Reptile & Amphibian Forums

This sounds like an obvious question, but actually can go either way in my opinion. Does anyone with experience know if its possible for a python to choke on a prey item too large for it if it already starts the swallowing process?

My Coastal Carpet Python choked one day (not my burm but related), I was feeding the kids and I went to watch some TV, I heard this wierd banging noise, and when I went in to the kids room, my Coastal was thrashing around the cage with a jumbo rat sticking out of her mouth. I reached in and grabbed the tail. She immediately pulled away and dislodged the rat, and started gasping for air. I waited a while to see if she was ok, and after a few minutes of panic, she actually went back to her feeding shelf to wait on the rat again.
I guess the rat blocked her jacobsen organ (I probably spelled that wrong)...
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Coastal Carpet Python 0.1 (Lillith)
Albino Burm 0.1 (Kimba RIP 10/23/04)
Columbian RedTail 0.1 (Squishy)
Kenyan Sand Boa 1.0 (Shai'hulud)
Brown Water Snake 0.1 (Fang)
Common Snapping Turtle 1.1 (Sherman and Tiger)
(RIP Abrahms)
RES 1.0 (speedy)

i do belive it is possible for a snake to choke just as any other animal that has a trachea, if it infact becomes blocked. the tube which you can see in the snakes mouth is an extention of its trachea, not its jacobson's organ. the jacobson's organ is on the roof of the snakes mouth and it is two holes which the forked tongue goes into which contacts a nerve ending and the information is used to sharpen the snakes sense of smell. just thought i would clarify things a bit more (or maybe confuse them) but im not trying to put the previous poster down. in the end, i would say yes it is possible with good evidence from the previous poster, that it is possible for a snake to choke on a prey item that is too large.
j

Doh! I knew that.... I just wasnt thinking of it at the time... thanks
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Coastal Carpet Python 0.1 (Lillith)
Albino Burm 0.1 (Kimba RIP 10/23/04)
Columbian RedTail 0.1 (Squishy)
Kenyan Sand Boa 1.0 (Shai'hulud)
Brown Water Snake 0.1 (Fang)
Common Snapping Turtle 1.1 (Sherman and Tiger)
(RIP Abrahms)
RES 1.0 (speedy)

The glottis... thats what I was thinking of.
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Coastal Carpet Python 0.1 (Lillith)
Albino Burm 0.1 (Kimba RIP 10/23/04)
Columbian RedTail 0.1 (Squishy)
Kenyan Sand Boa 1.0 (Shai'hulud)
Brown Water Snake 0.1 (Fang)
Common Snapping Turtle 1.1 (Sherman and Tiger)
(RIP Abrahms)
RES 1.0 (speedy)