A few years ago I took in a corn snake rescue that was severely malnourished. My only previous experience with snake husbandry was my Ball Python which I have owned since 1990 (she's 29!) and a Northern Pacific Rattlesnake which I owned for 12 years (don't ask!).

Although less girthy than my other two, the corn snake was both underweight and much more active. I decided to put it on the same feeding schedule and offered it one jumbo mouse a week. The corn was a very easy feeder and I thought things were progressing well. Fast forward a year and one day I noticed that the snake no longer had a normal profile but instead had some odd bulges and creases along the last two thirds of its body. I looked online and realized that I had created an obese snake.

I gradually reduced the frequency of feedings until I was only offering one jumbo mouse every three weeks. Fast forward another year and my corn looks better but still has some issues along the last third of body length.

My snake is slightly over 4' in length and is allowed out of the cage to freely roam around my room whenever it desires. Last year I bought a 7.5'x7.5' popup screen room which I place out on the deck for the snakes when weather allows. Hopefully I can sandblast a large branch of manzanita soon and take more advantage of the vertical space.

My question (finally!) is what more can I do to reduce my snake's weight?