Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Is swallowing food head-first a learned response or instinctive?

My son's young blood tried to eat a mouse tail fist. It took ten minutes for her to realise the tail was not going to fit in her mouth sideways. By that time the tail had got caught in her rear-most teeth. Took another half hour for her to get the tail out after which she slunk back into her hide in complete embarrassment, leaving the mouse uneaten!

Cooljosh's Dad

I think it's a bit instinctive but takes some practice. Perhaps bloods are particularly bad at it, I have to help mine along a bit most times.

After having quite a few snakes over the years from shovel nosed (tiny) to Burmese, I personally think the only instinct they have is to constrict and eat. Invariably baby snakes are not that good at eating, they learn over time that things go down easier head first. The more they eat, usually the better they get at it, and like anything else, some are better at it than others.
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"You have insulted my footwear; my sandals do not like to be laughed at." --Samauri Jack