Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i want to know how long can food stay in a snakes belly before it starts to become dangerous and rot. some big pythons in the wild will carry big meals in them for months but thats because of digestion of the meal will take a long time. but what about kings when they eat in the fall/winter, i KNOW that there isnt many heat sources to lay on so they carry the food for awhile. but i have never seen a dead snake with a full stomach so i imagine they can carry it for a long time.

This is the main reason why you should let any new snakes you get have several days to adjust to their new environment before you start to feed them. Reptiles naturally slow down their metabolism in response to cold temperatures. They might be willing to eat the first day you have them, but if their metabolism hasn't been jumpstarted by warm temperatures in the cage, the food could possibly sit in the stomach without being digested in a timely manner. Situations like this have been known to kill colubrids.

This is also the reason why breeders gradually introduce brumation to their snakes. The snakes need time to completely empty their bowels before their body goes into winter mode or else the rotting food would cause serious GI problems.

Great question though.
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chickabowwow

I buy lot's of snakes thru the internet and some if not most eat within 24 hours of arrival and i have never had any die on me yet, go figure?

You know what? So have I, but it depends on the type of snake and what conditions they were shipped under.
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chickabowwow

I keep mainly corn snakes, but I think this would apply to any snakes. The reason you wait a few days after they've been shipped ( or just purchased ) is to give them time to adjust to thier new habitat and keep the stress level down while they're digesting. Not to give them time to warm up, that can be accomplished in a few hours.

Cheryl

Stress is also a factor, but I think the metabolism is more important. For reptiles, it doesn't just turn on and off within a few hours like you might think. It is a much slower process than it is with mammals.

I don't think the stress of being in a new home is as much of an issue when it comes to feeding. If that were the case, it wouldn't make sense for people to transfer their snakes to a different cage for feeding.
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chickabowwow

Posted by: xelda at Tue Dec 13 22:04:59 2005 [ Report Abuse ] [ Email Message ]

You know what? So have I, but it depends on the type of snake and what conditions they were shipped under.
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I agree with you sure you can take a risk but why do that you can allways find exceptions but why not play it safe.
Your info is sound good info.

Yup, I actually have a male breeder Pine that has for the past 5 years defecated a little during brumation and always goes again before feeding in spring...and that is without feeding for lengths of up too 5 or 6 months. He takes a good one before the cooling, and you'd guess he was on empty...but he apparantly never is Tom Stevens

But isn't using up fat reserve different compared to letting food remain idle in the GI tract?
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chickabowwow

Xelda

You are right IMHO. Snakes will simply use fat reserve and then defecate out the waste product. Ive had snakes in brumation that havent eaten in 2 months poop and its always very small and of not much substance.

Keith
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Posted by: JETZEN at Tue Dec 13 20:48:07 2005 [ Report Abuse ] [ Email Message ]

I buy lot's of snakes thru the internet and some if not most eat within 24 hours of arrival and i have never had any die on me yet, go figure?

Why even risk it as a whole Xelda is right . Though you gave me good advice on getting an Arizona mt king lol (great easy to handle snake got it over the late summer) . I must agree with Xelda and ask why risk it .
Better safe than sorry.

they eat or don't eat right away, and if they arrive too cold (which has never happened thanks to heat packs) well then they're prolly not very hungry ,are they, right? I've had quite a few that eat within a 5-10 mins after being un-boxed with no after problems ever, go figure?
How many snakes have you received by over-nite carriers?