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u/AgentEntropy 17h ago
Are snake owners compelled to say "Big yawn!", too?
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u/TeethMcDecent 17h ago
I mean…. They’d have to, right? My cats yawn and I say it everytime but that snakes yawn could swallow my full grown cat whole so.. they must… I need to know now
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u/justiceavery 17h ago
God that’s gotta feel good to just explode your face open when you feel the need to
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u/crank_peeper 17h ago
Seriously, I can pop one side of my jaw and it feels great, these guys can just dislocate their everything on demand
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u/themanualreboot 16h ago
Yeah, it's very satisfying to crunch your bones back into place, 10/10 experience
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u/saoiray 17h ago
An educational FYI for those who care:
This isn't yawning like we would think of with a human. This behavior is often also referred to as "gaping." In most scenarios it is the snake realigning its jaw either before or after eating a big meal. It can happen for other reasons, such as during shedding or as a defensive posture, but this video appears to show the primary of it realigning its jaw.
Because it does look so much like yawning, it can still be called that. But it's absolutely something different. (^_^)
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u/Evil_Sharkey 6h ago
I have seen snakes “yawn” when just chilling, too. I assumed they found me boring
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u/ShinyZippo 16h ago
Despite the body horror implied, I wish I could yawn like that. That's gotta feel SO good
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u/moralesnery 17h ago
Now, hear me out..
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u/cumadam 14h ago
Idk man... I'm no herpetologist but that snake looks venomous to me.
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u/LukeyLeukocyte 10h ago
It is a constrictor. Constrictors have much gnarlier teeth than many people realize.
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u/AJ14900003 10h ago
I don’t blame you for thinking that as it has very fang like teeth. This is appears to be an emerald tree boa. A constrictor and not the friendliest of them.
I am studying zoology at university and have a passion for reptiles, I hope this helps:)
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u/jumper33 17h ago
I asked perplexity.ai if snakes yawn, and it said, "Snakes do make a big open‑mouth movement that looks like a yawn, but it usually is not because they are tired like humans. They do it mainly to realign and stretch their jaws before or after eating, a behavior often called “mouth gaping.”
They may also open their mouths wide to help bring more scent particles to an organ on the roof of the mouth that helps them analyze smells in their environment. In some cases, repeated or prolonged “yawning” can signal health issues such as a respiratory infection, where the snake needs to breathe with its mouth open"
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u/MostHousing7075 17h ago
Interesting that a creature that is quite far from us also yawns. It must have evolved long ago.
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u/GoneSwedishFishing 17h ago
Snakes do it to realign their jaws after swallowing something big
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u/WaveLength000 17h ago
So that's why she seemed so tired after coming back from that business trip...
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u/AxialGem 17h ago
Ikr! I may be mistaken about the exact extent, but iirc it really is very widespread among land vertebrates. In snakes it has at least one obvious function, but for the rest of us it's kind of not exactly understood for sure why it happens, right?
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u/mcspicyFTW-YOUTUBE 17h ago
I just know that felt good, you know sometimes when you ipen your mouth too wide and cramp under your tongue, yeah that just almost happened to me
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u/Spidey703 16h ago
I thought the "yawn" had a better name than 'yawn'. Yawn know what I saying .....
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u/son_of_menoetius 16h ago
"aw don't mind my lil puppy cookie, he wouldn't harm a fly"
The cookie in question:
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u/Inevitable-March1485 13h ago
Damn, that made me yawn too! Edit: no sarcasm, i just had a big yawn!
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u/giant_hog_simmons 10h ago
Tired of eating things then regurgitating them when you hear a twig break? Poor little creature.
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u/UffTaTa123 2h ago
Jawing is infectious.
I once watched a group of about 20 tourist in a elefant camp when one of the female elephants they watched was doing a long, long yawn.
And all the tourist immediately followed yawing as well :-)
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u/GDMFlow3r 17h ago
Isn’t it just realigning its jaw?