Corn snake in need of some help...

Question
I recently rescued a corn snake off of Craigslist.com, it's about 4+ ft long so I figured it's about 2+ years old. This isn't my first snake, I have 3 others, all corns, but purchased.

The previous owner moved out and left his roommate with it, and that guy couldn't keep care of it. Hence why I have it now. When I got it, it's cage was a mess and it's water dish was a nightmare. I got it home and immediately took care of that. It guzzled down about a half inch of water from the new water bowl almost instantly.

The reason I'm writing is because when when I originally got it, it looked really healthy. As I continued to handle it (to get it used to me), I noticed that it's backbone would protrude from it's body just a bit. I know that's not a good sign, but I don't know exactly what to do. I thought maybe I'd feed it weekly, despite it's size/length. Is there anything else I should do? Should I even do that?

-Chris

Answer
Hey Chris

You are correct on the feeding more often, at least until he shows good body tone and the backbone is no long noticeable, but I would bring the prey size down a notch. Because I don't know how often he was getting fed before, I have to assume it wasn't enough and his stomach may not deal with the increased food as well as one would want. So if he is eating small rats, take it down to adult mice. Once he gets back into good shape, you can move the feedings out to the appropriate time for his size, and bring the size back up.

Keep an eye on his feces and urea as well. If anything seems amiss, take the waste into the vet with the snake and get some tests done. This might be a good idea anyways with you not knowing much of the history.