Do snakes swallow their young?
No. A snake that is swallowed would be subjected to the digestive enzymes in the stomach that break down prey. These enzymes and the lack of oxygen in the stomach would rapidly kill anything swallowed by a snake, including its own young. This fable may have stemmed from the fact that many snakes give birth to living young. Cutting open a pregnant snake would reveal young in the uterus, which could be thought by some observers to be the stomach.
