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Headhunter or Buttmuncher?!

accidental_breeder

accidental_breeder

New member
Just a quickie.. Does it matter if a snake eats a mouse head first or butt first? My adult always eats head first but my others eat butt first sometimes. they always manage to get it down and keep it down, just wondering if its normal?

Oh and also sometimes my milk will pick up his fuzzies and drop them in his water dish before eating them.. could he be dehydrated or just weird?? lol
 
There was an interesting informal study about this on SnakeBytes TV. When offered prey items tail first, an older snake, being offered an animal with fur, would always turn the animal head first before swallowing. When offered a naked prey item the snake would eat tail first.

Snakes tell head from tail by feeling the direction of fur growth and feeling for the hard skull. A pinky mouse has no hair and the skull is uncalcified and mushy, so the snake has no indication of which end is which.
 
Interesting! I haven't watched SnakeBytes for a while now! I'll have to get back on YouTube and see what Dorothy is up to! Thanks for the info, Nanci, Good to know eating tail first won't harm them.
 
"Snakes tell head from tail by feeling the direction of fur growth and feeling for the hard skull. A pinky mouse has no hair and the skull is uncalcified and mushy, so the snake has no indication of which end is which."
That is fascinating! Popcorn is on 2 pinks a week & it's about 50/50 wether she eats them head 1st or bum 1st. Always wondered why & now I know lol. Thanks Nanci
 
Of course, some of them remain butt-munching types even when they're up to furry prey with real bones. It comes, at least with my kids, with not bothering to strike and constrict. Spoiled little brats are so used to having it handed to them on a plate (well, in a bin) that they won't work for their meals! Why, in *my* day... Uphill both ways, I tell you!

Anyway, yes, eating tail-first is normal, if less practical than the other direction.
 
This thread wins for best butt-versus-headfirst title, btw. Awesome!

Mine seem to go from either one, to head first only, to either one as they get bigger, but I tend to buy fuzzies and hoppers and combine multiples. So my bigger snakes get 2-3 hoppers sometimes, and just scarf the down whichever way. But the one's with bigger prey in relation to their size go headfirst.

Maybe Susan will post her buttmuncher lolsnake?
 
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