The Big Feed

Like many Americans, I suspect, tonight I will be sitting down to a reheated version of what I sat down to yesterday, Friday, and the day before... with not nearly as much on my plate, of course.  I didn't truly realize what a gorge-fest Thanksgiving could be until I was visited by some friends from abroad, who joined my family for Thanksgiving one year.  I had to convince them that Americans did not eat like that all the time.

Imagine if we did.  Imagine if every dinner was a full Thanksgiving dinner.  Forget the expense and the time that would go into it.  Imagine the health implications.

Then, apply that to an animal under human care.

Obesity and over-feeding is a major challenge with many animals.  Ironically, it can be especially problematic for the animals that naturally eat the least - the predatory reptiles, amphibians, fish, and invertebrates.  These animals don't naturally eat often - a large snake may go over a year between meals.  And when they do eat, they can eat big - think of yourself swallowing an entire Thanksgiving turkey, doing so with the knowledge that you didn't know when your next meal would be coming.

Now, imagine a few days later, your were presented with another whole turkey.  Again, not knowing when you might see food again, you seize the opportunity and eat it.  And so on...

A lot of predatory ectotherms may naturally eat one large meal and then not feed again for a while.  A python may eat a deer.  A tarantula or centipede may eat a mouse.  An African bullfrog may eat a bird.  Just as likely, however, these predators may consume several smaller meals, again based purely on opportunity.  The goliath bird-eating spider of South America, for example - it's likely that most of these giant arachnids go their entire life without eating birds - they are more commonly feeders of earthworms and other invertebrates.  It can happen, however, which is remarkable in and of itself, as is the thought of a giant centipede eating a rodent.  That doesn't mean that these feeding behaviors need to be replicated under human care, and certainly not on a regular basis.

Some keepers and hobbyists may feed massive meals to their animals for their own amusement - these animals tend not to do much, and feeding is often one of the only ways to get any action out of them.  Others may do it to impress friends or colleagues.  Especially with snakes, some private keepers do what is called "super-feeding," feeding the animal a lot of big items to encourage massive growth.  It can work - but at the expense of the animal's health and welfare.

A splurge of a Thanksgiving dinner every year doesn't hurt us humans, and animals can benefit from a big windfall of a meal now and then, both nutritionally and behaviorally.  Doing it all the time for no reason other than amusement... well, I know my arteries couldn't stand it.  I doubt that snake's could either.