Snake Eating Its Own Tail Causes An Uproar On YouTube

In this video, a female Albino Western Hognose snake tries to eat itself. The snake, on display at a pet store and priced at $645, doesn’t seem to realize what it’s doing; it even draws its own blood but continues to swallow its tail. Since snakes are cold-blooded animals, they cannot regulate their own body temperatures. Through the use of external heat sources, such as the sun or heat lamps, they can increase their body temperature, however as they are unable to sweat, if they become too hot they may experience confusion, disorientation and an increased metabolism.

The snake shown in this video appears as if it’s overheating, as it’s laying in a bowl of water, attempting to cool itself down. Through its disorientation and ramped-up metabolism, it attempts to eat its own tail.

The uploader of the video, though, is getting backlash from the YouTube community for his sarcastic comments and laughter during the course of the video. One YouTuber said, “Rob, please take this down, this animal is suffering and drawing it’s own blood. Do the right thing, a creature in pain is not worth the glamour of a video going viral”.

The uploader, Rob Mott, spoke up for himself: “After asking an employee to intervene and after getting a response of ‘Ohhh, not again! I just pulled him apart an hour ago’, I had done my duty and in my opinion was no longer my problem”.

Check out the video yourself and see if it was a cruel thing to film.