WATCH | Rare footage of self-cannibalising kingsnake eating half its body

Footage of a rescued kingsnake self-cannibalising has been captured in Pennsylvania, US.

The rare footage was captured on August 9 2019.

The serpent eats half of its body before a rescuer stops it from doing so.

Kingsnakes are known to eat other snakes, and sometimes mistake their own tails for food, but reptile handler Jesse Rothacker says he’s never seen anything like this.

Rothacker runs the Forgotten Friend Reptile Sanctuary in Pennsylvania, and said snakes trying to eat themselves is unusual but not unheard of.