Tiny-ass head syndrome?

My late 05' amel seems to be suffering slightly from what I can only call tiny-ass head syndrome...the head just doesnt fit the body! She had a general feeding plan (the norm) but was a quick grower. I thought she might have grown out of this by now! Shes being fed once a week and isnt overweight. Any idea how long it takes for them to grow out of this or will she always have it?

Strange question, I know.

Thanks!

Typical pet-snake problem. They get to eat way more then in the wild. The skull grows slowest of all and as result they get small heads. I don't know if she'll catch up. In my view the norm is still to much.

You should see some burmese pythons. They get fed a lot to get them to breeding size quick and to keep them well fed and timid. Their heads are tiny.

I've seen the burmese's with the tiny heads, its strange.
Before I moved away for University I worked in a reptile shop, I hardly ever saw tiny-ass head syndrome.
I hope it doesnt affect her too much...
Possibly Im just trying to make questions so I can talk about my animals because I miss them so much....being out of the reptile world can do some strange things to a person....

I would like to see pics..

I'll see what I can pull up. Shes about a 4 hour drive away at the minute but I have some old pictures of her on here. Its not a major problem, just something I notice.

This is an old photo of her looking dull...

Perhaps the 'a mouse will sustance a snake it's whole life' is partly to blame. Perhaps overfeeding. Perhaps what the feeder mice eat isn't adequate. Perhaps because we don't give them UVB.

Shows there's still much to learn after all.

Your snake is beautiful and the head looks the way it should from this picture. There seems to be a time when my corns have had what looked like a small head, not as hatchling when there head seems big, but more between 1-2 years then they have a mature head and neck size.

Double Het, Corn Snakes do not require UV lighting. My snakes eat a variety of rodents, hamsters, mice and rats, and all have gone through the tiny head syndrome. susang

That would make sense. I was about to get all defensive because I would never, under any circumstances, overfeed. I'm sorry, maybe I hit a nerve. I'm glad someone saw the harmless nature of the question!

She'll be 2 years old in December so we'l see where that takes her....

Thanks.

Hmm there does not seem to be anything wrong with that head. Its the correct size.

She looks fine to me! Lila is my snake with the smallest head compared to her body size right now. She's a growing girl! I am always amazed at the size of mice she can get down with that little head.



Now this guy has TAH syndrome. This picture just doesn't do him justice, either- it's much worse than it looks!



Nanci

Don't sweat it too much. This subject has been brought up before, and the speculation has mostly been that it has a lot to do with genetics. I've had snakes that have smaller heads in proportion to their body, and ones that have had larger heads.

One thing that I have thought about.. how long have you had this snake for? I have heard that if a snake is not fed a whole lot in its first year or so (perhaps this is a crucial growth time) it can be harder/ slower to get them to gain weight. Perhaps snakes with smaller heads were not fed quite as oftian as babies. This is just an after thought, I can only think over my own experiences. My first two snakes were fed rather slowly compared to most of the snakes I have now. One of them had a smaller head (but the other had a larger head). I guess that is not conclusive at all, just wanted to throw it out there.

Main point is, don't be too worried (and as perhaps you have already noticed, take double het's advice with a grain of salt).

Hopefully with a bit more time that head will catch up! Let us know what happens.

:-offtopic
Edit: Nanci, I went to a reptile expo and saw a toad that made me think of your guy! He was more like a big blob. Check for pictures later today, I'm still in the process of editing them.

Nanci said:

She looks fine to me! Lila is my snake with the smallest head compared to her body size right now. She's a growing girl! I am always amazed at the size of mice she can get down with that little head.

Now this guy has TAH syndrome. This picture just doesn't do him justice, either- it's much worse than it looks!

Nanci

Click to expand...

:laugh01: :roflmao: :roflmao: :roflmao:

I can't wait til Todd, our Woodhouse Toad gets that big. It should be hilarious!

In regards to the topic, it's amazing really the size of prey that snakes can eat. Here's a pic of one of my Axanthic Hoggies who only weighed 7 grams at the time eating the smallest day old pinkie I could find:


It's even more amazing when you see snakes like the African Egg Eating snake or even an Anaconda eating a caiman!

Don't worry, your snake looks fine. I am curious though what you think a "normal" head looks like.

(Off topic for a sec)

DeadMouse said:

:laugh01: :roflmao: :roflmao: :roflmao:
I can't wait til Todd, our Woodhouse Toad gets that big. It should be hilarious!

Click to expand...

You _have to_ get a toad like Olivia- she's the best. I was at some people's house for my birthday, and was telling them about all the new animals I'd gotten since the last time they were over, and I said I'd gotten the toad from Church of Toad of Light, and their 20-something son says "Yeah, Bufo alvarius, Colorado River Toad!" What are the chances of running into some random person who knew her Latin name?? She's a big lap toad.

Nanci

Nanci said:

You _have to_ get a toad like Olivia- she's the best. ... She's a big lap toad.

Click to expand...

Yeah, I really don't expect Todd to get as big as that, but right now he's so tiny, he'd sit very comfortably on a nickel. I just can't wait til he gets big enough to sit in the palm of my hand, that will be really neat!

I don't even want to show my wife that pic of Olivia, then we'd probably end up having yet another mouth to feed

... and their 20-something son says "Yeah, Bufo alvarius, Colorado River Toad!" What are the chances of running into some random person who knew her Latin name?? She's a big lap toad.

Click to expand...

Yeah, that's pretty impressive. He either has a devout interest in herpetology or watched a whole weekend of Animal Planet

Normal-sized head!! (To stay on topic)

DeadMouse said:

Yeah, that's pretty impressive. He either has a devout interest in herpetology or watched a whole weekend of Animal Planet

Click to expand...

I think he was more interested in B alvarius for its hallucinogenic properties...

Isn't she magnificent?

EW! Frogs and toads and stuff! *Shivers with SERIOUS heebie-jeebies* (Meg's worst fear!!! lol)

On topic, your snake looks fine to me, I've seen some with smaller heads even that did just fine. I have one with a rather large head. lol

lyndy299 said:

My late 05' amel seems to be suffering slightly from what I can only call tiny-ass head syndrome...

Click to expand...

OK, who are you, and what have you done with JoeJr? :sidestep:

regards,
jazz

How's this for a 2 year old with TAHS? He was fed every 6 days for his first year. Every 7 - 14 days after that. I gave him reptile vitamins and calcium supplements.

Don't really know what's going on with him. Susan - you said yours grew out of it? That's good. I keep waiting for his head to fill out.

Checkerbelly said:

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:laugh01::rofl:

Yeah, mines a December 06' and is going through that stage right now. A friend of mine had a corn her age last year that also had that problem, and he looks fine now, so there's hope!

jazzgeek said:

OK, who are you, and what have you done with JoeJr? :sidestep:

regards,
jazz

Click to expand...

:laugh01:
:roflmao::roflmao::roflmao: