Reptile & Amphibian Forums

"Snakes can reduce their size and become very small"

And just how do they do it??

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/8050810.stm

They can't actually reduce their size but since the ribs and organs are so flexible, they can pass their body through pretty much any gap they can get their head through. Most easy for them is flattening out to get through a narrow gap. Bot can do the same for example with a knot hole.
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Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC and still very fiesty)
0.2 kids (CBB, a big part of our selective breeding program)

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count:
26.49 BRB
20.21 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

WHAT?!?!?!?!?!?!?! I disagree with this statement.

"They can't actually reduce their size but since the ribs and organs are so flexible, they can pass their body through pretty much any gap they can get their head through. Most easy for them is flattening out to get through a narrow gap. Bot can do the same for example with a knot hole."

I believe a "smaller" snake or neonate could pull this off, but a large snake..... It's not happening with a larger snake. Especially since you have snakes that can reach lengths of 20 feet or more. Yeah, I'm talking about Pythons on the 20 foot part. Still, a large female Boa can't fit her body through a gap, just because her head can fit. In fact, a ball python "can't" fit it's body through a gap, just because it head will fit.

I have first hand info in the Ball Python. My son's Ball Python got it's head out the sliding door of the vision cage. Of course we had a lock on it, so it didn't open far enough for it to get the rest of it's body through. We can home to a "dead snake". It's head was out and about 6 inches of it's body. Of course, it tried pretty darn hard to get the rest of it's body out. It actually "cut it's skin" pretty deeply. No blood, but it was wedged pretty tight. I'm "guessing" it cut off blood circulation to it's brain and died that way. Either way, it must have been a slow painful death.

So...........IMO.....

Snakes "CAN NOT" fit their bodies through any gap it can get it's head through.

Well, I did say pretty much and we are talking boas, not BP's.

I would agree with you that snakes with significant body girth are likely unable to pass their bodies through what they can barely pass their head through. Many people overfeed their snakes. We've all seen the pics of large body, small head boas posted all over the internet. All of my boas including the females are raised slow and kept lean. Those snakes (my personal experience) can get their bodies through a gap not much larger than their heads. Heck, I've had a male boa escape from a locked boaphile cage. Center latched but corner unlatched....

Yeah, he flexed the door so not the same as a fixed gap.

I'm sorry for your loss, musta been hard to come home to finding your son's BP had died that way.
-----
Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC and still very fiesty)
0.2 kids (CBB, a big part of our selective breeding program)

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count:
26.49 BRB
20.21 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats