Ask A Scientist© Zoology Archive

name        Clare L.
status      other
age         20s

Question -  How do snakes digest their food. If a snake was to eat a
large mammal, how does it digest bones etc?
In the cases where large constrictors have swallowed men, what happens to
the clothes the victim was wearing, specificaly clothes containing metals
or plastics?? can a snake die from eating a meal that is too large, ie a man?
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I believe it is safe to say that no snake has ever eaten a human being
larger than a baby or very small child, the largest constrictors are
certainly big enough to kill a person but I don't believe they could
swallow.
As to the more general question, snakes have very powerful digestive
enzymes, and will defecate anything that is not digestible.
J. Elliott
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