Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Last night i discovered (and safetly relocated to my garden area) a 4 1/2' Texas rat snake in one of my chicken nest boxes. While i don't mind the snakes and welcome them to keep my mice/rat population at bay i'm concerned with them being in my chicken coop and have a question.....

I have bantam chickens and i'm curious if a rat snake will leave them alone knowing they're too big to eat, or might it make the attempt by killing a hen attempting to eat it then realizing it's too big? I'm envisioning coming out to a slobbery dead chicken here.

Next question. If it's possible my hens are in danger, i'd like to keep them out and have heard a sprinkling of lime around the perimeter of the coop will keep the snakes out. Is this true or an old wive's tale?

Thank you so much for any help!

I do know that rat snakes love baby chicks so if you have any chicks around the rat snake will definately eat them. Rat snakes will also eat chicken eggs. I can only assume that a larger rat snake could eat a chicken. I have seen 5 foot black rat snakes eat a large rabbit and have seen pictures of rat snakes eatting crows.There is no definate way to keep snakes away that I am aware of.

...can eat a lg. rabbit???

No way.

Do you live in Texas buk buk? Is a Bantom Chicken normal sized?

I would worry more about a rattler getting in and reacting defensively and envenomating one. If a ratsnake could get in so could a rattler.

If you are from Texas let me know and I'll tell you what you might expect to find in your chicken coop someday.

Arik

Large rabbit????????

Your snake was most likely after eggs. At five feet a mature bantam hen is way too big a meal. There is a stronger posibility that the snake could get hurt.

Frank
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"The luxury of not getting involved departed with the last lifeboat Skipper..."

>>Large rabbit????????
>>
>>Your snake was most likely after eggs. At five feet a mature bantam hen is way too big a meal. There is a stronger posibility that the snake could get hurt.
>>
>>Frank
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>>"The luxury of not getting involved departed with the last lifeboat Skipper..."

How about just eating a rabbit....

http://www.snakesandfrogs.com/scra/snakes/images/mossrat2.jpg

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Sonya

Haven't we warned you about tampering with the structure of a chaotic system?
Mrs. Neutron

who would have thunk it.

EP
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Occupants not paying rent:
7 balls
2.2 corns(candy cane, creamsicle, ghost, normal)
1 pueblan milk
1 everglades rat
1 cal. king
1 gray band king
1 w. hognose
1 bearded dragon
2 fish
1 rat
1 mouse
5 cats

...the rabbit in those photos is NOT large,it's a young rabbitt.none the less it's amazing how a snake that size can down a prey item like that.kool photos thanks for posting.have fun!

Well, i had hoped he was only after the eggs. I'm assuming that if one is hungry enough he might attempt a bantam hen and after seeing the pict of the black rat eating the rabbit, i'm sure the rat snakes we have out here could eat one.

I've done some reseach on snake repellents and have found nothing. Just want them to stay out of the coop without having to replace all the chicken wire with a smaller hardware cloth. Oh well, i've had the chickens for 4 1/2 years & haven't lost a hen yet to a snake, tho did lose some fertile eggs a hen was sitting on a year ago. And for all i know a snake may be taking an egg here and there without my knowing about it.

Thanks for all your replies.

I personally never sweat having a snake in the chickens. Yeah, they may take something now and then. But chances are good they are taking rodents in there after the feed. They are not gonna take huge, hard to deal with prey when easy stuff is available. If you haven't lost hens by now I would let it go.

I had a cousin with an egg farm. She used to encourage the snakes.....mice and rats were doing far more damage than a snake could. She had 'pets' that she would walk through the egg room and the various hen houses and name the snakes and where they hung out.
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Sonya

Haven't we warned you about tampering with the structure of a chaotic system?
Mrs. Neutron

Once again here is proof that snakes aren't the brightest creatures in the world. Ratsnakes are notorious for over feeding.

A meal that big is dangerous to a snake. There is a very good chance that the food would not be properly digested and would start to decompose in which case, it would be thrown up or it could even be lethal to the snake.

Swallowing acts like that are impressive to see but not at all that healthy.

Frank
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"The luxury of not getting involved departed with the last lifeboat Skipper..."

Thanks Frank...good post I think so too. I wonder how often snakes in the wild do have trouble with meal sizes. I don't know if that picture was set up or not. But I have seen/caught snakes in the wild and had them regurg some amazingly large meals. Makes me wonder what temps they basked at to digest them.
I watched a simple garter snake eat a toad that was huge of the snake (probably 6 times it's girth....deflated)and took a couple of hours to swallow(some of the time waiting for the toad to 'deflate', but still). Then the snake went off with a monster lump. Would have loved to have seen it the next day.

Wonder just how 'smart' they all are.
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Sonya

Haven't we warned you about tampering with the structure of a chaotic system?
Mrs. Neutron

I would agree they aren't that smart. They are creatures of insinct. The whole point in the animal kingdom, from what I can surmise, is to get as large as you can as quick as you can. Survival of the fittest. Eat or be eaten. In the wild, snakes don't always come by prey easily. So prey size is really not something that snakes understand, or many herps for that matter. African bullfrogs (Pyxicephalus ssp) and horned frogs (Ceratophrys ssp) will often kill themselves and a sibling from the same scenario. Basically, as the froglets leave the water, they feed on each other. And if a smaller frog tries to swallow a larger frog, or one of the same size, then you end up with a frog that died of suffocation and one that died of wounds sustained from the feeding. If snakes were choosey about size, then there would be many missed meals.
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Andy Maddox
AIM: SurfAndSkimTx04
MSN: Poloboy32486@hotmail.com
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Houston Herp Key
The Reptizone

And the sign says "No long hair freaky people need not apply." So I put my hair under my hat and I went in to ask him why. He said you look like a fine outstanding young man I think you'll do. So I took off my hat I said "Imagine that Huh Me working for you."

It seems to be a common enough problem in the animal world. I have seen several instances where fish (for example) have died from trying to eat "Too Big a meal and have chocked on dinner.

I once saw a brown anole that tried to eat a palmetto bug that was way too big. As he was sitting inside my window (Between glass and screen)I was able to watch this for a while. When after about a half hour it was obvious that the "meal" was stuck, I went out and caught the lizard and extracted the roach. The lizard seemed ok so I released it.

Frank
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"The luxury of not getting involved departed with the last lifeboat Skipper..."