CRAZY... my bp swallowed a rat alive...

I just witnessed this happening, and it was pretty grotesque and also scary (for my snake). I've literally never heard or seen this happen anywhere before, and had no idea it was even possible, so didn't know what to do, so I just didn't intervene.

Basically, my adult lesser female is eating live during the breeding season, and I don't want to have her lose weight while trying to get her on F/T, so I've been buying her small rats. She coiled the rat, and within 15 seconds, it seemed to have only passed out. She dropped it, but it was still breathing heavily. And then started eating it, while it was still breathing and twitching, and apparently the breathing was making her throat expand up and down with each of the rat's exhales.

She got the rat halfway down to the end of the front paws when it "came back to life" and started thrashing and squeaking with its head way inside her throat. She then half-heartedly coiled it again using only her neck until it stopped moving again... but only for another 15 seconds or so. And this time, I have no idea whether it was only passed out again or really dead. She continued swallowing it all the way, but I swear I heard another faint squeak when she already had it down to the tail.

SO...

What was I supposed to do in this situation, because I'm sure there were risks of the rat maybe even biting her insides or biting the inside of her throat, when it came awake? How do I intervene this?

I've never heard of a snake eating prey while it was still alive! I'm sure she was ravenous! And I'm honestly still paranoid that the rat is still half-alive inside her right now. O_O Those coils were REALLY not good and not long enough to kill prey.

That must have been terrifying and traumatizing to watch, so sorry!

I have heard of non-constricting colubrids eating prey alive before. Just slither up and gulp it down. I assume that means that they can handle it?

For what it's worth, the rat probably passed out and then died on the way down after the first claustrophobic struggle. Being inside an esophagus, it would not be able to get any more air than it had before its head was engulfed, and it was already weakened and lacking oxygen.

Hopefully that doesn't happen again! Sorry you had to witness that.


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When I was having to feed my Hoggy live she would do this often. I could hear the pinks squeaking inside of her and see them moving. She did this all the way up to hoppers until she finally kicked onto F/T......thankfully. Even with small feeders this made me nervous but it never seemed to bother her one bit.

That's horrifying!! Sorry you had to see that!!

Oh man that'd be awful! I would feel terrible for both animals involved...I hope your little snake is doing well. I assume it'll be fine, as the others said the rat can't get air anymore, but like you I would be concerned about claws or teeth doing damage in a struggle. Hopefully this is a one-off thing for her!

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Originally Posted by cristacake

For what it's worth, the rat probably passed out and then died on the way down after the first claustrophobic struggle. Being inside an esophagus, it would not be able to get any more air than it had before its head was engulfed, and it was already weakened and lacking oxygen.

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That's true, I'm hoping it died quickly this way. And really hope that it didn't manage to take a bite out of my BP's insides when it was thrashing.

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Originally Posted by KMG

When I was having to feed my Hoggy live she would do this often. I could hear the pinks squeaking inside of her and see them moving. She did this all the way up to hoppers until she finally kicked onto F/T......thankfully. Even with small feeders this made me nervous but it never seemed to bother her one bit.

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Good to know that it is a thing that happens, even though they're pinks. I've read that pinks and fuzzies can last a much longer time without oxygen (which is why CO2 euthanization doesn't work well for them), so makes sense... Gee.

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Originally Posted by Yzmasmom

That's horrifying!! Sorry you had to see that!!

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It is. :( Though mainly worried for my snake during the ordeal.

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Originally Posted by AlbinoBull

Oh man that'd be awful! I would feel terrible for both animals involved...I hope your little snake is doing well. I assume it'll be fine, as the others said the rat can't get air anymore, but like you I would be concerned about claws or teeth doing damage in a struggle. Hopefully this is a one-off thing for her!

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I watched her like a hawk for 20 minutes afterward, and she seemed alright! I sure hope it's a one time thing. I've never even read about this happening from other keepers before.

This reminds me a long time ago when we had a wild caught garter snake and some times we'd feed him mice or rat pinkies. Thing is he used to eat them alive and when he swallowed them you could hear them in his belly. Kinda sad but they were food for him.

