|  Snakes are reptiles. | Reptiles are cold-blooded, have scales on their skin, and lay eggs. | A Snake's jaw is very flexible, so that it allows them to swallow creatures much bigger than they are. | A Snake can take up to several hours to completely swallow its prey. | Snakes can go months at a time without food. |
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Information
A
slender snake swallows an animal much bigger than itself
because of the flexibility of a snakes body and the special
construction of its jaws. A snake's upper and lower jaws
are loosely connected: the lower jaw has two parts that
are joined by flexible tissue. All these features allow
a snake to open its mouth very wide. Taking a prey animal
in headfirst, a snake swallows it by moving first one
side of its jaws forward and then the other.
Large amounts of saliva produced in snake's mouth make
the prey go down easier. Small animals are usually swallowed
in a few minutes, but it may take several hours to consume
a large one. After a snake has eaten a big meal, it may
not hunt again for several weeks.
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