Snakes Eating In The Wild Thread

[Mikoh4792]

Found this cool image on facebook. Didn't know beardeds were a part of their diet

https://scontent-b-lga.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/t1/1545164_824986207515044_1534125251_n.jpg

[Terranaut]

Apparently that one is :)

[Mikoh4792]

Apparently that one is :)

lol. So apparently the snake didn't move for 5 days after that meal. I imagine it being because of the sharp ends of the lizard.

[Donnie]

I don't think carpets are too fussed about what they eat as long as they can swallow it. It's a great picture, was there any more?

[Mikoh4792]

I don't think carpets are too fussed about what they eat as long as they can swallow it. It's a great picture, was there any more?

none that I can see.

Wish there was a post-swallow picture though.

[Donnie]

none that I can see.

Wish there was a post-swallow picture though.

That's the shot I would have liked to see, I imagine that would be some feeding bulge.

[Mikoh4792]

I think this is a blackhead eating a monitor

https://scontent-b-lga.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn2/t1/1609652_10202262146549565_2029150578_n.jpg

https://scontent-b-lga.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc3/t1/1609569_10202262129549140_1551607804_n.jpg

[Mikoh4792]

Pic was not taken in the wild, but interesting nonetheless.

Olive python eating a diamond
https://scontent-a-lga.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc1/t1/1623453_10202692853785548_1266946096_n.jpg

[poison123]

Cool pics.

second one looks like a black head.

[Mikoh4792]

Thanks for the correction poison. It was indeed a blackhead. I get the two confused someitmes haha

[Donnie]

I've seen the BHP ones before and it still amazes me to see the size of that going down

[Mikoh4792]

I've seen the BHP ones before and it still amazes me to see the size of that going down

Was probably a close call for the snake. I'd imagine a monitor that big could just have easily killed the blackhead.

[formica]

what I'd like to know, is whether that carpet ever ate another bearded dragon after that one, I cant imagine those spiny things go down very easily lol

[infernalis]

Bearded dragons are common food items for other animals in Australia.

Monitors eat them all the time.

[Starbuck]

Lol show the Beardie pic to the next person asking 'is my prey size alright?' Heh heh... definitely makes me not worry about my rat size so much hahaha

[Mikoh4792]

Lol show the Beardie pic to the next person asking 'is my prey size alright?' Heh heh... definitely makes me not worry about my rat size so much hahaha

Good point. We should sticky that picture in the morelia spilota section haha. "Yes your prey size is fine!"

[bigsnakegirl785]

This one was from Flickr. African rock python eating a Thompson's gazelle.
http://images.cdn.fotopedia.com/flickr-6257248905-original.jpg
Python sebae on Fotopedia (http://www.fotopedia.com/wiki/Python_sebae#!/items/flickr-6257248905)

[LiL Zap]

This one was from Flickr. African rock python eating a Thompson's gazelle.
http://images.cdn.fotopedia.com/flickr-6257248905-original.jpg
Python sebae on Fotopedia (http://www.fotopedia.com/wiki/Python_sebae#!/items/flickr-6257248905)
Amazing. I love giant constrictors.

[Mikoh4792]

This one was from Flickr. African rock python eating a Thompson's gazelle.
http://images.cdn.fotopedia.com/flickr-6257248905-original.jpg
Python sebae on Fotopedia (http://www.fotopedia.com/wiki/Python_sebae#!/items/flickr-6257248905)

Great pic! Let's see more

[bigsnakegirl785]

Here's a common garter eating a fence lizard.
http://sandysteinman.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/common_garter_snake-2.jpg
Table Mountain Wildflower Report April 6, 2012 | Natural History Wanderings (http://naturalhistorywanderings.com/2012/04/07/table-mountain-wildflower-report-april-6-2012/)

What I believe is a Bolivian boa constrictor (BCA) eating some sort of bird.
http://i1157.photobucket.com/albums/p600/dtr_2009_/Not%20Owned%20By%20Me/bcaperhaps_zps71180da8.jpg (http://s1157.photobucket.com/user/dtr_2009_/media/Not%20Owned%20By%20Me/bcaperhaps_zps71180da8.jpg.html)
Snake by fabiano-bastos on deviantART (http://fabiano-bastos.deviantart.com/art/Snake-338962358)

[Starbuck]

Oh man, i sure hope that Boa doesn't eat any of those icky leaves and dirt when he finally knocks back that disgusting, disease-ridden bird.... hopefully the substrate was baked first!!! :O_o:

[poison123]

Oh man, i sure hope that Boa doesn't eat any of those icky leaves and dirt when he finally knocks back that disgusting, disease-ridden bird.... hopefully the substrate was baked first!!! :O_o:

I heard the snake got impacted after that photo.

