Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Are water moccasins cannabalistic? What types of snakes are cannabalistic? Anybody know?

I do not know for sure if the cottonmouth is cannibalistic...i'm sure there are some instances where it has occured. As far as other snakes go, the first an obvious is the king cobra which is known to eat other snakes as well as smaller kings. I have seen green anacondas eat there young if they did not make it after birth..meaning like if they are stillborn or something. Kingsnakes would be another as well.

I don't know if you distinguish between ophiophagous snakes that eat other snakes and cannibalistic snakes that eat their own species, but elapids like king cobras, kraits and coral snakes are ophiophagous and can be cannibalistic if they encounter a smaller, consumable member of the ame species. Kingsnakes are also both ophiophagous and cannibalistic--I actually can't think of a single ophiophagous snake that wouldn't be cannibalistic if the opportunity presented itself.

I know of a African Rock eating a similar sized Boa Constrictor. I had Western Hognose eat a Corn Snake. Snakes are oportunistic feeders and aren't always picky about their food! That's why I always recommend keeping snakes in separate cages with few exceptions.
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Tim Cole
www.Designeratrox.com/
www.AustinReptileService.net
www.AustinReptileExpo.com/
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Conservation through Education

Yes, cottonmouths are not picky at all about what they eat. If it has..or had..fur, feathers, scales or none of the above, they might well dine upon it. Another ophiophagus North American snake is the Indigo,(Drymarchon corais couperi & erebennus).

~~Greg~~
Florida's Venomous Snakes

I just recently had a young(about 8 inches)Bothrops asper eat a smaller sibling. I also had a 6ft Boa constrictor eat one about the same size.

Al
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Law of Logical Argument: Anything is possible if you don't know what you are talking about.

I've had Bothrops eat cage mates.

MH

me too Matt

Would you kindly send me some B. moojeni so I can see if cannibalism occurs in them as well?? LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here's a link to a paper I found recently while looking for something else. It includes a study of the stomach contents of wild cottons. Other cottons are among the long list of things you might not expect. Something about the link (probably the quotes) confuses kingsnakes url gadget, so you'll have to cut-and-paste.

http://webhost.ua.ac.be/funmorph/anthony/pdfs/Vincent_et_al_2004_J_Zool_Lond.pdf#search='agkistrodon%20piscivorus%20sexual%20dimorphism'

Lots of snakes will occasionally eat a cage mate by accident, especially when people try to feed more than one snake, in the cage, at the same time.

I've had a corn eat another corn.

My favorite was a breeder who showed slides at a show I attended of a king snake that he eventually had to put down because it had a habbit of swallowing ITSELF! Very entertaining...

LarryF,

Thanks for the reply! The journal article is fantastic! Take care!