Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I know that king are cannibal and are very closely related to milk's it seem to be the members of the (GETULA)-king family that are more likely to eat there breeding mate than the the other king speices.Anyway has any one had a milk snake eat it breeding partner ? if so what speice of milk was it ?.Just interested i know there said to eat other snake just haven't seen it.

Milksnakes and kingsnake are both lampropeltis, both are capable of dining on other snakes. I've witnessed a wild milksnake eating a garter snake which is part of their natural diet.

In captivity, young animals IF given the chance would try to eat other snakes. Captive bred Adults which have been raised on rondents are not imprinted on other snakes and would normaly not try to eat its mate.

When in breeding mode, adults that are well fed and in the mood will not be thinking of food...

Hope this helps

Brian A.

Yes. This has happened on occasion. Milksnakes are less likely to try to each each other during a breeding introduction than common kingsnakes, but there's at least one case I know of where a Honduran tried to eat it's mate.

This is relatively rare. I introduce my snakes (I work with Hondurans, Nelson's and Pueblans) and see what the initial reaction is. I personally have never seen one milksnake attack another. I leave my males and females togather for several days to insure multiple breedings.

So although I've never had an cannibalistic milksnake incident, the possibility is always there.

Tim

Third Eye

Can it happen? Well, any milksnake hungry enough may be opportunistic even when one of its own kind wanders by. But talking numbers in captivity here, how many times has this been reported vs how many times two of the same milksnake have been placed together? I think you'll find the number to be very low. So low, it will be an exception rather than any kind of rule.

In a total of 14 cages housing pairs/groups of milksnakes together (same ssp per cage) for at least 1 year, there were 0 instances of cannibalism. That is all I can give you.

Maybe if 50 others chime in with their experiences in numbers, we can get an idea of what is happening out there. Will it be 1 instance for every 20 opportunities? 1 in 100? I don't know, but it would be nice to see what the actuals are.

They can be. Even the sweetheart cornsnakes. It's just in their nature. Ones to really watch out for are "politicians" !!

Mike

I've found that anything is possible with captive snakes depending on conditions kept under. However, wild conditions are different, at least with Eastern milks in n. Michigan. While we have several ophiophagous species, i.e. massasaugas, milks, and ringnecks, the water and garter snakes seem to do very well in the same habitat. In other words, the snake-eating snakes have preferences. They tend to eat the smaller, more helpless species, like brown, redbelly, and green snakes. They aren't likely to attack their own kind in the wild, imho.

Merry Christmas all....TC