You might reconsider a royal invitation to dine even if you are a reptile. The king cobra doesn’t stray far from its own species for a meal. The king’s Latin name (Ophiophagus hannah) refers to its favorite meal— ophiophagus means snake-eater. King cobras prefer nonvenomous snakes like the rat snake, but they also dine on venomous Indian cobras, kraits, and even small king cobras, thus earning the ignoble title, ‘cannibal.’
With no limbs or cutting teeth, the king is unable to tear its food. However undignified, the king gulps down every meal whole.
Its digestive tract is like a long straight tube. Blunt teeth puncture the
food and the venom’s enzymes start the digestive process. From the long stomach, food travels through the small intestine, the large intestine, and then out the cloaca.
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