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Posted by regalringneck on August 31, 2002 at 07:34:12:
John Gunn
azdiadophis@aol.com
compiled August 30, 2002
Re: Snakes eating snakes
This is a subject I've hit about [see imbedded text created in caps] but never condensed as I've started to do here...
I have maintained a considerable number of ophiophagous snakes & thus have a small but probably adequate sample size to make inferences from. I have fed snakes to snakes for many years. I remember being facinated long ago... a big nasty red coachwhip that ate a 3' gopher snake that I had already in the pillowcase when I caught him [he nearly ate me too]! I pondered about the relish my numerous cal. kings showed for striped racers [M. lateralis] & neonate pituophis, but their comparative reluctance towards live Crotalids & gartersnakes. I have worked w/ ophiphagous specialists such as regal ringnecks, coral snakes & the generalists such as the kings, whipsnakes & now guardians & ....drumroll...Clelia!
I have also experimented offering a great many roadkilled snakes over the years & have been able to draw some reasonable conclusions from the chemo-sensory behavior for many spps. too.
The enormous size of the possible prey relative to the snakes size is maximized when they are feeding on other snakes. Apparently it is adaptive for them to eat each other over evolutionary periods of time. That all spps. dont do this indicates this behavior also has its costs.
I have not found any evidence of & thus dont consider parasatism - disease to be a significant issue, more on that later...
Re: Addiction; some have suggested their is a risk that these individuals will refuse other food items. My kings & current BT Cribo easily switch between squamate & mammalian prey, taking either with gusto. Live mammals seem to evoke the greatest feeding response, though a friend of mine thought he was going to die when he picked up my current 4'+ cal king right after holding my great plains skinks...
W/O going thru the rigors of literature citations...I have, like most biologists [who have taken a closer look @ herps], have long ascribed the majority of snakes coloration/size/behavior to have been largely selected for via avian predation (hawks in partic.). What I have recently begun to ponder, is perhaps it is other serpents which actually pose the greatest danger to the greatest number of serpent spps.[obviously, sea snakes/worm snakes/etc. are responding to other selective forces]. It is very revealing, the number of spps. that are ophiphagous to one degree or another.
The concept that is forming is; Are many if not most modern serpents a compromise between their avian avoidance & squamate avoidance strategies?
I find examining both the predatory & defensive behavior strategies to be facinating [examples; recoiling or advancing upon scenting / crotalid body blows / rosy boas balling up w/ the head in the center/ alligator lizards biting their own bodies to form a closed loop...etc].
I have heard about & want to examine if the guardians intentionally break the necks of sizeable squamate prey.
How a serpent community is thus structured in nature can be perhaps partially derived via these feeding trials. The scent trails these squamates leave while exploring their homeranges might also be great liabilities if the wrong type & size of serpent intercepts its trail.
Another question I'm partially answering; Do different spps. prey on each others eggs or juveniles; is a young kingsnake prey to a coachwhip, or will its scent cause the coachwhip to change direction?
Re: parasite disease concerns...consider; 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. I have never known a wild-caught snake to exhibit the syndrome unless it was processed through the cages of a commercial dealer.
Case History; BT Cribo: A FEW DOR ATROX & PITUOPHIS NEONATES, AS WELL AS LIVE LIZARDS, & THE REGURGING STOPPED ~ DEC. & THE GROWTH FINALLY TOOK OFF. IT HAS BEEN SHEDDING ~ 1/MONTH THE SPRING-SUMMER OF 2002. GROWTH IS NOW VERY RAPID.
Case History; Many king cobra keepers feed their specimens snakes from around the world & rarely experience problems from doing so, even captive exotics to the cobras.
Re: different snake prey palatability...consider; BT Cribo: THIS SPRING I HAVE STUFFED IT SEVERAL TIMES W/ DOR ATROX [HAVENT FOUND A SMALL LIVE ONE YET!], & IT APPEARS TO MORE COMPLETELY ASSIMILATE (LESS FECES VOLUME!) THEM THAN MAMMALIAN PREY? IT APPEARS TO DEVOUR THE ATROX MUCH MORE READILY THAN IT DOES DOR PITUOPHIS; SEVERAL OF THE LATTER WERE ACTUALLY REFUSED? LIVE LIZARDS (UROSAURUS) ARE VERY STIMULATORY & WILL NORMALLY EVOKE A RAPID FEEDING STRIKE.
DESPITE A COMPARATIVELY LARGE HEAD, IT CANNOT SWALLOW VERY BULKY ITEMS. A 1 M PIUOPHIS CAN EASILY SWALLOW THE LARGEST MUS (35-40 G), THIS CRIBO W/ A LARGER HEAD CANNOT SWALLOW THEM ABOVE ~ 30-32 G. IT ALSO APPEARS TO GIVE UP EASILY, TWICE I HAVE OBSERVED IT GIVE UP W/ BUT ONE EFFORT. NO ATTEMPT IS MADE TO COIL AROUND THE PREY & ELONGATE IT AS CONSTRICTORS TYPICALLY DO. SWALLOWING IS VERY RAPID.
IN THEIR PREY RICH ENVIRONMENT, THEY MUST KILL SOME PREY TOO LARGE TO BE SWALLOWED, PARTICULARLY IN BURROWS, THAT THEY MUST SUBSEQUENTLY ABANDON.
WHEN THE PREY IS THE CORRECT SHAPE, THEY CAN PREY ON SIZEABLE ITEMS: SEE THE ACCOUNT IN "SNAKES OF BELIZE" OF A 7'+ CRIBO OVERPOWERING A 4' BOA & EATING IT AFTER A THRASHING BATTLE!
IT PROCESSES ITS FOOD VERY FAST, FOR EXAMPLE; RECENTLY W/ .33 OF ITS LENGTH A STUFFED LUMP [W/ A RATTLESNAKE], IT PROCESSED THIS DOWN TO ITS NORMAL BODY CONFIGURATION IN 4.5 DAYS.
The reluctance of so many herpetoculturists / naturalists to see the benefits & insights to experimenting with this, primarily because they "like" these taxons is an interesting (albeit simple) human socio-biology topic in itself.
