  We present a theoretical model to describe the dynamics of Bose-Einstein
condensates in anharmonic trapping potentials. To first approximation the
center-of-mass motion is separated from the internal condensate dynamics and
the problem is reduced to the well known scaling solutions for the Thomas-Fermi
radii. We discuss the validity of this approach and analyze the model for an
anharmonic waveguide geometry which was recently realized in an experiment
\cite{Ott2002c}.
