When you see your snake opening its mouth and extending its jaws, it often appears as if they are yawning? But why do snakes yawn? And does it mean that they are tired?
In this article we are going to discuss why snakes yawn, explain why a snake opening its mouth does not necessarily mean they are yawning and get a general understanding of this type of behaviour.
Humans are not the only species that yawn. We tend to yawn when we are tired or bored, but many species are capable of yawning including dogs, cats, monkeys and horses.
Why do we Yawn?
Before we can determine if a snake is actually yawning, we first need to understand what a yawn actually is and why do we do it. Unfortunately, the answer to this question is bot that straight forward.
Despite yawning being an everyday occurrence, scientists still don’t fully understand why we do it and what causes a yawn. It has been linked to tiredness, oxygen deprivation, illness and regulation of brain temperature.
Going off the basis that the definition of a yawn isn’t clear and that we still don’t understand fully why we do it, we have to conclude that a snake is opening its mouth and stretching their jaws that they are in fact yawning.
Why do Snakes Yawn?
So why do Snakes Yawn? There are several reasons that your snake may be yawning. We will discuss some of the more common reasons for this below.
Why do Snakes Yawn when Feeding
When it is feeding time, your snake may start to Yawn to prepare itself for the impending meal. Snakes can stretch their jaws around a large rodent because their bottom jaw is made up of ligaments as opposed to bones.
This tissue can stretch around a large prey item. If your snake is on a strict feeding routine and they know a meal is coming, it is possible that they are preparing their jaw for the workload ahead.
It is also common for a snake to yawn while it is consuming its meal. This usually occurs when the rodent has been swallowed and the meal is making its way through the snake’s body.
There are two potential reasons why snakes yawn at this time. The obvious one is that they are yawning to increase their levels of oxygen as their airways are being restricted by the meal.
The other potential reason why snakes yawn at this time is because they are trying to realign or stretch the ligaments in their lower jaw that were stretched as they consumed their meal.
Snake Opening Mouth to Collect Information
Your snake may also be opening its mouth to gather information. Snakes have an organ in their upper mouth known as the Jacobson’s Organ. This is used for collecting information on their surroundings by ‘tasting the air’.
When a snake is flicking its tongue, it is collecting chemicals in the air and transferring them to the Jacobson’s Organ to be processed. This helps the snake to gather information about its surroundings.
It is possible that when your snake yawns, it is simply trying to gather and process some of these chemical signals in the air.
Your Snake may be Sick
Usually when you see your snake opening its mouth, you have nothing to worry about. Hopefully, we have answered your questions about why do snakes yawn? While this is usually a natural thing that you do not need to worry about, there are several illnesses which can also cause your snake to yawn.
A bacterial or fungal infection may be the cause of your snake yawning. Your snake may have also picked up internal parasites. A snake can pick up parasites from the food they eat. Even the most diligent reptile keeper cannot guarantee that their snake will not pick up an infection or parasites.
While there are plenty of steps you can take to ‘minimise’ the chances of your snake picking up an illness, it is important to have access to a vet that specialises in reptiles in case your snake does fall ill.
But you should not worry or jump to conclusions. As we have described above, there are plenty of reasons why your snake may be yawning which are completely natural.
If you observe any other signs of illness such as weight loss, abnormal stool, vomiting, wheezing or froth around the mouth or nose then you should contact your vet immediately.
If you liked this article, fell free to check out some of the other ones we have put together. We have listed some of them below.
Black and Yellow Snakes
Cross Contamination in Reptiles
Differences Between Turtles and Tortoises
How to Build a Wooden DIY Reptile Enclosure
How to Breed Poison Dart Frogs
Snake Mites – Everything you Need to Know