Arboreal Prey-Handling of Endothermic Prey by Captive Boa Constrictors
Prey-handling behavior serves as an important link between the processes of prey capture, transport, and swallowing. Snakes, lacking limbs, have developed a series of complex behaviors for the purposes of subjugating and handling their food. Using captive individuals of the semiarboreal Boa constrictor, we describe for the first time a set of behaviors unique to handling dead, endothermic prey in an arboreal context. Faced with the challenges of having to support the body weight of both themselves and their prey, Boa Constrictors create a series of loops that allow the body of the snake to support the prey item while also allowing for intraoral transport and swallowing. These loops can be adjusted and repositioned during transport, positioning the prey so that the pull of gravity is in line with swallowing.ABSTRACT
Three representative images of a Boa constrictor during the prey-handling process, with (A) the snake and prey being completely inverted during constriction; (B) the prey parallel to the floor being supported by a loop of the snake's body; and (C) the snake being inverted and supporting the prey with a loop of the body.
A representative image sequence of the loop resetting process in a Boa constrictor.
Orientation of a snake's head relative to the pipe during (A) constriction and (B–E) transport/swallowing in Boa constrictor. Each swallowing stage is divided by which regions of the rat's body are being manipulated by the jaws and teeth. Asterisks indicate significantly different groups. (F) A cartoon depiction of the three positions possible as described in A–E.
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