The ancients have used a snake eating its tail as a symbol of eternity. It’s not the same as witnessing this horror in real life.
Rarely, and mostly in captivity. a snake can actually swallow its tail.
The spiral of death quickly appears as the reptile continues to gulp back its own body. The snake’s digestive fluids could start destroying its body if the owner doesn’t intervene.
Some captive serpents that eat themselves are a problem Scales with damage visibleAcidic stomach fluids are the main cause of this condition.
Herpetologists do not know the exact reason why snakes behave this way, but they You can also find out more about the suspects.Self-destructive behaviour can be a result of stress, confusion or malady. It may even come from hunger. When a snake is too hot and cannot escape into the shade, they may become confused. They will not be able to distinguish their own tail from that of potential prey.
Snakes can also be attracted to heat.
It’s likely that this is what happened to the poor creature filmed below. It was curled up in water in a shop and gulped its own bloodied back. (A word of caution – some viewers might find the scene and the reactions of those nearby a little distressing).
frameborder=”0″ allow=”accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share” allowfullscreen>
Even if the snake is aware of what it did after its first bite, there could be trouble. Snakes are able to protect themselves against their venom but their fangs may also be able to do so. Serious wounds can lead to infection.
This species is particularly susceptible to cannibalism because kingsnakes are known to eat other snakes.
In a video on YouTube from 2020, Jesse Rothacker, from the Forgotten Friend Reptile Sanctuary, in the United States, explains, for example, that kingsnakes bite their tails often. But they seldom swallow.
frameborder=”0″ allow=”accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share” allowfullscreen>
The snake that he was filming, however, “didn’t just nibble himself”. It had swallowed half its body.
Rothacker laughs in the video: “He’s not the smartest snake around.” “The problem is if you have reptiles that don’t get along you can typically separate them… when you have a king snake eating his own tail you can not separate a king snake from himself.”
Rothacker gently removed the snake’s tail from the mouth to save it.
There’s also a less-hands-on approach.
A different owner of a kingsnake with speckles found that his pet was eating itself. He filmed an ingenious solution. The owner applied hand sanitizer to the creature and it regurgitated its tail almost immediately.
frameborder=”0″ allow=”accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share” allowfullscreen>
If you catch your pet performing such an unsettling act, try putting them in water or using hand sanitizer to see if this will make them release themselves. If you can get them to let go it’s still best to get them checked out by a vet – as soon as possible if they won’t let go.
Even the most devoted owners of this species do not place much value on their pet’s intelligence.
Kevin is the name of my Nuevo Leon King. Written byOne owner posted a Reddit post about a kingsnake that ate its own tail.
Kevin is not the most intelligent snake.
