Quote Originally Posted by Ivyna J Spyder View Post
I'd imagine a snake's body is well equipped to deal with the changes that happen when it eats. It'd be pretty silly if an animal was harmed from eating when it was hungry, you know?

The key of course is 'when it's hungry'. We all know how well BPs can be at self regulating if they're NOT hungry...

Is there any difference in the short or long health or longevity of snakes fed more frequently as juvies versus less frequently?

Those studies say eating takes a lot of energy but it does not actually say if it's harmful or not. The only time I can imagine it would be harmful is if you were feeding a snake items that were too small- so it took more energy to digest than was actually in the food. (Sort of like how it takes more energy for us to chew and digest celery than it actually has in it!)

Does anyone have examples of young snakes that were fed appropriately sized prey more frequently (not 'force fed' or 'power fed') and ate only when they were hungry, but had health problems compared to snakes fed less frequently? (Like every 3-4 days vs every 5-7 days) In all seriousness, I'm curious.
Ok, I'm not sure on this so it's a complete opinion!
I think that our humans definition of hunger is quite different from a snakes definition of hunger. See the thing is, they don't have the same kind of subconscious as we do, they have a feeding response right? So when they eat I don't think it's necessarily them telling you 'HEY I'M HUNGRY' but it's just kind of an instinct for them to take anything they can get. Perhaps?

Through common sense, I believe that any amount of stress on their system that doesn't have any time to rest for a few days is probably causing stress on the rest of the body which could lower any animals life span. Stress releases nasty chemicals from the brain, which can make us sick or run us into depression and stuff. I'm not positive, but it seems that it would be similar for animals like bps that have a very sensitive spot for stress?

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