11.22.2012

Diet

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What Is a Snake's Diet?

 The variety of snakes kept in captivity is considerable and their food preferences are quite variable. Following is a list of preferred prey animals for the snakes most commonly kept in captivity:


Boa constrictors, pythons, rat snakes, gopher or bull snakes:


  - Warm-blooded prey is preferred, such as rodents and birds. Juveniles of these species prefer the very small warm-blooded prey species.

  - They may also consume very small lizards and snakes. Some tree boas and pythons prefer lizards to mammals and birds.


  Garter snakes, ribbon snakes, water snakes, etc.:

  - Fish, frogs, salamanders, toads, earthworms, slugs and carrion are preferred.

  - Many accept dead mice if they are covered with the external mucus of frogs or fish before they are offered.


  Indigo snakes, king snakes, and many racers:

  - Warm-blooded (mice, etc) and cold-blooded prey (other snakes, lizards, etc) are preferred.

  - The indigo snake prefers frogs but may eat anything when hungry, including dog or cat food.


  Ring-neck or brown snakes and their relatives:

  - Salamanders, earthworms, very small snakes and lizards are the foods of choice.


  Racers, vine snakes, coachwhips: talktothevet.com

  - Lizards are preferred. Racers also eat mice and chicks of ground-nesting birds.

  - The young of these snakes eat large insects, such as crickets and grasshoppers.

Source:talktothevet.com

The main limiting factor in the range of items consumed in a snake's diet is governed only by the size of the snake itself. Snakes subsist only on items that are smaller than themselves because all snakes have the disconcerting tendency of consuming their meals whole. According to the website EnchantedLearning.com, snakes consume all manner of small mammals, rodents, other reptiles, birds, insects, amphibians (such as frogs), fish and even whole eggs stolen from the nest. In all of these cases, snakes feed by quickly striking the prey with their fangs (or rendering it unconscious by squeezing it in the case of the boa constrictor), and then proceed to consume the animal whole. This is possible due to the extreme elasticity of a snake's body; the snake is able to expand and contort its throat to accommodate all manner of items. Many types of snakes (such as pythons) are nocturnal, which means that they feed only during the night.

Read more: What Is a Snake's Diet? | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/way_5646356_snake_s-diet_.html#ixzz2D0oWQ53S
The main limiting factor in the range of items consumed in a snake's diet is governed only by the size of the snake itself. Snakes subsist only on items that are smaller than themselves because all snakes have the disconcerting tendency of consuming their meals whole. According to the website EnchantedLearning.com, snakes consume all manner of small mammals, rodents, other reptiles, birds, insects, amphibians (such as frogs), fish and even whole eggs stolen from the nest. In all of these cases, snakes feed by quickly striking the prey with their fangs (or rendering it unconscious by squeezing it in the case of the boa constrictor), and then proceed to consume the animal whole. This is possible due to the extreme elasticity of a snake's body; the snake is able to expand and contort its throat to accommodate all manner of items. Many types of snakes (such as pythons) are nocturnal, which means that they feed only during the night.

Read more: What Is a Snake's Diet? | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/way_5646356_snake_s-diet_.html#ixzz2D0oWQ53S
Incredibly varied in both size, type and variety, there are more than 100 different species of snakes in North America alone, according to information from the University of Pittsburgh. Despite this great level of diversity and salient characteristics, the diets of snakes are not quite as varied as snakes themselves. All snakes are carnivores, which means that they exclusively consume meat, forgoing plant-based sources of nutrition altogether.

Read more: What Is a Snake's Diet? | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/way_5646356_snake_s-diet_.html#ixzz2D0o7Ifhk
Incredibly varied in both size, type and variety, there are more than 100 different species of snakes in North America alone, according to information from the University of Pittsburgh. Despite this great level of diversity and salient characteristics, the diets of snakes are not quite as varied as snakes themselves. All snakes are carnivores, which means that they exclusively consume meat, forgoing plant-based sources of nutrition altogether.

Read more: What Is a Snake's Diet? | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/way_5646356_snake_s-diet_.html#ixzz2D0o7Ifhk
Incredibly varied in both size, type and variety, there are more than 100 different species of snakes in North America alone, according to information from the University of Pittsburgh. Despite this great level of diversity and salient characteristics, the diets of snakes are not quite as varied as snakes themselves. All snakes are carnivores, which means that they exclusively consume meat, forgoing plant-based sources of nutrition altogether.

Read more: What Is a Snake's Diet? | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/way_5646356_snake_s-diet_.html#ixzz2D0o7Ifhk