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Constrictor?

B

Butterz

Part Human, Part Reptile
My Hunter doesnt constrict when i feed her, ive heard that corns constrict their prey in the wild...is this something to worry about or is it normal? :shrugs:
 
if your feeding live they have to constrict it to kill it but when you feed F/T they dont need to. My amel who is on F/T never consrticts hers and my abbott's who is also on F/T alaways constricts his. It really differs from snake to snake.
 
They don't all constrict live either, Ricodude.

Mine didn't bother until he started on fuzzies, now it's 50/50 whether he will or won't. Depends how lazy he's feeling that day I guess :) I feed f/t, by the way.
 
Tracee said:
They don't all constrict live either, Ricodude.

Mine didn't bother until he started on fuzzies, now it's 50/50 whether he will or won't. Depends how lazy he's feeling that day I guess :) I feed f/t, by the way.
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That is very true. I do have some on live and only one will actually constrict to the death. A couple will constrict for show(they don't do it hard enough or long enough to actually kill the prey) and a couple who just open up and swallow. Of everyone who is on f/t, only one hatchling and my two 03's even attempt to constrict. So it completely varies by snake, IMO.
 
Tracee, Thank for the info. I've never personally fed live before i just assumed. I learned something new today! John
 
Ricodude12 said:
Tracee, Thank for the info. I've never personally fed live before i just assumed. I learned something new today! John
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A fair presumption John! You would naturally presume they'd want their prey dead before swallowing, but, err...

Anyway, rest easy Butterz, and I hope you witness your snake's first 'kill' - it's quite a sight.
 
crystal doesn't constrict her food but meanie maxinie does constrict her food. My corns are 50\50
 
but if you feed an adult corn an adult mouse (live) wouldnt the corn kind of be forced to constrict the mouse to avoid getting hurt while eating the mouse? or is it just pinkies/fuzzies they can eat without killing?
 
My first snake, Venus, ate live mice... she usually didn't constrict them.. just grabbed the head and started swallowing. The poor little mouse would try to get away for a few minutes until it suffocated in her thoat. This is why I only feed f/t mice now.. was a horrible sight with the live ones. I remember once when she did constrict it.. she squeezed it so hard she burst its belly.. and it was still alive... mice can scream... and ooohh my is it sad!
 
Both of mine won't constrict when they eat live mice that are small enough to go down alive. They will constrict when the mouse is a little larger though. And one constricts when it is F/T while the other one doesn't. It differs from snake to snake.
 
thanks for the help guys :cheers: i will take all of your comments into thought and consideration
 
ryan98012 said:
Both of mine won't constrict when they eat live mice that are small enough to go down alive. They will constrict when the mouse is a little larger though.
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This states my own theory. I think that the snakes know the difference. When a wild corn/king/rat etc. discovers a nest of altricial rodents it probably doesn't bother to constrict each one. It just starts swallowing until something inhibits it from continuing. But, when it goes after a precocial or mature prey it will constrict.

My understanding is that constrictors do not squeeze prey to death, they tighten with each exhalation so that the prey is actually suffocated. If a live prey item has been observed to have been eviscerated via rupture from squeezing, there must be more muscular force applied than just to suffocate.
 
Aye.. Venus constricted HARD... she once turned my arm blue LOL. She didn't usually constrict her prey and it was WAY too large! She was tiny.. maybe 15 inches long and not very big around, and was eating adult mice (thats what the store said to feed her) never regured once tho hehe... I was really lucky with her.
 
I feed F/T and my snakes are all the: "open the mouth an swallow kind."
Sometimes when I see them eating they remind me of nestbirds, wide open mouth but they don't make the screeching sounds. Live prey? They are too lazy to constrict anything, they just won't do it.
Lix
 
Feeding

Well i just got a snow corn,haven't fed it yet but soon,any ways seeing my ball python eat is awesome(eats live,also i take the precaution and yes i have injured my finger to stop a mouse from biting my snake)i hope my corn constricts,although i do feel sad for the mouse,its a mousey mouse world. top of the food chain
 
I've found that by dangling the mouse I elicit a strong strike response, which is now being followed by a constricting response. much more fun than just setting it down and letting it swallow the mouse.
 
Some of mine are on live, they all constrict and fiercely! They do constrict till dead. Those on f/t just open their mouth and swallow. I have 1 that eats both live and f/t, she constricts till dead when live and just opens and swallows when f/t. She's efficient!

In the past I fed my butter '05 some live pinks which she ate backwards and alive! Some other '05's I fed some left over live pinks did the same. Horrible but I was glad she ate at that time. Now the butter is my best feeding '05! I also fed some live fuzzies to them later on which they all constricted till death.

Sometimes bloods appears from mice being constricted so I do think some internal injury doesn't make them live any longer...
 
When I got home tonight with an EXCELLENT trade I was excited because I also had a fistful of live pinkies to distribute to all of my babies.

While I was still distributing I saw one of my female normals appear to strike and then recoil in some kind of pain [i thought] so I instantly whipped my head around.

I saw that one of my normal females had grabbed the pinkie about 1/3 of the way down her body, and then with her head and her tail sections she had stretched out and pressed against the roof and floor of the cup.

She was using the pressure from these parts to exhert more force and it was just amazing to me to see that natural reaction- a perfect example of applied physics to gain leverage.

amazing. so she came up with her own name- the amazing, stealthy and crafty daring mousekilling ninja cornsnake.

i might just call her ninja for short. or maybe bob.
 
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