Afrocks...

[Tom]

Originally Posted by boaterr

Where did you hear that Afrocks hold the record for largest prey item consumed?

Snakes cannot chew or tear their food, so they have no choice but to swallow it whole. They are superbly adapted to swallowing prey considerably larger in girth than themselves because, as the wider parts of the body enter the mouth, the bones of the lower jaw can be temporarly dislocated and certain bones in the skull are capable of pulling apart. Once the prey has been swallowed, the snake yawns a few times to return the various parts of the skull to their original postions. The largest prey item on record was a 59Kg (130lb) impala, which was removed from a 4.87m (16ft) African rock python (Python sabae). African rock pythons regularly take large prey but, when swollen with food, are vunerable to attack by wild dogs and hyenas and so prefer to eat more moderate meals at shorter intervals.

There are many examples of snakes swallowing other snakes which are much longer than themselves. In 1955 a captive cottonmouth moccaain (Ancistrodon piscivorous), which was 35.5cm (14in) long, swallowed a very slender 73.6cm (29in) ribbon snake (Thamnophis sauritus) sharing the same cage. The stomach of a 1.51m (59.5in) file snake (Mehelya capensis) killed in Kruger National Park, South Africa, contained a 1.09m (47.2in) olive grass snake (Psammophis sibilans), an 85cm (33.5in) African rock python (Python sabae), a 54cm (21.3in) brown water snake (Lycodonomorphis rufulus) and a 49cm (19.3in) ring-necked spitting cobra (Hemachatus haemachatus).

A king cobra (Ophiophagus hannah) was once placed by a mis-guided keeper in a cage with six Asiatic cobras (Naja naja); by the following morning, the king cobra had eaten all its room-mates.

Here is the link to where I found this info
Snakes Alive!

Take care
Tom

	Cottonmouth Cottonmouth (Agkistrodon piscivorus) - Also known as a Water Moccasin.

[X-Factor]

Wow this thread blew up....lol. For those that may have been mislead: This is not a "what should i feed the afrock that i want" thread....merely a question. Thanks for the insights.

[razeraze]

Tom there are far larger prey consumed by retics. A few human consumptions have been documented as well as a 160lb pig according to Mark Andre Auliya in his book "Taxonomy, Life History, and Conservation of Giant Reptiles in West Kalimantan".

[boaterr]

Originally Posted by Tom

For me I love big snakes the bigger the better. I do handle all my snake and take them out to play with me and my kids. I am training Tigger my tiger retic to go back in her cage by her self. So far it's working out fine. All I have to do is point her in the right direction and she will go back in on her own. I can even get her to go into a big cooler on her own that I use to take her to the Vet or educational shows I do. She is only 14 feet and 50 + lbs now but when she is 22 feet or bigger and over 250 lbs she will be hard to pick up by myself.
Now for hots I will never own one as I know I would get bit. I just have to hold any snake I own and I know you can't do this with hots.
Take care
Tom

How old is Tigger? Most retics in captivity never see 19+feet or anywhere close to over 180+pounds so unless Tigger is under 3 years old the chance that she will reach anywhere close to 250lbs pounds is next to zero.

Originally Posted by razeraze

Tom there are far larger prey consumed by retics. A few human consumptions have been documented as well as a 160lb pig according to Mark Andre Auliya in his book "Taxonomy, Life History, and Conservation of Giant Reptiles in West Kalimantan".

I am well aware of the retic that ate that 160lb pig and the one at the Frankfurt Zoo that ate a pig that weighed 120 pounds which was described in Murphy, J.C. & Henderson Tales of Giant Snakes book. There are also a lot of accounts of large Eunectes murinus devouring large prey items.

	Venomous Reptile A term commonly used to refer to a venomous reptile. Most commonly used in reference to venomous snakes.

[razeraze]

Originally Posted by boaterr

I am well aware of the retic that ate that 160lb pig and the one at the Frankfurt Zoo that ate a pig that weighed 120 pounds which was described in Murphy, J.C. & Henderson Tales of Giant Snakes book. There are also a lot of accounts of large Eunectes murinus devouring large prey items.

Is your name Tom? No I didn't think so . Thanks for the other retic documentation though.

[TKR Reptiles]

Originally Posted by spix14

I think after a while, you get to the point where holding the snake isn't the most important thing anymore. I used to be in the, "I don't want it if I can't hold it" club. Eventually, however, I got to where just having the animal and being able to watch it and care for it was enough of a reward in and of itself without having to take it out and play with it. I have an Emerald Tree Boa...while he is handleable, I don't take him out unless I'm cleaning his cage, because I feel like it's unnecessary stress on him. I also have two monitors that will likely never be tame...my sav may come around eventually, but if he doesn't, that's fine with me too. I'm just happy to be able to give him a better life than he had before. I have 7 other snakes that all do well with handling if I feel the need for a little snake holding time, so I don't need all my animals to be cuddly and sweet.

that kind of the way i am too. i have my BCI, but i'd like to be able to handle w/e i have if i want or need to. i really want a ETB and i know they get stressed easy than any other snake there is. so if i get one it will be a look and dont touch snake.

	Boa Constrictor Imperator Boa Constrictor (Boa constrictor imperator). Most common is the Colombian Boa.

	Emerald Tree Boa The Emerald Tree Boa (Corallus caninus) is a species of bright green snake that lives in the rainforests of South America.