I've seen a few posts recently in which people have been saying things like "He was striking a lot so I fed him another piece of food" when they talk about their snake's diet.

This confuses me, as I've never considered striking to be a sign of hunger - surely it's a sign of aggression! The snake is striking at you because it wants you to go away, rather than because it wants to eat you.

How did this myth come about?

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1.0.0 Red-sided garter (Archie)

How did you come to this conclusion. If you know anything about snake behaviour, you will know that once they go into feeding mode they will strike at anything that moves, as it is potential prey. Snakes are opportunistic feeders, a lot of them being ambush predators So once they realise there's prey to be had, they have to avail of every given opportunity.

Just because we keep snakes on a feeding routine doesn't mean that they are aware that they are goping to be fed on a regular basis.

So no, in my opinion it's not a sign of aggression, it's simply them doing what comes naturally. Ensuring survival!

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0.1 Albino Cali King, 0.1 MBK, 1.1 Lavender corns
1.0 Bairds Rat Snake, Mulligan
The wee man, Oscar, Border Collie
1.0 Huachuca Mountain King (L.p. Woodini)

Here’s to a long life and a merry one. A quick death and an easy one. A pretty girl and an honest one.
A cold pint– and another one!

i must ask the same question here im afraid,...snakes are not random in their actions at all IMO...if they are hungry they dont just strike out at anything that moves! they will more likely be actively roaming and searching for food, a snake that is constantly striking out is not looking for food at all IMO, it is about survival as you said, but it is being DEFENSIVE and is trying to get the "threat" (meaning the keeper etc) away! even a docile "hungry" snake MAY strike at you IF you smell of food! i.e mouse/rat etc...but if you dont smell of food they most likely wont in my experience...

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huge fan and breeder of Pituophis! bulls are my main passion!

Maybe "striking at anything that moves" was the wrong phase but what i have noticed is that during and after feeding that as soon as i open up the viv my snakes will come racing up out of the viv. Whereas, at other times when i open up the viv they are more cautious in there approach to find out what has entered their domain.

I agree with you, that snakes don't act in a random manner but when my Kings are in feeding mode, nothing else around them seems to matter. Which is why i can hand feed them and they remain calmer than if they were in the viv. As for my Bairds, he likes his peace and quiet when feeding and my Corns are much the same.

I'm still of the opinion though that its not aggressive behaviour during feeding nor defensive. If it were defensive, they would do the typical S bend pose, retreating or striking from one of their hides.

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0.1 Albino Cali King, 0.1 MBK, 1.1 Lavender corns
1.0 Bairds Rat Snake, Mulligan
The wee man, Oscar, Border Collie
1.0 Huachuca Mountain King (L.p. Woodini)

Here’s to a long life and a merry one. A quick death and an easy one. A pretty girl and an honest one.
A cold pint– and another one!

i have a royal that strikes at me all the time but a friend of mine can handle her any time ,
i think she dont like men or just me lol

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1-1-0 (07} normal corns ,,, fred & wilma
1-0-0 (08} miami corn ,,, harry
1-1-0 (08} brazilian rainbow boas ,,, tigger & roo
1-0-0 {04} royal python ,,, vlad
0-1-0 {06} royal python , very small late starter but i have hope { so that wil be her name HOPE }
0-1-0 (05) royal python ,,, glory
1-1-0 {08} beardies daisy & dillon
1-1-0 ( adult ) beardies happy and grumpy

Run an experiment if possible

Feed your snake and watch it's posture, movements and strike.

Move around the snake thus creating a sort of fear response from it and again watch posture, movement, strike.

Then cause snake to go into attack mode by slight aggrevation and again watch posture, movement strike.

When i say fear/agrevate i don't mean go and mess around with it so much with prodding and poking or waving frantically in front of it just subtle movements can be enough.

EVERYTIME the snake performs this sequence it will differ if you have a keen eye and if you study a snake for long enough you will learn each sequence of events to lead up to an action as knowing and understanding a snakes body languge will aid you as a keeper more than anything else.

I do not believe every snake that strikes is hungry i know my redtail boa strikes a lot but that's aggression not food responsive nor fear, she knows she won't be harmed but she just does not like contact so goes all out on anything that makes contact.

Rach

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