[IW17]

Pic was not taken in the wild, but interesting nonetheless.

Olive python eating a diamond
https://scontent-a-lga.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc1/t1/1623453_10202692853785548_1266946096_n.jpg

Wow I hate to say this one kinda bums me out. Such a beautiful diamond. Wonder how this happened and if it was intentional.

[Mikoh4792]

Wow bigsnakegirl great shots.

[bigsnakegirl785]

Wow bigsnakegirl great shots.

Thanks! I was just looking around on Google for the garter photo, and the boa shot has been in my da favorites for awhile now. I had to really look for it. lol

[bigsnakegirl785]

I found another one on DA. A European/common adder eating a frog.
http://i62.tinypic.com/2ykype0.jpg

20080702-175948.jpg by SveinSkogen on deviantART (http://sveinskogen.deviantart.com/art/20080702-175948-jpg-433366830)

[Derek Roddy]

Was probably a close call for the snake. I'd imagine a monitor that big could just have easily killed the blackhead.

Funny story about those series of pictures with the BHP.

First the monitor was a road kill
Second, the BHPs regurgitated the monitor about 30 minutes... after spending 5 hours eating it. Haha.

I know the bloke who took some of the series of pictures.

D

[Derek Roddy]

Here's a question none of you are asking when making smart comments about "prey size".
How much fat content is on these "wild prey items" as opposed to "captive prey items"?

And, is that constant 70% more fat source good or bad over time for your captive animal?

Didn't someone ask recently why we don't see pictures of animals in people collection that are over 10 years old very often? You know the reason right?

Overfeeding.

But that's OK....go ahead and shorten your snakes life span by half so you can see a "bulge". Haha

D

[Derek Roddy]

Oh man, i sure hope that Boa doesn't eat any of those icky leaves and dirt when he finally knocks back that disgusting, disease-ridden bird.... hopefully the substrate was baked first!!! :O_o:

Haha. I love it when people get bent out of shape because their snake ate substrate.
Here's a perfect example of why it's not that big of a deal. Of course, the stuff you buy is treated with all types of crap that can't be good but, they never get enough of it in a cage to harm them.

This boa is easily going to take over a handful of leaves down with that fowl. Haha.

D

[Derek Roddy]

Lol show the Beardie pic to the next person asking 'is my prey size alright?' Heh heh... definitely makes me not worry about my rat size so much hahaha

This is an interesting comment.

And I've often wondered why keepers compare wild prey diet nutrition to captive prey nutrition in relation to "size".

In reality, that "big" breaded has about as much fat content as a weaned mouse. So, a rat of equal size to that breaded has at least 25 times the amount of fat content. The bearded would be much easier to break down in the system.

Fat is the toughest to break down and cause the most health issues with reptiles.
25 times the fat content is an oversized meal. No matter how you look at it.

When I say "size" I emphases everything about the prey, fat content, protein content, etc....not just the actual size of the prey.

D

[StudentoReptile]

Didn't Wayne post a pic somewhere of a water snake eating a DOR frog a while back? Does that apply here?

[Mikoh4792]

This is an interesting comment.

And I've often wondered why keepers compare wild prey diet nutrition to captive prey nutrition in relation to "size".

In reality, that "big" breaded has about as much fat content as a weaned mouse. So, a rat of equal size to that breaded has at least 25 times the amount of fat content. The bearded would be much easier to break down in the system.

Fat is the toughest to break down and cause the most health issues with reptiles.
25 times the fat content is an oversized meal. No matter how you look at it.

When I say "size" I emphases everything about the prey, fat content, protein content, etc....not just the actual size of the prey.

D

I might just start feeding my carpet pythons bearded dragons from now on. Or other agamid lizards that are cheaper

[Mikoh4792]

Didn't Wayne post a pic somewhere of a water snake eating a DOR frog a while back? Does that apply here?

Of course! That would be great

[Aaron_S]

This is an interesting comment.

And I've often wondered why keepers compare wild prey diet nutrition to captive prey nutrition in relation to "size".

In reality, that "big" breaded has about as much fat content as a weaned mouse. So, a rat of equal size to that breaded has at least 25 times the amount of fat content. The bearded would be much easier to break down in the system.

