and needs as much climbing and activity as possible to firm her up.

For weight loss I tend to feed mouse every 10 days instead of 7 days and I sometimes even go down a size too.

Those are my methods anyway... hope it helps somewhat