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why some corns dont constrict

hediki

i luv them all.
hey i was watching something on the discovery channel on snakes. and they say contrictors stop constricting wen the heart stops. my theory is...so if you use frozen mice the snake may see no need to constrict.
 
That's possible. I have yet to see one of mine try to constrict a f/t. Although from what I've read around here, and in my own experience, many don't even feel the need to constrict a live pinky. I have had two or three take them down without constricting a bit. On the other hand, I have had one who took an hour to contrict before she was satisfied enough to eat!
 
What a theory.

I guess my snakes must not participate in that theory since all of my snakes constrict f/t.
 
That's interesting... None of mine constrict the f/t at all. One will strike at them and then eat, but she doesn't constrict. Would be a neat subject to do a study on. :)


hana
 
i find my corn only constricts when i dangle the food and move it around. if i just put the foor in, he just eats it
 
shaqfan said:
i find my corn only constricts when i dangle the food and move it around. if i just put the foor in, he just eats it

Most of mine-I have 7 different species, will constrict if I move the prey. I feed with forceps and often imitate a little bit of struggle when the prey is first grabbed. Causes most of my snakes to give it a good squeeze.
 
hediki said:
hey i was watching something on the discovery channel on snakes. and they say contrictors stop constricting wen the heart stops. my theory is...so if you use frozen mice the snake may see no need to constrict.
in that case, why do some snakes constrict f/t rodents even if there's never a heartbeat there?
 
Some of mine constrict, some don't. My amel always constricts, and he does it for a long time. He's always been on f/t. I'm having a hard time buying the heartbeat theory too, or else no one told my snakes about it. For that matter, my Green tree pythons constrict too, and they always hold on for quite a bit before eating.
 
well its wat i saw on discovery they stop constricting when the hearty stops beating. or cant feel as pulse. and people i said MAY, meaning there is a possibility. and maybe the snakes test constict you no. i should do a research. :sidestep: :cheers:
 
With pinkies mine only constricted the first time but with fuzzies she constricts everytime so far...
 
I feed from tongs as well, but I generally see more constriction once the size of the prey item has a decent amount of fur. (Hopper and up)

Q
 
We have 3 snakes, a corn, a king, and a milk. None of the 3 constrict on the f/t pinkies. The milk is a shy eater, the king needed the pinkie waved, and the corn is a pig.

Walt
 
When i feed mine i dangle the mice in the air, and they snatch it out of my hand, they then coil themselves around the mouse for a few minutes and eventually eat them !!!
 
I had to feed a picky sub adult a live fuzzy the other day. The previous owner fed live and i am still weaning it to f/t. It ate the thing without constricting at all. The mouse was still alive as it went down. Traumatic for my wife :eek1:
 
It ate the thing without constricting at all.

Yeah... if you ever see a corn eat a live pink rear-end first, you get to hear squeaking all the way down. I think it has to do with a) how secure the corn feels vs. the prey, and b) how much 'struggle' the prey puts up.

Most corns feel secure enough eating a pink or fuzzie that constriction is ignored. I've noticed this even when the pink is dangled from tongs infront of a hatchling corn. When the snake starts getting to hoppers, if the hopper is just found lying there, the snake generally won't constrict. If it's dangled... most will strike and constrict. Some will refuse to take it until it's set down and they can examine it. Others will gingerly take the mouse from the tongs.

It takes all kinds.

-Kat
 
My own theory is that it doesn't make sense to expend more energy than necessary. Those who waste "energy" have less of it to put toward reproduction, which impacts their genes' success. So, in the wild where competition is heavy, those who use it most efficiently are most likely to pass on their genes and therefore they adapt (both individually through "learning" and over generations through "evolving") toward that standard.

Since they start out with food items that do not need to be constricted, they don't waste the energy on constricting them. If you give them a pinky and they aren't constricting it, and you use tongs to help the pinky put up a significant struggle, (assuming you don't scare the hatchling off the food) they will start going "hey!" and constricting it as necessary. That's what I've observed anyway, is that they will begin to constrict as their prey puts up enough of a struggle. Those individuals who learn that they need to constrict (in order to subdue their prey or keep from being harmed) will do so more often than those who have never seen live or "animated" food.

Obviously they will vary in both directions... some will constrict more than necessary, and some will not try to constrict even when they have dangerous prey struggling with them. But the above "happy medium" seems to be the most obvious tendency in corns, at least as I've observed it.
 
I think Serp's theory is valid from what I've seen.

When I used to feed live prey exclusively, I had a large male that would suffocate its prey, but usually not by standard, coil constriction. This guy would wait for the mouse to get in position, then he would throw part of his body at the mouse, pinning it to the viv glass, or water bowl. He would actually crush the mouse to death by pushing it against something. It was strange to watch, and I've never seen another corn do this even once.
 
Just a quick note here: Just because something is said on television, does not mean it should be taken as postulate. Even the Discovery channel gets their facts wrong from time to time.
 
Aurora13 said:
Just a quick note here: Just because something is said on television, does not mean it should be taken as postulate. Even the Discovery channel gets their facts wrong from time to time.

it refered to a african rock python, that is underbelly senses pulses. so i was wondering if it aplied to corns and most captive bread coloubrids. so thanks every one for you reply. i was just a idea. lol. i luv when discussions go on like this.
:rolleyes: :) :cheers:
 
Aurora13 said:
Just a quick note here: Just because something is said on television, does not mean it should be taken as postulate. Even the Discovery channel gets their facts wrong from time to time.

it refereed to a African rock python, that is underbelly senses pulses. so i was wondering if it applied to corns and most captive bread coloubrids. so thanks every one for you reply. i was just a idea. lol. i luv when discussions go on like this.
:rolleyes: :) :cheers:
 
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