I believe it is not so much a suicide mechanism as it is just a defect somewhere in the reptile's creation. I doubt it could be called suicide as they are not aware of it, nor they do they have the capacity to be aware of such thing. To me it seems like survival of the fittest. Normally the smaller animals of the clutch do not feed as readily and die off, providing food for other species and thus completing the food chain, possibly even saving some siblings from predators. I have seen it in quite a few species of snakes, especially hognose. The runts tend to fair poorly, and are often anorexic. Plus, this anorexic condition can be caused by many other things. It could be a neurological problem, it could be parasites, stress, ect. Suicide...doubtful. But there are many other explanations before "suicide." BTW, did you ever get a necropsy done on the corn? Andy
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Andy Maddox
Houston Herp Key
The Reptizone

Burgundy baby, With your blue eyed soul, You play the hits and I'm on that roll, Capricorn sister, Freddie Mercury, Jupiter Child cry

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• Suicide mechanisms in reptiles - KirosReptiles, Sat Oct 11 10:45:00 2003
• RE: Suicide mechanisms in reptiles - joeysgreen, Mon Oct 13 21:11:30 2003
• RE: Suicide mechanisms in reptiles - KirosReptiles, Thu Oct 16 16:34:37 2003
• RE: Suicide mechanisms in reptiles - psilocybe, Wed Oct 22 12:25:19 2003
• RE: Suicide mechanisms in reptiles - psilocybe, Wed Oct 22 12:28:19 2003
• RE: Suicide mechanisms in reptiles - Kikai, Wed Oct 22 13:11:45 2003
• RE: Suicide mechanisms in reptiles - snakeguy88, Mon Oct 27 21:49:50 2003
• RE: Suicide mechanisms in reptiles - polaris, Tue Oct 14 08:21:03 2003
• Wrong idea - try a health problem instead - rayhoser, Wed Oct 15 05:57:16 2003
• RE: Suicide mechanisms in reptiles - aratadude, Thu Nov 13 14:22:18 2003
• RE: Suicide mechanisms in reptiles - wintermute, Wed Oct 15 15:17:11 2003
• RE: Suicide mechanisms in reptiles - serpentinedreams, Thu Oct 16 00:27:39 2003
• RE: Suicide mechanisms in reptiles - Kikai, Thu Oct 16 09:21:27 2003
• Thanks for replies; it was an interesting aside n/m - KirosReptiles, Thu Oct 16 16:39:26 2003
• RE: Suicide mechanisms in reptiles - deuce, Thu Oct 16 19:25:20 2003
• RE: Suicide mechanisms in reptiles - jones, Mon Oct 20 02:14:40 2003