Today is a significant day for Rachel, a reticulated python.
STU: “Okay. Yep. Nice and defrosted. It’s come up to room temperature, so it’s perfect to feed out to Rachel now.”
Rachel has been smelling the pig all morning and is now in food mode. She’s not calm or collected but eager to eat, ready to grab the first thing that moves in her enclosure, hopefully the pig and not me. The plan is to coax her into the pond, which shouldn’t be difficult.
“Tickle, tickle. Just watch she doesn’t go to the door. If she does, close it.”
NARRATOR: “This is a dangerous animal, so many precautions are taken. Another zookeeper is here as backup in case something goes wrong.”
This is crucial because Rachel is very hungry.
STU (off-screen): “She thinks she needs to kill the pig. She doesn’t know it’s already dead. She grabs it by the face or head, wraps around the chest and upper body, and applies tight constrictions, squeezing tighter and tighter, putting extreme pressure on the pig’s chest and upper body. The last thing she wants is to grab an animal, start swallowing it, and get scratched, bitten, or injured. Since the pig isn’t fighting, she repositions her mouth to get around the snout and starts consuming it.”
Pythons always eat head first, as the shoulders are typically the broadest part of the animal.
As she grabs the head, her neck, initially six or seven inches in circumference, extends to over 50 inches to fit around the pig’s chest. You might notice pink tissue sticking out of her jaw, which is her windpipe, allowing her to breathe while swallowing the pig. She occasionally takes a breath during this process.
A large python like Rachel can open its jaw 180 degrees. The bottom jaw has rigid bones connected by skin, allowing it to open wide and walk the food down into the belly.
NARRATOR: “After hours, Rachel has consumed almost the entire pig, leaving just a small part she doesn’t want.”
STU: “The only parts of the pig that won’t be digested are the nails or hooves and the hair, which I’ll find in her excrement over the next couple of weeks. Thank you, Rachel.”
This feeding was very successful and efficient, taking about two and a half hours, with Rachel grabbing and swallowing the pig immediately.
