# Should my cornsnake be constricting its food?



## chaznchipz (Apr 2, 2008)

Hi,
We have had a cornsnake for about 3 months now. It is only small (a few months old probably), however it has never constricted its food. I have seem lots of videos of corn snakes constricting mice and ours just doesnt seem to. It just eats from on the floor. We feed it defrosted pinkies.

Cheers


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## Corny-Dawny (Jun 10, 2007)

No, There is nothing wrong, some will constrict others just eat it.
Dawn


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## Ally (Mar 8, 2006)

If you want to encourage it to constrict (it's great excersise!) keep pulling the pinkie back with a pair of tongs once the snake has a hold of it. This will make some of them think it's going to run off and hold on tighter (the lazy ones just hang on and wait until it stops moving again though!)


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## moonlight (Jun 30, 2007)

Mine dont constrict every time i feed them it took a couple of them a while to start doin it but it seems to be only if they are in the mood or if they are really hungry.
How old is the snake, what you feeding it and how often?


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## browner93 (Dec 17, 2007)

i have 3 corn 1 adult he soem times stricks and some time eats from floor and some times u got to leave it on floor but evry time he will not eat out of his viv ! the baby corns one eat from floor and the other go crazy for ehr food! constrics and dose not let go!

Josh


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## stuart89 (Mar 16, 2008)

I asked this question before when I had my corn, he hardly did constrict and he doesnt do it a great deal atm,but one day I heated the mouse to body temperature, gave it a wiggle and by god he went for it, constricted it so hard the mouse burst... which was disgusting :lol2:.

He probably doesnt constrict because he knows its already dead (be it cold, not moving, left in the cage, etc.) but if you were to put live in, he would more than certainly constrict it.


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## chaznchipz (Apr 2, 2008)

Thanks for all the info.
Will try some ideas on the next feed. Snake is a couple of months old (we think, its only very tiny) and eats 2 pinky mice about once a week.


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## Roewammi (Mar 23, 2008)

one of mine will strike it if i dangle it in front of her, the other just watches it until you drop it!lol! try dangling it in front of its nost with feedign tongs and see what happens!


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## captaincaveman (Nov 6, 2006)

As been said, some constrict, some dont, and some constrict with age, others stop with age: victory:


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## bren146 (Apr 9, 2008)

*constricting*

i have 2 adult corns and neither of them have ever constricted...... some will some wont there is no hard and fast rule


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## woodsy (Nov 29, 2007)

my boa will either strike it so had it nearly takes my hand off then constrict untill something pops or slowly open her mouth and swallow it out my hands!


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## Fraggle (Feb 24, 2008)

My corn has always struck and constricted- most other people i know cant get theirs to tho, its all just down to the individual snake. You need to get a stupid one like mine that doesnt realise that the mouse has actually been dead in the freezer for weeks...hehe!


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## Mitch_Moshi (Apr 18, 2008)

I'm not an expert, Hell I don't even own a snake.

But in the wild, they constrict to kill the prey, so if it's already dead I guess they'd feel no need to constrict, unless they're feisty little buggers and want to make sure it's well and trully gone 

As people said if you want it to strike/constrict then using tongs to move/heating the pinkie to atleast give it some sort of "life" miht get a bit more action out your Corn


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## igorina (Apr 27, 2008)

I looked after a young corn who would constrict if i let him strike but wouldn't if the food was just on the floor of his tank. It was so funny watching him thrash about trying to kill an already dead pinkie, he was a bit rubbish to be honest so good job it was dead! :lol2:


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## Roewammi (Mar 23, 2008)

if i put the food on the floor of my tank, 3 of my corns will just sniff it then eat it but one goes mad for it, if i feed them with feeding tongs and dangle the food in fron of their mouths, they'll constrict it, its just what the snake has had before/what it feels like/how you want to feed it, its not necessary to strike feed so dont worry!


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