Fat is the toughest to break down and cause the most health issues with reptiles.
25 times the fat content is an oversized meal. No matter how you look at it.

When I say "size" I emphases everything about the prey, fat content, protein content, etc....not just the actual size of the prey.

D

I would add that it has to do with the frequency of prey items in the wild compared to how frequent we feed in captivity.

[Aaron_S]

Here's a question none of you are asking when making smart comments about "prey size".
How much fat content is on these "wild prey items" as opposed to "captive prey items"?

And, is that constant 70% more fat source good or bad over time for your captive animal?

Didn't someone ask recently why we don't see pictures of animals in people collection that are over 10 years old very often? You know the reason right?

Overfeeding.

But that's OK....go ahead and shorten your snakes life span by half so you can see a "bulge". Haha

D

I am not disagreeing that there's a lot of overfeeding going on but I'd like to add that this hobby has a really high turn over rate of people in it. As sad as that is.

It's easily seen in classifieds of all the people who were loving their animals "for the next 20 years" selling them due to "unforeseen circumstances" a couple years later. That is a large reason why this hobby doesn't see 10+ year old animals.

I have/had multiple 13+ year old snakes in my collection over the last few years and they were/are still breeding.

To end on a good note, I do see more and more people learning about overfeeding so hopefully more and more people do it less.

[EL Ziggy]

Help me out here... Do wild or captive animals have a longer lifespan on average? Which animals are healthier on average and what is overfeeding? Are most care sheets in line with what's optimal for captive animals? I feed my yearling king snakes 1-2 small mice a week. I would think animals eat more often in the wild. As opportunistic feeders I thought they ate whatever they could whenever they could. I don't ever feel like I'm feeding my snakes too much but I sometimes wonder if im feeding them enough.

[CosmicOwl]

On the topic of fat content, part of me wants to feed my small snakes a more natural diet of lizards and frogs, but it seems like the options are limit. You could buy feeding anoles/house geckos, but they're incredibly expensive when compared to mice. Besides, most of them are wild caught. So if I didn't care about parasites, I could simply go out and catch one of the hundreds of anoles that are within walking distance of my front door.

My question is, are there any lizards or frogs that would make good feeders and could be easily bred in captivity?

[KORBIN5895]

Most snakes eat less in the wild because the wild is huge and provide plenty of room for prey to hide.

You could catch the wild ankles and treat them for parasites.

@Derek

I have actually noticed that most boas aren't making it past 10-15 years. I feel it also has to do with the fact that by keeping them at the optimal temp causes their metabolism to be in high gear all of the time.

[CosmicOwl]

Most snakes eat less in the wild because the wild is huge and provide plenty of room for prey to hide.

You could catch the wild ankles and treat them for parasites.

@Derek

I have actually noticed that most boas aren't making it past 10-15 years. I feel it also has to do with the fact that by keeping them at the optimal temp causes their metabolism to be in high gear all of the time.

That's a really interesting idea, Korbin. Let's say I did go out and catch some and treat them for parasites... when do you think you think they could be used as feeders without any carry over to my snakes?

[Starbuck]

Depends on the drug you use to treat for parasites. You should be able to call the manufacturer or a vet and ask about meat withhold

[KORBIN5895]

That's a really interesting idea, Korbin. Let's say I did go out and catch some and treat them for parasites... when do you th ink they could be used as feeders without any carry over to my snakes?

If you used something like panucure I wouldn't get too worried about it as that is the same thing that you would use on a snake. Give it a couple of days to let it work but considering how little the dose would be for a lizard compared to a snake I wouldn't get too worked up. If you use them as a stable of his diet then I would make sure you let them get it completely out of their system as small doses every week wouldn't be very healthy.

[CosmicOwl]

If you used something like panucure I wouldn't get too worried about it as that is the same thing that you would use on a snake. Give it a couple of days to let it work but considering how little the dose would be for a lizard compared to a snake I wouldn't get too worked up. If you use them as a stable of his diet then I would make sure you let them get it completely out of their system as small doses every week wouldn't be very healthy.

Yeah, that's what I was thinking. I also assume it might be necessary to kill any mites as well? I like the concept, but it does seem like it could be more trouble than it's worth.

[KORBIN5895]

I think snake mites are pretty specific to snakes.

[CosmicOwl]

I think snake mites are pretty specific to snakes.

Alright. I wasn't sure if there might some potential risk.