That's horrible, hope your girl is ok.

Giant's pitcher Madison Bumgarner tells a story how killed a rattlesnake on his ranch, found a baby jackrabbit inside that moved, and he and his wife nursed it back to health.

I dont think there is anything you could have done without hurting the snake.

My smaller king snakes always eat live pinkies and swallow them whole while they are alive, but that's a non threatening pinky. I always do fresh kill with my larger rodents, hearing stories like this terrifies me. I've had some bad experiences myself with rats biting the snake because they grabbed only a leg or the rat had it's mouth against the snake when coiled for the first few seconds. It costs me a little extra for the CO2 to put them down but I think it's worth the safety of my snakes. And they all seem to like fresh kill much better than frozen thawed. I'd only do live as a last resort if a skinny snake was refusing to eat, just my personal preference.

More than likely the rodent was suffering from severe asphyxiation as it was being swallowed and therefore would not have the ability to defend itself by biting the snakes insides. It also was experiencing gastric enzyme aspiration and had a very altered mental status being partially swallowed. It is disturbing, but these snakes have a inherent ability to know when their prey has succumbed enough to be swallowed. :O

Wow. That's intense!!.. however, im sure your snake will be fine. The insides of a snake are not where a semi conscious rat would wanna be, given the tight confines, not even allowing it to breath. As well as the extreme acidity of the gastric enzymes that they have.

I have a strong feeling there's nothing to worry about now. :)


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My male cinnamon pewter did this once.. he was refusing to eat anything but live so I put the small rat in and he grabbed it and coiled and started eating right away but he was trying to eat it from the butt not the front so when the rat woke up it bit him on the top of his head and I didn't know what to do... he did end up eating it and he has a small scab that is getting smaller with every shed but I'm still traumatized by it and keep a close eye on him every feeding and it hasn't happened again I don't know why he started eating before it was killed that time. He's my last that still hasn't switched to pre killed, which is ironic because he was my first bp that I got when I got back into snakes.

Everything cool with your snake?

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Originally Posted by cletus

Everything cool with your snake?

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Yeah, she's fine! Or at least looks fine from the outside. Mainly worried about the 30 seconds or so when the rat started thrashing and jumping around with its head halfway down her throat...

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Originally Posted by AriSilvermoon

My male cinnamon pewter did this once.. he was refusing to eat anything but live so I put the small rat in and he grabbed it and coiled and started eating right away but he was trying to eat it from the butt not the front so when the rat woke up it bit him on the top of his head and I didn't know what to do... he did end up eating it and he has a small scab that is getting smaller with every shed but I'm still traumatized by it and keep a close eye on him every feeding and it hasn't happened again I don't know why he started eating before it was killed that time. He's my last that still hasn't switched to pre killed, which is ironic because he was my first bp that I got when I got back into snakes.

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Oh geez, that sounds horrible.. I guess our snakes must have gone loopy with hunger or something. When the rat's head is actually exposed and open to bite my snake, I hold their mouths off with the tongs.

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Originally Posted by Albert Clark

More than likely the rodent was suffering from severe asphyxiation as it was being swallowed and therefore would not have the ability to defend itself by biting the snakes insides. It also was experiencing gastric enzyme aspiration and had a very altered mental status being partially swallowed. It is disturbing, but these snakes have a inherent ability to know when their prey has succumbed enough to be swallowed. :O

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Hopefully Albert! The rat literally started jumping around the tub with its hind feet (and squeaking!) while its head and front paws were way inside her throat, which is the part I'm worried about. It wasn't unconscious at all. That lasted maybe 30 seconds before she got the memo that the rat's still alive and tried to coil it again... with its head halfway down her throat.. :B

Right on. Good to hear...

Oh gosh im so sorry you had to witness that. :( But I am glad she is ok! I feel like each snake owner has experienced at least one particularly gruesome or surprising thing that makes them need to go lay down for a little bit and just process the splendor and the trevail of nature.