Is my black rat snake fat? Advice for a newbie

My poor black rat Armani has had a rough time. He came in with a burn/wound of some kind on his belly and has been to the vet a few times for that and a blood test/check up. The vet said he was underweight at the time so I’ve been feeding him on 1 small rat/week to bulk him up a little but I’ve got a feeling he’s put on a little too much weight. I’m not sure of his exact weight but he’s about 5’ feet long and has a fantastic appetite, eats like a garbage disposal. Can anyone recommend a better feeding schedule? I was thinking of either spacing the rats out to 1x every two weeks or switching to an adult mouse every two weeks.

Apologies for the bad photos, he was feeling pretty wiggly and I was trying to wrangle him with one hand.

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I specifically Wanna see the vent all the way to the end of the tail, side view. I don’t think he looks fat but I won’t know for sure without the specific Pic.

Thanks so much for answering! I’ll post a picture tomorrow, I feel like he’s had enough of being handled today- he’s not the cuddliest dude in the world.

Never knew a cuddly Ratsnake lol. Look forward to the pic(s) to help you out. He looks like a handsome boy.

To my eye he does not look obese but you could probably cut back to feeding every other week and be perfectly good to maintain a healthy body weight

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So here’s his vent-to-tail from the side, top, and a full-body picture. He’s just started going into blue so he’s a little wrinkly right now which makes it harder for me to judge. I can’t make out if some of the “jelly rolls” in his first pics might just be loose skin that’s about to shed.

@t_h_wyman Thanks for the feedback, that sounds like a better schedule. I’m sure he’d eat a rat a day if he could.

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Oh no he’s perfect body condition :slight_smile: his body slims down nicely with his tail. At some point do a search on “fat corn snakes” while not the same exact species you’ll see some giggle worthy chonks and understand exactly what fat looks like for these guys.

Id suggest keep doing what you are doing. Colubrids have amazing fast metabolism. So unlike say ball pythons they tend to go through food digestion wise a lot faster.

Sorry just had to share this picture of what an extremely fat corn looks like. It’s a not good condition, but still makes me laugh.

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Awesome :smiley: I get so worried about the little guy. That poor corn snake looks like a marshmallow! Thanks for all the help, I really appreciate it.

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