ok im kinda freakin out here -----help----

[anaconda]

my snake just got the worm but didnt eat it it killd it but didnt eat it and now it keeps opening and closing its mouth does this mean its choking?????? help

[kurtnagel]

Not sure what you mean by killed it but didn't eat it? Did the snake attempt to swallow? If so, keep in mind that snakes have the ability to disengage the jaw to open wide enough to take large prey. Many times this requires re-positioning the prey to go down better and snakes will sometimes spit out their prey and then strike again. The open and closing of the mouth is often a sign of re-adjusting or re-attaching the jaw following swallowing. Also, my snakes often do this to clear the mouth of any debris they do not want to swallow, such as pieces of substrate. Along with this they may rub the side of the face along items in the cage to scrape debris from the mouth. In either case, the behavior should only be temporary.

[infernalis]

Could not have said that any better

[Garter_Gertie]

What *kind* of worm did you feed it? If not a night crawler or that ilk, but a red wiggler worm/trout/pan fish, your snake didn't like the taste as those kind of worms ARE NO GOOD.

If the worm is bitter/whatever you snake will go for it but once it tastes it will spit it out and try and 'clean' its mouth and try and 'spit out' the bad taste.

What kind of worm, from where, did you feed it?

What was the worm you fed it?

[kurtnagel]

Could not have said that any better

Thanks Wayne!

[kurtnagel]

If the worm is bitter/whatever you snake will go for it but once it tastes it will spit it out and try and 'clean' its mouth and try and 'spit out' the bad taste.

Ah yes. And if it were my kids, they would also find some place to hide it so I'd think they actually ate it. Canned Peas anyone?

[anaconda]

Not sure what you mean by killed it but didn't eat it? Did the snake attempt to swallow? If so, keep in mind that snakes have the ability to disengage the jaw to open wide enough to take large prey. Many times this requires re-positioning the prey to go down better and snakes will sometimes spit out their prey and then strike again. The open and closing of the mouth is often a sign of re-adjusting or re-attaching the jaw following swallowing. Also, my snakes often do this to clear the mouth of any debris they do not want to swallow, such as pieces of substrate. Along with this they may rub the side of the face along items in the cage to scrape debris from the mouth. In either case, the behavior should only be temporary.

she was ok by killing it i meant she snapped at it and then slithered away and it either got paralyzed or it was on the verge of dieing
but i walked over there a min l8ter all i could see was the las part of the worm going down her throat "P

[duh duh duh]

it takes a while to swallow things. It isn't like spaghetti!