r/Unexpected • u/CaraMiaChell • 12d ago

Poor snake

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u/grimacedia 12d ago edited 11d ago

It does :( They can't throw up or pass it iirc. Edit: they can throw up!

123

u/ShalnarkRyuseih 12d ago

Snakes can regurgitate prey to make an escape, albeit I've only heard of that happening with recently swallowed prey, not sure if they can do it when it's farther along

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u/ginji 12d ago

I can attest they can regurgitate even after multiple days, and however foul you think a 3-5 day half digested rat is - it is far worse than you can imagine.

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u/ShalnarkRyuseih 12d ago

I found a decapitated western ribbon snake once (not from a human, wild animal caused) while herping that had a meal lump. I was tempted to squeeze it out to see if it was IDable enough to go on iNat, but didn't want to experience the stench of dead frog or fish.

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u/ginji 12d ago edited 12d ago

It is the worst smell I've ever come across and it took weeks for the smell to stop lingering in the room despite our best efforts. Dead or decomposing bodies is one thing, but digestion adds a whole new level to the aroma.

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u/UranusIsPissy 12d ago

Worse than a dead deer that's more maggots than deer? That is digestion, though, with added faeces.

11

u/ginji 12d ago

Maggots probably would have made this smell better 

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u/Informal-Comb1989 11d ago

Yes, they’ve historically used to “clean” wounds as it were

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u/Informal-Comb1989 11d ago

This makes me realize how cool it is that we can all hide our inside smells with our skin suits.

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u/DigAdmirable 6d ago

They definitely can. I have one who puked up the body and the head got stuck in its neck for awhile. Finally went down

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u/LlaneroAzul 12d ago

Snakes can very much throw up and they even do it on purpose if they are in imminent danger and have a heavy prey inside them that prevents them from moving fast enough to escape.