lil head syndrome advice please

[Pythoninfinite]

You should never "starve" any animal in your care, especially not for 6 months over the summer season, even if they can easily cope with it. It won't have any effect on the "pinhead" even if that is the problem. Just reduce the number of meals, and try inducing it to eat larger food animals. This may have a beneficial effect on head size, by causing stretching of the ligamentary connections every time it eats.

Tying (or sewing) a mouse head to the front of the rat with cotton thread is a perfectly sensible and safe suggestion, as long as you don't leave metres of thread attached to the animals. Cotton used in this fashion will safely pass through the snake without complication, it can't wrap around the stomach if it is inside it! make sure the food item is suitably warm as well, thaw in hot water, and if you want to try it, you can rub the rat's nose with a mouse, or rub it into mouse guts.

Let us know how it all goes!

Jamie.

[Magpie]

I can't see it could even be possible for a 3YO carpet python that is only 4' long to have a pin head.

[pythoness]

The fat reserves it has would keep it through a fast, and the same fat reserves would alow the head to continue to grow without food. snakes expend vitrually no energy, thanks to their evoloution and a few months of fasting would and does do snakes good, they are built for it in the wild

[Nagraj]

Originally Posted by pythoness

... a few months of fasting would and does do snakes good, they are built for it in the wild

Just because a snake can go for a considerable period without food doesn't mean that it's actually good for it.

[Gecko_ProCs]

and one in captivity who has been fed regularly its whole life may not cope with a fast


Cam...

[waruikazi]

Originally Posted by Magpie

I can't see it could even be possible for a 3YO carpet python that is only 4' long to have a pin head.

I was about to suggest that. That is possibly the smallest 3yo darwin carpet i have heard of. Can i ask what you are comparing it to to make you say that it has pin head?

[Pythoninfinite]

Why would the fat reserves selectively allow the head to grow and not the body?

J.

[Pythoninfinite]

Anyway, some snakes just have different proportions, and I would suggest that at that age and length, it obviously hasn't been overfed, as others have also suggested. What are you comparing it with?
J.

[cris]

I can't see it could even be possible for a 3YO carpet python that is only 4' long to have a pin head.

good point, I think pictures might be a good idea.

[Slateman]

Originally Posted by bam_bam

so tie a mouse to a baby rat firmly with cotton and see if he eats it whole?

Yes

Yes

[Slateman]

Originally Posted by pythoness

i would be very dubious about putting cotton in your snakes food, it could get wrapped around the stomach and kill your snake, ( no offence slateman) try giving her a live velvet rat pup, they can't refuse them, but if your worried about small head, i'd give her a starve. (as always, just mho)

I am doing this for years and have been adviced this by people whoo have lifetime experiance.
If you use pure cotton as I recommended, Snake will digest the thin cotton with no trouble. There was not find any cotton string in snakes poo after.

[pythoness]

Ok slateman, sorry i must have had a mental image of something completely different to what you mean, are you stiching a mouse skin to a rat with small stiches, or binding the cotton arround it, forgive my ignorance

[pythoness]

Originally Posted by Pythoninfinite

Why would the fat reserves selectively allow the head to grow and not the body?

J.

The entire body would grow, but it would give the head time to catch up, as the fat reserve would not continue to make the body consistantly bigger.
and yes, even a captive bred pampered snake would survive a fast very nicely, they are designed by nature to be frugal eaters and to conserve energy, to the point where they can put themselves into a mini coma to conserve energy. mine are pampered and spoilt too, but by design they can easily starve for many months at a time, several times a year.

[bam_bam]

kk i found this wierd i measured him not ong ago a day after he shed and got a reading of 5ft 4 inches fully stretched out and the other night i measured him against my cousins tank (4foot) he wasent fully stretched and he is about 2 days away from shedding again but he overhung the 4foot tank by a few inches ???? il have to measure him again after his shed to get an exact reading he is never under fed the longest i went with out feeding him was 1 month trying to introduce him to rats but then i felt sorry and gave him 5 mice the most he has ever eaten was 8 mice in one sitting 3 fully grown and the others were about half size maybe abit bigger on average i give him 4 a week or fortnight in my opinion i think i have fed him to much and his head hasent caught up but i could be wrong

[pythoness]

As always bambam, if you are seriously worried take him to the vet. pref a herp vet. all advice is given as each persons opinion and nothing is set in stone. i have a fat maccy, not pin head, but fat and glossy. she only ever gets fed every 6 weeks or so, and she's still very healthy and shiny. she is sooooooooo lazy that she just never does anything to burn off fat, and i feed young fuzzy rats to all my snakes as they have virtually no fat, but some snakes just don't burn off fat moving around, and lazy snakes can lay on alot of condition even when fed rairly, my other snakes, varying ages and species are fed 1-2 velvet-fuzzy rats every 3 weeks or so. they are all in perfect health and condition. it's all trial and error, and find what works for you, and each snake is different.