Snakes eat carrion?

[Malum Argenteum]

Some discussions of feeding snakes (usually, discussions specifically about thawing feeders) either explicitly claim or implicitly imply that snakes are obligate feeders on live animals and captive feeding should bear that in mind (by making sure the prey item doesn't look/taste/smell too dead). As it turns out, this isn't entirely accurate.

While I could not find any reference to Python regius feeding on carrion, apparently it is documented in the genus: "Indian pythons have been documented to eat carrion". (Invasive Pythons in the United States: Ecology of an Introduced Predator, By Michael E. Dorcas, John D. Willson)

An older (2002) lit review found 39 published accounts of snakes eating carrion, including that which "smelled strongly of decomposition, or contained fly larvae".

Scavenging by snakes: An examination of the literature, Travis L. DeVault and Aaron R. Krochmal, December 2002 Herpetologica 58(4):429-436

A more recent account noted scavenging by a green racer of a bird that had rigor mortis. This paper also cites ten more published accounts that post date the 2002 lit review:

Death and life on the roadway: scavenging behaviour of the green racer snake Philodryas patagoniensis, João Luiz Ucha and Tiago Santos, August 2017 Herpetology Notes 10:439-441

So, that is fifty documented instances of snakes eating carrion, which is quite a decent data set. No moral to the story, really -- just food for thought.

[Homebody]

In the Complete Children's Python, the authors describe instances of Children's, Pygmy and Stimson's pythons feeding on roadkill.

The most surprising instance of carrion feeding I've heard about was when Snake Discovery rescued a kingsnake attempting to consume a rodent from a glue trap in the garbage.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mF36nVCR50o.

[Malum Argenteum]

Interesting video -- thanks for the link. Personally, I would have suspected that the snake simply got stuck in the trap without the mice playing a role, but Emily noted that the snake made an apparent attempt to eat the mouse while she watched. Apparently, the snake is not very stressed (which is my experience with snakes in glue traps, as well -- they seem to want to get free, but aren't unduly freaked out by it).

Tangent on glue traps: I'm very skeptical of some of their claims. At 1:30 "this glue trap must not be very sticky, since I'm not seeing a lot of torn scales, which tends to happen". I'm not sure how many snakes Ed has caught in glue traps to support his claim about what tends to happen, but I catch about a half dozen a year in traps and have never seen any damage to the snake. If it wasn't very sticky, the snake would be free, no? Judging from Emily's less than expert removal of that snake, she hasn't done that too many times before, so I suspect they're newer to this. She's overdramatizing the yuck factor for television, so maybe she's just playing a part.

At 3:45: "they end up tearing scales...I've seen tons of times where snakes, like, just completely rip down the sides". Without seeing it, I'm going to suggest that's implausible at best. First, a snake has to get two points of contact on the trap (so it can get leverage to pull), and then have enough strength to tear its own skin -- and then have this improbable set of conditions happen "tons of times". Interestingly, there are two comments on the video that claimed this happened, but both involved duct tape (which is pretty different, and should not be used to catch snakes or rodents).

At 6:20: "usually they just get their head stuck, not the entire body". Maybe a large snake that catches their head first and is too large to loop around and get caught further down the body; smaller snakes, when moving about trying to free themselves, cannot help but getting hopelessly tangled. Play with a glue trap for a couple minutes and this will become apparent.

We get an influx of snakes (fox and milk) each fall in our basement, and I remove them with glue traps (I remove many of the snap traps we usually have out, which do in fact harm snakes). Most I clean up and release ASAP. Two now live at a local nature center, and are doing well -- I kept them long enough to shed the glue off and start feeding, both things they had no issues with so apparently were less stressed than many snakes I get from breeders.

[bcr229]

IIRC garter snakes will eat carrion.

I'm not surprised that a king or rat snake would as they're garbage disposals. In the case with the glue trap above, if the mouse were recently dead it's no different than offering a snake a freshly killed live feeder.

[Armiyana]

Yeah, Kingsnakes are garbage disposals. lol
I've also seen some garter snakes eat some nasty dead fish before.

I'm not surprised by it. Technically, when we're drop feeding our snakes it's not too far off from if they had been scavenging in the wild. I suppose it's just a matter of how long it's been dead...

[Homebody]

I suppose it's just a matter of how long it's been dead...

And how hungry is the snake.

I would think arboreal and fossorial snakes are less likely to encounter carrion in the wild, and so they are less likely to eat them. I wonder if that makes them more difficult to feed in captivity. Somehow, I doubt it. It's never that simple.

[Bogertophis]

Well, I once watched a video (I'm pretty sure I also shared it?) of a cobra in the wild that came upon a dead bovine & tried to eat it! Talk about high hopes & desperation, it was working on the face, but getting nowhere, of course. I think some species are far more open-minded than others about consuming carrion, but at some point hunger & survival is a real factor.

[mistergreen]

It is an interesting topic.
Since it came up, I can say that in my journey of life, I have been around humans who know starvation. They reached a point where they will each anything, like grass or coal. Yes, I said that. A snake in the wild would probably do so as well. Considering how my buddy gobbled down his rat just last night, I'm feeling he's not starving!
But I have been wondering if there's anything to offer as an alternate to rats, or mice. I'm sticking with rats. Since I do expect him to livee another 28 years though, I do wonder if rats can be substituted occasionally. I don't want take away from the OP either.

[Bogertophis]

...I have been wondering if there's anything to offer as an alternate to rats, or mice. I'm sticking with rats. Since I do expect him to live another 28 years though, I do wonder if rats can be substituted occasionally...

Many snake-keepers feel it's more natural & likely more healthy* to vary the diet of captive snakes, since that's certainly what happens in the wild. (*Since not all prey animals offer the exact same nutrition, in terms of %'s & trace minerals.) The only thing I'd caution you about though is if you're talking about a ball python, keep in mind they can be VERY opinionated. While some may happily accept other prey items, not all of them will, OR, they'll get stuck on the "new thing" so be careful what you try. If the new thing is not 100% accessible for you to provide in the future (either due to availability where you are or the price is prohibitive) I'd think twice before 'opening that can of worms' (figuratively speaking ).

Years back, when I raised rats, mice & hamsters, I varied the diets of many of my snakes. Many seemed to relish the occasional changes, or at least they submitted no formal complaints. Some also tried chicks. Your budget might also be a consideration, since things like ASFs (African Soft-Furred rats) cost a lot more than the domestic rodents.

[Malum Argenteum]

It is an interesting topic.
Since it came up, I can say that in my journey of life, I have been around humans who know starvation. They reached a point where they will each anything, like grass or coal. Yes, I said that. A snake in the wild would probably do so as well. Considering how my buddy gobbled down his rat just last night, I'm feeling he's not starving!

Interesting connection, and I'll bet I don't want to know anything more about the situations you've seen. I'll bet it was terrible.

I'm not sure the connection with snakes holds, though. Humans are dietary generalists, and we have complex enough inner lives that we can rationalize basically anything. Plenty of snake species will hold out for their preferred food source in captivity until they die. Not sure if you've bred many snakes, but some hatchlings simply won't eat -- and this is not because they're unhealthy or malformed, they're just a species that doesn't find captive offerings to be close enough to what they recognize as edible.