you know what, I think reading this thread jinxed me. I have never seen or heard of this happening in my 10 years of owning snakes. However, I switched my black pastel female over to small rats the other day and sure enough she had the head in her mouth and the rat was still alive and started kicking. She has been a mouser her whole life and I think she underestimated killing rats. I watched to make sure the rat wasnt getting her (this is precisely why you keep an eye on them if feeding live) and after a minute or so the rat suffocated and she finished the job, thats got to be a horrible way to go, eaten alive. All is well though, just thought I'd share since I'd never had this happen before and I see it on here and then it happens.