What do snakes eat?

All snakes are predators and therefore never eat plant foods.Since snakes swallow their prey whole, they have very caustic digestive juices.

The jaws of the snake have an unusual structure. They are very weakly connected to other bones of the skull. Tiny teeth grow along the edge of the jaws, and some snakes also grow two additional rows of teeth in the palate. All these teeth are connected to bones, which are set in motion by special muscles.


On the example of a rattlesnake.

Having captured the prey, the snake holds it with the teeth of the lower jaw, and the upper one pushes it into the mouth opening. When the food has already passed halfway into the mouth, the lower jaw also begins to help the upper jaw move the food deeper into the esophagus.

Due to the special structure of the jaw, the snake can swallow large animals. So, for example, pythons sometimes swallow leopards and deer! But, of course, small individuals eat small animals. Most snakes still feed on medium-sized living creatures: grasshoppers, frogs, fish, mice, rats and birds. Some tiny blind snakes only eat termites. And there are also snakes that prey on their own kind.

As for food, these reptiles are very picky. So, the green snake eats spiders, fish, birds, caterpillars, but will not touch lizards and mice, and the water snake is not indifferent to fish and frogs, but will ignore insects and mice.

Anacondas eat a variety of foods.

Wild snakes are predators. They never eat plant foods. Snakes exist on every continent. There are none in Antarctica. Most snakes live in the subtropics as well as the tropics. There are both harmless and dangerous snakes. Large snakes are the water boa, anaconda and reticulated python. They swallow their prey whole, thanks to the caustic digestive juices that accumulate in the body. Snakes lack powerful teeth. That is, they cannot chew food. They have only thin teeth, which are very similar to thin needles. These thin teeth help snakes get food. For example, a python, due to the structure of its teeth, can eat animals such as a leopard and a deer.

What do snakes eat

Snakes eat almost everything they find in wildlife. They prey on shrews, frogs, rats, grasshoppers, mice, antelopes and birds. Snakes may also eat bird eggs. large species snakes feed on mammals, reptiles, fish and amphibians. Small snakes can eat other invertebrates as well as insects. They capture prey while still alive. When the snake swallows its prey, it widely spreads the branches of its lower jaw. This is possible thanks to elastic ligaments. The snake can swallow large prey within the whole hour. When a snake swallows its food, it can breathe. Thus, snakes can eat quite large prey. Some snakes only feed a few times a year due to the fact that they eat very large animals.

For example, not Poisonous snakes can swallow prey alive. They can also suffocate prey with their body rings. Poisonous snakes, thanks to poisonous teeth, kill their prey with poison. Small snakes prey on termites. But there are also snakes that eat other snakes. For example, the copperhead snake preys on lizards. But it can also eat a small snake or viper. There are some types of snakes that eat only one type of food. This is, for example, an arrow-snake. She only eats lizards. And the egg snake feeds exclusively on bird eggs. Snakes prey on small fish and frogs.

What do domestic snakes eat

A pet snake is already a pet. He cannot be allowed to hunt small rodents, rats. A snake is the type of animal that requires special conditions of detention, as well as attention. It is better to buy a snake in specialized places, as these animals are already accustomed to captivity, to artificial food and light. Not all snakes eat the same food. For example, someone eats ordinary mice, and someone eats lizards or frogs. It all depends on the kind of snake you want to purchase.

What do snakes eat?

All snakes are predators, among them there is not a single type of eating plant food. The menu of snakes is very diverse, they eat almost everything that can be found in wildlife, and in this they are significantly superior to amphibians. Snakes prey on a wide variety of mammals (ranging in size from a tiny shrew to an antelope), birds, other reptiles, amphibians, and insects. They willingly eat eggs from the clutches of birds and their own fellow reptiles. Aquatic and semi-aquatic species are engaged in fishing and catching other aquatic animals.

shellfish
There are also snakes that specialize in feeding on molluscs. These are fat-headed snakes living in America and Asia. They feed almost exclusively on slugs and snails. They masterfully remove the latter from the shells: they insert the lower jaw into the shell and hook the “leg” of the snail with long curved teeth, and then, alternately working with the movably connected halves of the lower jaw, they move the body of the mollusk right into their mouth.

Ants
Ants feed on many blind snakes - small snakes living in the soil. They catch earth ants that come across in the passages and cracks in the soil. One common blind snake can eat 200 ants per day, while she prefers certain types of ants or their larvae. She emits a specific smell, thanks to which the ants do not touch her even in the anthill.

termites
Few species of reptiles specialize in feeding on termites. For example, one of the blind snakes is able to squeeze out the contents of the soft abdomen of a termite, leaving its chitinous shell.

snakes
Many reptiles prey on other members of their class. But the most dramatic and striking example is the predation of snakes in relation to other snakes. Many snakes that are not too picky in food can, on occasion, swallow one of the smaller representatives of the snake kingdom. Even the well-known ordinary one, on occasion, can dine on a viper. However, there are more specialized species that feed only on lizards and snakes. This is a relatively rare copperhead in the center of Russia. This small snake preys mainly on lizards, but if it encounters a snake or viper of a suitable size, it will try to swallow them too. Finally, there is a very special group of snakes that feed mainly on other snakes. Among them is the world's largest poisonous snake - king cobra, or hamadryad. This Asian snake reaches five meters in length and specifically hunts for other snakes, including extremely poisonous ones. Interestingly, cobras and other asp snakes kill the snakes that have become their prey with their poison. At the same time, their poison effectively acts, for example, on vipers, while the poison of vipers is powerless against them. Among the serpent-eaters, there are those that are considered non-poisonous or have a weak poison (these include, for example, copperfish). Most bright representative of this group - mussurana, common in Central America. This pretty large snake(sometimes exceeds 2 m) preys mainly on large and strong pit snakes that are deadly to humans. In a sharp throw, the Mussurana tightly grabs its prey by the neck behind the head and wraps its body around it with lightning speed. After that, without opening the jaws, but gradually sorting through them, it captures the head of the victim in the mouth and gradually begins to swallow it. Mussurana itself is also poisonous, and its poison, although it does not kill the prey, noticeably weakens it. At the same time, the poison of the victims has practically no effect on the predator. A snake that hunts other snakes has one indisputable advantage: it is certainly much easier to swallow a long, narrow and smooth creature than some kind of spherical egg or angular toad.

