How to Resolve Persistent Obesity

[Bogertophis]

Really appreciate the advice as I really wanted to pull the trigger on at least SOME large mice for Pan!

It will be an adjustment for me to increase feeding frequency since I feed my Ball every Monday and my Corn every other Monday but I will do what's best for them. I guess I could set up reminders on my phone...

I have no idea what sex or how old this snake is as it was a total rescue from a friend of a friend. I have probably had this snake for eight years but would have to search for my oldest photos to be sure. I always feel a little guilty because I don't love it as much as my Ball. Definitely not a snake species or coloration I would have chosen for myself... So hard to wrangle (so good in reverse!) and takes a perverse pleasure in soiling it's enclosure as soon as I clean it!

I seem to be in the minority though as most people I show it to love the coloration!

It's up to you on the feeding...it's flexible, just as snakes have to be in the wild, & it never hurts to have a couple variations in mind. But just know that "large mice" are basically old breeders*, which are high fat content, thus not so healthy for snakes, whose natural diets are lean wild mice- not well-fed domestics. Fatty meals are also harder for snakes to digest. (*I know this because it's not at all cost-effective to raise mice that aren't breeding just to get to this large size to sell. I'm just letting you know this, as I've been a mouse-breeder for literally decades. If they raised mice to this size without breeding them, they'd have to charge a lot more for them, but as it is, large/jumbo mice are the bi-product of breeding mice- they're retired breeders, the ones whose productivity has diminished.)

As far as soiling the enclosure as soon as you clean, that's because the activity you've stirred up also stirred up his urge to go. If you want to avoid this, try handling him a day or hours BEFORE you plan to clean.