Reptile & Amphibian Forums

We all have heard of the Eastern King's legendary propensity for eating other snakes (venomous and not). My question is do you think this is a preferred food source (i.e other snakes)or simply falls into the oportunistic category? Are they just taking advantage of a potential food source that by chance crosses their path or do they actually seek out other snakes for food? If they do seek out others for food then perhaps finding easterns in the wild might be an indication of that particular area's snake population health....what does everyone think?

My opinion....I think they will eat whatever they happen to come across in their journeys...and not specifically seek them out....but hey, I'm usually wrong...8^)

There must have been field studies performed that examined the stomach contents of Easterns.....anyone research this? What % of the studied snakes had other snakes in their digestive systems..?

Regarding feeding habits, I think you need to consider populations within a given species. Some populations of getula seem to be catholic in taste, and very opportunistic feeders. Others seem clued in to feeding on reptiles, excluding mammals and probably some just the opposite. Many hatchling L. g.getula are reluctant to feed on rodents at first, yet vigorously attack snake or lizard prey, so yes, I think some populations really do target snakes. I have seen wild caught Cal kings that would not take mammals but would take lizards with gusto. I have heard of L.g. getula that only would take snakes, so it varies and some are apparently "hooked" on certain prey.

Yeah, I've noticed this as well. I wonder why or what pre-dispositions animals in a given population (of the same species and sub-species) to prefer certain prey items compared to the same species/sub-species in another location. Do you think that there is a certain genetic trigger that is specific to that group? Or is it possible that whatever prey item is the most common in that area ususally ends up as their first meal and thus triggers a preference for that prey item going forward (but that wouldn't explain why hatchlings hold out for specific prey as their first meals? You would think that mother nature would gear baby snakes to eat whatever they can get thier little mouths on to ensure survival.......but I guess she knows best 8^)

I would love to see a study done on feeding preferences for neonate snakes and what is the determining factor for prey selection.....smell, size, shape, texture, temperature of the prey item etc....take one species and perhaps have a statistical pareto for item selection. It would be hard to truly quantify but interesting to think about...Obviously smell/taste is considered the #1 sensory used for selection....but I wonder how the others might come into play? Anyway it's late and I'm rambling.....

I think it's natural selection, that the individual that is the best at getting food is more likely to pass on its genes through reproduction. Populations of mojave rattlesnakes are said to be almost exclusively lizard feeders and others primarily mammal feeders I am told. These populations tend to have widely differing venom properties as a result of this selective process, some venoms work better on reptiles some better on mammals. I would expect some kings to have selective factors that cause feeding behaviors. I often see some pretty spastic efforts by captive reptiles to catch/kill prey, I think they would have been selected out of the population in the wild. I would guess sleeping lizards are easier to catch than acive mice...perhaps that would be a selective force. Maybe an evolutionary biologist out there will set us straight?

I believe that the opposite is true...at least from my own personal experience with eastern kings. I would say that snakes, lizards, and turtle eggs are their preferred food sources and they will eat rodents or birds when given the opportunity. A few things lead me to this belief. First, the eastern king has such a small head that it is not as skilled at catching rodents as say, the black rat snake. Also, I always find eastern kings near a water source...usually one with a large turtle population... I have several dry, upland barn sites that have literally thousands of rodents where I find several black rat snakes, racers, and mole kings each year. Still haven't found an eastern king at one of those sites.

However, I've heard that outside of the Carolinas, eastern kings can be found farther from a water source. I haven't spent much time herping outside of NC, so I can't say for the entire range of L. getula.

....Ive observed & pondered this ? for many years & have posted about it on a number of occasions too.
I've always been befuddled by the numerous hobbyists struggling like heck to get a young indigo /king/whatever to take pinkies.
Its a no-brainer....once you drop your biases & think.
Evolution will not look favorably on a young colubrid poking its nose into a mammal nest. Look at the tails of rubber boas if you doubt this...
These snakes are hardwired to seek coldblooded prey.
As they get larger they begin to opportunistically take a wider range of prey, & Id suggest adult kings actually prefer mammals & if well fed, I note they do not seem to care to take a bite from vipers for the sake of a meal.
Even the rattlesnakes prefer their first few meals to be lizards rather than rodents.
Ah...but what about those parasites...
Again...how do you explain the healthy gloss & strong graceful bodies of w/c snakes loaded w/ other organisms???
My experience/education with microbiology leads me to conclude that squamate gut microecology is so unknown, we ought not to assume too much & instead trust a few million years of evolution.
Try to manage for natural conditions, rather than espouse typical western medical dogmas such as striving for sterility. Many of these micro-organisms that we crudely observe & subsequently label as parasitic, are likely mutualistic; synthesizing vitamins or serving as catalysts for other complex biochemical reactions & interactions. Typical lab analysis’s will find a host of what we believe are nasty bacteria & protozoans, thus most samples will appear "sick" & "need treatment". I use this method; start natural & stay natural; feed natural foods in addition to the usual sterile lab mice.
Understanding your ophidian friends requires you to recognize your biases.

Beers / RxR

Agreed, our c.b. animals do not have these "parasites" and cannot deal with them as such. Although not any -ologist, I find a few w.c. snakes, mostly yearlings, with an infestation that I think they can monitor themselves, given a good secure hide and basking options. I think stress can lead to a lowering of their natural immunities or ability to deal with the problem they otherwise live with symbiotically. I find many indigoes eating fish and frogs on a regular basis, and find many cotton rat nests nearby undisturbed, while finding very few other reptile species in the surrounding area. Just an observation.
Todd Hughes