About such amazing creature like a snake you can talk endlessly. Everything is interesting in it - from sharp teeth to the tip of the tail. All snakes are born hunters, predators. Thanks to the movable jaws with elastic ligaments, they are able to push prey into the stomach, which is several times larger than themselves. Moreover, gastric juice will digest bones, horns, hooves without any problems.

First you need to catch the prey

Before you start a meal, the snake needs to go hunting, catch prey. A predator can sit for hours in a secluded place, waiting for an opportunity. As soon as the desired object approaches the shelter, the snake abruptly throws the body forward, inflicting a deadly bite.

Non-poisonous individuals find their prey on their own, crawling into secluded places, nests, burrows of rodents. At any opportunity, the snake rushes at the prey, wrapping its body around it in a spiral, rings. The muscles of the body of a predator are so strong that they can easily strangle someone who has fallen into her deadly embrace.

How does a snake eat

After the prey is caught, the snake swallows it whole. The lower jaw of a predator consists of 2 halves, which are extremely mobile, interconnected by elastic ligaments. First, the right side of the jaw is pulled onto the victim, while the left side fixes the position of the body with the help of teeth. After that, the left half of the jaw is pulled over the prey, and the process is fixed by the right side.

With the help of simple reciprocating movements, the victim is gradually pushed into the throat, esophagus, and stomach. Depending on the size of the prey, the absorption process takes several minutes or hours. After that, the process of digestion begins, and all the solid parts of the caught object are dissolved in the caustic gastric juice.

What does the snake eat

Small snake species prey on other invertebrates, ants, insects, beetles. land species eat eggs, birds, larvae, rodents. Predators that live near water bodies, swamps, catch frogs, fish, animals that live in the water. In nature, snakes are known that enjoy eating snails, mollusks, slugs.

Large representatives of the snake kingdom eat antelopes, wild boar, other artiodactyls. There are varieties of snakes that eat only their own kind. For example, these are copperheads living on the territory of Russia, which feed on lizards and other snakes. Or an ordinary snake, which, on occasion, will not refuse to feast on a viper.

The king cobra, other snakes prey on other representatives of their class, with pleasure turning them into prey. Mussurana from Central America from time immemorial has been feasting on dangerous for people pit vipers. Anaconda, reticulated python preferred big booty. Stories even know cases of attacks by predators on humans.

Without exception, all snakes are predators, they eat almost everything from ants to antelopes. The snake is able to swallow an animal that is several times larger than itself, and its stomach can easily digest any large prey, including bones, horns and hooves.

How snakes hunt

Snakes get their food by hunting. They hunt in different ways, it depends on the species. Most poisonous snakes wait for their prey, lying in one place for hours, and as soon as they smell suitable prey, they rush at it and inflict a fatal bite.

If the potential prey managed to dodge, then the snake will not pursue it, but will hide again and will wait for a new victim.

How do non-venomous snakes eat? Most of them themselves look for their prey, crawl into holes and other secluded corners, and finding something suitable for food, they sneak up and grab their prey in a lightning throw.

How do snakes eat

Having caught its prey, the snake kills it. poisonous species they do this with poison, and the non-poisonous suffocate it in the rings of their body, but there are also those who swallow their victim alive.

All snakes swallow their prey whole and send it inside with their unusual lower jaw, which consists of two movable halves that are connected by elastic ligaments.

The snake eats by pulling the right half of the jaw on the prey, while the teeth of the left half hold it tightly, then the right half holds the prey, and the left pulls and so gradually the snake pushes its food down the throat.

What do snakes eat

And what do snakes eat? This also depends on the type.

Most snakes eat everything related to wildlife, i.e. different kinds mammals, birds, eggs, insects, and even members of their own class of reptiles. water sports snakes, like those that live near water, also eat fish and aquatic animals.

But there are also species that are only interested in one type of prey, and there are even snakes so promiscuous that they eat representatives of their own suborder or even their own species.

What do snakes drink

Since snakes are practically omnivorous, it is not difficult to figure out what the snake likes from food, it is more difficult with the fact that she drinks, since for a long time It was believed that snakes do not drink at all.

Absolutely all snakes, without exception, drink, they do it in different ways, someone takes the liquid in full sips, someone just wets their tongue, but they all need water. Snakes get most of the necessary moisture from the body of their victims, which is why they rarely drink, especially those species that live in the desert, but if you deprive the snake of water, it may even die.

The opinion that snakes love milk is wrong. In the body of reptiles there is no enzyme that breaks down lactose, so milk is not absorbed by snakes and can cause stomach diseases and allergic reactions. The snake will drink milk, but only if it is very thirsty and there is nothing but milk, but in small quantities.

In conclusion, I would like to say that a well-fed snake is less dangerous, it tries to hide in some secluded corner and calmly digests its food.