Feeding Corn Snakes Mice: Part 2

Video Transcript

"Hi I’m Debbie McCanna on behalf of Expert Village.com. We have been talking in this clip about the care and maintenance of a corn snake. We have fed our corn snake previously and now we are going to talk about feeding safety. Snakes are very sensitive when it comes to their feeding behaviors. It is important that your snake is calm and quiet while it is being offered its food. If the snake is being fed live food and it feels disturbed, it will often stop its constricting or it will constrict and kill the snake but it may not come back to finish off and feed. Some times a snake will actually pose a threatening rattle with its tail; a very rapid vibration. Not just rattle snakes vibrate their tails. All snakes will do this when they feel threatened during a feed. You should never ever reach in and try to handle your snake or any part of the habitat while the snake is feeding. Not only could the snake feel threatened and strike at you, but it may completely interrupt their feeding and the snake may not go back to finish off its feed. While a snake is feeding they will typically orient to the head of their prey and open their mouth completely by unhinging their upper jaw from their lower jaw. This gives them a maximum stretching capacity to swallow their prey whole This process takes several minutes during which time the snake uses very powerful muscles in its neck and body to continue moving the prey back and squeezing it so that it will fit through the body to be digested. One of the most important reasons for maintaining heat even in a temperate and subtropic climate snake is to assist these cold blooded reptiles with the digestion of their food. We hope you have enjoyed this tutorial on the care and maintenance of corn snakes and we wish you good luck in the acquisition and the care of your next snake pet. "