Pinky head for young snake?

[ConcinusMan]

Babies are born with little or no "gut flora" They get the gut flora from food and it takes time to build a healthy colony of gut flora (microorganisms that aid in digestion). Starting out with worms, or giving your babies reptile/bird probiotics from the start helps. Without proper gut flora, any large pieces of food will be hard to digest and may begin to ferment causing potentially fatal gas build up or vomiting. Snakes can't burp like we do!

You've probably heard about pythons eating a rat which later causes them to split open and die. It's not caused by the rat breaking out. It's caused by too big a meal and gas buildup which essentially pops the snake open like an overinflated balloon. Swallow whole, a pack of mentos on an empty stomach and then drink a carbonated soda and you'll see what I mean. (don't do that)



Anyway, all of this is related to why I feed babies less than 6 mos and/or 14 inches, moderate or small meals, and small pieces, favoring small meals often instead of big meals less often. Gas pressure or buildup can put too much strain on their still delicate and developing bodies. If you look at snake anatomy, or have ever looked at blood flowing through a baby "snow" garter, you would see that too much pressure, or an oversized meal, can actually cut off blood supply to the lower half of a snake and/or many internal organs. If their main arteries are not yet strong enough to resist the pressure, then back pressure results and can give them a heart attack!