How Long Can a Snake Go Without Eating?

Snakes are often perceived as intimidating and alien creatures. They can open their mouths impossibly wide, which looks terrifying. But what may seem frightening to us is a sign of evolutionary success. Snakes have developed several complex biological adaptations to accommodate their unique body shape, allowing them to survive for long periods without eating. Continue reading to discover how long snakes can go without eating and how they accomplish this feat.

How Long Snakes Can Go Without Food

While baby snakes generally need to eat more frequently than adults, many can survive for several weeks without food, depending on the species and environmental conditions. The time it takes for a snake to starve depends on the species. Smaller snakes tend to feed more often than larger ones.

Scientists are only beginning to understand the full extent of snakes’ survival capabilities. A recent study examined the strategies snakes employ when they’re starving. The study observed several snake species that were not fed for six months.

In addition to their naturally low energy requirements, three snake species demonstrated the ability to further reduce their metabolism by up to 70%. It’s a fascinating but still uncertain look into how these creatures operate. This suggests that snakes might be able to survive without food for even longer periods than previously thought.

How Snakes Consume Their Prey

Most snakes are ambush predators that use two methods to strike their prey. Venom is perhaps the most effective method, although only about 15% of snake species are venomous. The needle-like fangs of snakes are not well-suited for ripping and tearing flesh, but they are highly effective at delivering venom. Once the venom has taken effect, either killing or paralyzing the prey, the snake begins to swallow it. Constrictors strike, grab, and squeeze their prey until it suffocates. Once the prey is dead, the snake swallows it whole.

Unable to rip or cut the flesh, snakes have to open their jaws as wide as they can and slowly wiggle their lower jaws underneath the prey animal, like lining up a forklift. A snake’s upper and lower jaws do not detach from each other, but they are connected by flexible ligaments that allow the mouth to open up to four times the width of the snake’s body. Similarly, a snake’s skin is designed to stretch around the prey.

How Snakes Digest Their Prey

The ability to disable their prey with a single venomous bite allows these ambush predators to hunt with lower risk to their safety. It also reduces their energy expenditure, but digesting a meal is a very costly process.

However, there are dangers involved with longer and more difficult digestion processes. Larger prey is more likely to have horns, fangs, or claws that can pierce an internal organ and kill the snake.

Although a snake’s digestive acids are potent, its organs are essentially in a race against the decomposition of the prey. If the snake cannot digest the prey faster than it decomposes, the meal could poison the snake, cause harmful bacteria to grow inside its stomach, or lead to a dangerous buildup of gases. It’s a significant risk, but a large meal dramatically extends the time that a snake can go without eating.