I think any overfeeding to the extreme can be unhealthy for your snake. Placing a prey item in the snake's mouth after finishing it's first meal is definately not healthy.



In the wild the snake would invade a rodent burrow and eat all the inhabitants (whether they are in there at the time or come back later), eatting several meals per week or on it's own, but under it's own power isn't neccesarily a bad thing for the snake. It will mildly regulate it's food intake.



Having said that there is a limit. The snake can only grow and mature so fast and there is a point at which it will become obese and will eat itself until it is unhealthy. That is where you come in. Regulating the food intake of the snake so that it's a happy medium between eatting as much as it will take on it's own and not so much that it becomes obese is really the sweet spot that people try to achieve. Hatchlings do have a much higher metabolic rate than adults just as human babies do, they will process food alot faster than the adults and as such feeding every 4-5 days shouldn't be a problem

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