Earlier this week, Jesse Rothacker, a snake expert at the Forgotten Friend Reptile Sanctuary in Pennsylvania, shared a video that showed a snake trying to digest its own tail.
During an interview with WKRG News 5, Jesse said that the staff was getting ready for an outreach program when they saw the snake trying to eat itself.
Rothacker said, “This is the first time in the sanctuary’s 15-year history that one of the kingsnakes was caught trying to swallow itself whole.”
Luckily, the snake was spotted by Jesse, and he managed to save the snake from eating itself.
Rothacker also said that the snake was not showing any signs of stress.
He added, “We want to point out this snake showed no signs of stress, had plenty of access to food and water and burrowing material and a hiding cave and appropriate temps, just like all our snakes.”
Rothacker mentioned that kingsnakes are known for eating snakes.
Kingsnakes are also immune to rattlesnake and copper head venom.
Talking about the condition of the snake, Rothacker said, “Rough markings on his scales indicate past damage from digestive enzymes, suggesting that he had swallowed himself in previous years, so it’s probably a bad habit of his. Sometimes animals do silly things, like dogs chasing their own tails, or in rarer cases, snakes swallowing their own tails.”
That’s something you don’t get to see every day.