Powerfeeding

[tweets_4611]

I know I tend to feed a tad conservatively compared to some, but I'm not in any huge hurry to breed, so I'm ok if my snakes are a tad smaller.

On another note, the pin-head thing, I don't think this occurs only when 'power feeding'. I read somewhere (I'll post the link if I can find it...it actually wasn't a very good study) that when a snake went without food (not going off food, but wasn't offered/there wasn't any available) that their heads grew more than a snake that ate regularly. They concluded that that larger head size allowed a hungry snake to take a larger variety of prey. Which makes sense to me... if a snake couldn't eat the smallest prey available, then something would have to change, and since they don't have the food or nutrients to grow larger, a larger head would also allow them to take larger, and possibly more available prey.

But the pin head I believe can occur when a baby is feed very frequently. Not 'power feeding' per se, but on a schedule that allows it to grow very rapidly. Snakes are designed to grow at a certain rate, and on a certain amount of food. No one knows what rate or amount that is, minus our best guesses. However, to me, a snake who's body has grown faster than it's head is growing too fast. Their heads grow according to their genetic make up... a snake can get fat, but you can't make their heads bigger than they are intended to be.

***I don't think that a snake that has a 'pin head' is necessarily fat. Since snakes are ambush hunters and eat when given the opportunity, it seems to me that they could take a short period of time of excess food and not become overly fatty. The pin head condition seems to be a snake who is on the path to getting fat... They aren't now, but if they were to continue on the same feeding schedule then their body wouldn't be able to handle the excess food for much longer and it would start becoming extra fat. ***

Just an observation... I was looking at a big breeders 'available' page and noticed that a very nice hatching looked to have a 'pin head'. Now I trust this breeder, but were I to buy an animal from them, I would feed on a slower schedule, b/c the pin head condition tells me that their body is growing faster than what nature intended it to....whether it was 'power fed' or not.