Reptile & Amphibian Forums

larger then they are and longer

do they often feed on pine, bull, rat, racers, coach whips i always wondered

Uh Whut??

~ Mike Russo

in the wild kings are very opportunistic feeders basically eating anything they can catch. ive witnessed them eating frogs,toads,birds,rodents,lizards and yes snakes to, they dont descriminate if it moves its potentially food. i also have seen many kings consume much larger snakes than themselves but this is mainly so with the getula group imho its not as common with the other groups of kings.
,,,,,,,,,thomas davis
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Morphs... just like baseball cards BUT ALIVE, how cool is that???

my website www.barmollysplace.com

what species have u seen them eat that were larger

can kings digest snakes larger then they are without throwing it back up

ive witnessed all kinds of snakes consumed by kings. in captivity most kings that gorge on a large meal like a snake bigger than themselves often does result in a regurge due to improper conditions(temps). i caught about a 3ft king once that had about 6to8 inches of a rattlesnake tail hangin out of its mouth out of selfdefense it proceeded to gurge out about a 5ft. rattlesnake whos head and a good portion of neck were already digested and gone leaving me to believe it had actually ate the rattler the day before, i have no doubt if left alone that king would have digested that entire rattler w/o any probs.
,,,,,,,,,thomas davis
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Morphs... just like baseball cards BUT ALIVE, how cool is that???

my website www.barmollysplace.com

other than rattlers have u seen them eat larger snakes than they are like rat snakes?

No,I personally haven't, my question to you is why is this so interesting to you? You ask it on other forums as well, I am pretty sure that they can, and sometimes do, but it is easier and far more likely that all ophiophages eat snakes smaller than themselves, just as you more often eat a normal dinner, not Thanksgiving every day, lol!
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Todd Hughes

its just so shocking to hear a snake have the ability to kill a snake larger and stronger then it is and swallow it

I read it in a book but i still did not believe it

>>its just so shocking to hear a snake have the ability to kill a snake larger and stronger then it is and swallow it
>>
>>I read it in a book but i still did not believe it

The snakes they (Lampropletis or Drymarchon) kill are never stronger than they are...
Poisonus (American Pit Vipers) snakes do not have the muscles a constricting snake has.
Nor do garter, water, ribbon, earth, brown, etc...snakes....
When a king snake has the OPPORTUNITY to eat another snake it is usually one mentioned above.....
Years ago I fed a 30" desert king a 24" garter snake....It took him over an hour to eat it, but he got it down...He refused meals for almost two months before wanting to eat again....I think this happens in the wild often....A few large meals can feed a snake an entire year.....But when eating smaller prey many opportunistic meals are consumed in the wild....I found a hatchling Emoryi ratsnake once that had eaten a whole little of pinky mice...I knew this after it regured in my snake bag.....

After that instance I stopped with my one mouse a week feeding schedule and fed my snakes all they wanted whenever they wanted...Up until brumation.
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John Lassiter
Poor planning and procrastination on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part...

I meant a whole litter...not little....ha
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John Lassiter
Poor planning and procrastination on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part...

yeah i know what u meant lol it was the rat and bull snakes they eat that shocked me since they are larger and stronger and are powerful constrictors along with racers and coach whips

they kill bull and rat snakes which are larger and stronger than they are thats whai was thinking about not the venomous ones

>>they kill bull and rat snakes which are larger and stronger than they are thats whai was thinking about not the venomous ones

Well....The main question to this thread is in your title...."how often do king snakes eat snake larger than themselves?"

And I would have to say....Not very often. King snakes are opportunistic feeders and will eat when anything that resembles prey makes themself apparent to the king snake.....
And...They are KING snakes by the way....
I would venture to say that a kingsnake is probably more powerful than a bull or rat snake of equal length....
But this isn't about which snake can beat up the other....LOL
Also...I wonder where you are getting your information from....
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John Lassiter
Poor planning and procrastination on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part...

well i read it in a book but what really kidna got me wanting to research it is watching an a wild ammerica show there was a king snake eating a bull snake, the main guy said that the king snake often eat snakes larger then themselves by folding the other snake inside of them as they eat them.

when i said larger i meant heavier like a bigger snake i dont see how ribbon/garter snakes fall under this as they are no where near the size or thickness of a king snake though

Also I think it was you that said you had seen king snakes eat snakes larger themeslves many times right but i guess you only meant snakes like rattle snakes, ribbon, garter snakes etc..

Maybe the king eating a bull snake was a very rare eventn and usually kings just ignore larger/stronger snakes in the wild

fact is, the kings have a bulldog of a neck, as do indigos, and they use this set of muscles as well as a trap jaw to twist and break bones when they need to, the kings just also have the ability to constrict which rats and bulls do as well, but without those massive jaw and neck muscles, they are no match. I think the t.v. guy was just trying to attract more attention. I think it happens a lot more than we see, but not as often as we wish, lol!

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Todd Hughes