Corn eating it's shed skin...

[Reediculous]

Hi,

Someone posted this photo on the boards but I can't find the original post.




dr del

i wish i could do that!

[zimbabwepegasus]

woah-
hold it?!
Why is that snake doing that?

[MechWarrior]

Hi,

Someone posted this photo on the boards but I can't find the original post.




dr del

That's nuts! Do you have any details about that photo? The owner pulled the tail out...right?

[MechWarrior]

woah-
hold it?!
Why is that snake doing that?

It probably thought it was another snake. That's a downright weird thing to do though. I bet that snake in the photo is a leucistic (that's an albino with normal eyes, right?) King or Racer (both eat other snakes and sometimes themselves as seen in this picture).

[Sunny1]

Out of curiosity, what happens when a snake like the one in the pic tries to eat itself? Do they get pretty far before they realize that it is themselves they are trying to eat? Do they get hurt by this? Is it just Kings that do this?

Sorry about the possibly silly questions, I have just never heard about that before.

[BallPythonsRule]

Does the snake not feel it's hurting itself??
:eek:

[Hardwikk]

That's very unusual, but I have a logical explanation for it (please PM me if you disagree and why): most snakes after they shed feed ravenously. Your boyfriend's Corn was no different; It was hungry and there was something edible right there in the cage...

[Izzi]

I saw a post by a corn snake breeder once that had a similar thing occur - and the snake killed itself! Just swollowed until the couldn't anymore... it was a pretty little baby too!

[JLC]

That's nuts! Do you have any details about that photo? The owner pulled the tail out...right?

If I remember the story correctly that came with that picture, the snake eventually realized its error and spit its tail out without any harm.

It probably thought it was another snake. That's a downright weird thing to do though. I bet that snake in the photo is a leucistic (that's an albino with normal eyes, right?) King or Racer (both eat other snakes and sometimes themselves as seen in this picture).

That's a California Kingsnake. And a leucistic is not just an "albino with normal eyes"...they are two completely different sorts of mutations.

[Lokua]

the pic could be photoshopped.

on the eating its skin. i dont belive it would be a health problem, but im not a herp vet.

would suggest removing the skin soon as it sheds if possible or placing a F/t in the cage each day during the shed cycle so an alternative will be there to eat. though you could waste 4-5 f/t that way. could be worth trying once to just condition the snake into not eating the skin and that food will be on the way if he will just wait