food 2 big?

[King Cobra]

i was just wondering what actually happens if the foodsize of whatever ur feeding 2 a snake is 2 big?
does it just not eat it ?

[Sybella]

The snake may not eat it, or if he does, it may be too stressful on him. Bigger food takes longer to eat and leaves the snake defenseless longer. Also, sometimes if they do get it down, they regurge.

[psilocybe]

I learned the hard way a number of years ago when my first snake, a columbian boa constrictor, died as a result of me feeding to large a meal. It was actually kind of a freak accident, and a lesson i never forgot.

Basically, I fed him a mouse that was just a little too large. He regurgitated it about 10 hours later. Unfortunately, the digestive process had already exposed a rib or something, and on the way back up, it slit his viscera (the vet said it looked like his intestines) open, and he leaked fluid into the rest of his body cavity. I spent well over $150 (more than he cost) trying to save the little guy, but he ended up dying. This was quite a while ago, and I have a lot more experience with herps now than then, but it was a hard lesson to learn.

AP