Well, he didn't necessarily imply feeding pinkies/fuzzies... perhaps feeding a rat one week, a mouse the next, etc...

A varied diet could be beneficial... however, with animals like snakes that eat their prey items whole, a lot of that benefit is probably diminished. There still could be a worthwile benefit though.

I think, either way, it's pretty tough to test these theories out on ball pythons given their long lifespan. I presume the author based his information from "veterinary studies" on other animals like rodents.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/q...&dopt=Abstract

According to that link, limiting growth in suckling male mice prolongs their lives as well as making them less susceptible to obesity.