Posted by:
dave barker
at Wed Jul 16 09:10:02 2003 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by dave barker ]
It's rare when constricting snakes don't feed if they both bite their prey AND constrict it. Sometimes just biting it isn't enough to elicit a feeding response, especially when the prey is f/t (frozen/thawed.)
When feeding dead prey (which accounts for nearly 100% of the meals we feed), after the python/boa grabs the offered food, if it doesn't immediately coil around it in an instinctive constricting coil, we reach in with tongs and give the rodent in its mouth a few tugs--that usually results in a constricting coil (in some snakes only a weak imitation of a constricting coil, but still it tweaks their feeding behavior.) Once they coil prey, it's rare that they not go ahead and feed it.
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feeding behavior... - dave barker, Wed Jul 16 09:10:02 2003