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Blood flow during eating

EtherRex

EtherRex

Otter-Like
Ok, not sure where to post this one so I will stick it here.

A friend of mine who kept snakes in his home country of Venezuela was telling me yesterday that snakes cannot see very well (at all?) whilst swallowing prey due to the restricted bloodflow to their eyes and head caused by stretching round the prey. Can anyone confirm or deny this? When he said it, it seemed to make sense as the skull does deform a lot and there must surely be a lot of pressure on the arteries and blood vessels.

Just wasnt something I had thought about before and It would give another very good reason for snakes not to eat unless they feel safe and secure.

Anyone?
 
My amel. stripe is very alert, even while he is eating. If I stick my hand in the feeding bag while he is eating, he will turn his head quickly to my hand, or if it is a big and stressful meal, he will rattle.
 
I can not confirm or deny this but...

As a biology major (yeah, I know, why am I in the construction trade now), I took every zoology, physiology, parisitology etc. class offered. This is something I have never heard of. I tend to doubt it. While other herps (ie, those with eyelids) may involuntarily close their eyes while swallowing food (even using their eyes as help), blood pressure causing blindness seems REALLY far fetched to me. Just my semi-educated guess...
 
Yeah, well as I said its not something I had heard of before and my experience with snakes is very limited. Its just I know this guy has kept a fair few snakes and it sounded plausible at the time. Ah well, maybe its just his belief and has no basis in fact.
 
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