Feeding, metabolism and longevity.

[CosmicOwl]

It seems like this subject keeps popping up in various threads, so I thought it might be interesting to consolidate all of the different opinions in one place. I know that the feeding debate is one of the most contentious debates in snake keeping community, but I want to see if there are any common themes at work. The question is: How does prey size and the frequency of feeding effect the metabolism of a snakes as well as their longevity?

I know there might be some disagreement over what constitutes a small or large meal, so I'll just offer my own vague interpretation.

Small meal= 1 prey item that is the same size or smaller than the thickest part of the snake.
Medium/moderate meal=1 prey that is 1-1.5 times larger than the thickest part of the snake.
Large meal=1 prey item that is 2 or more times larger than the thickest part of the snake.

I realize that there will be differences depending on the age of the snake and it's natural metabolism. I think the general consensus is that colubrids have faster metabolisms than Boas/python and aren't capable of consuming comparably large meals. So in this case, we will acknowledge that the timescales are applied to specific snakes, and not all snakes in general.

From your experience, what prey size and frequency of feeding leads to a healthier snake? And for those of you who have held onto snakes past the 12-15 year period, have you noticed any differences in the longevity of animals fed in a particular fashion?