Photo of Snake Swallowing a Wok: Real or Fake?

A photo circulating on social media today allegedly shows a snake which has swallowed a wok. Is this real or fake?

The image shows a work of art, not a real snake.

This bizarre shot of a snake with a large round object in its stomach began appearing online earlier this week. Although the image that was shared on imgur and Twitter on May 18 included captions that the snake pictured had swallowed a wok, Reddit readers were quick to point out that the photo was probably not what it seemed.

Work of art

This translated page indicates that the photo actually depicts a work of art featuring a snake which had eaten a turtle.

Two days before the “snake eats wok” photo was circulated in the West, the photo was posted by a Twitter user in Thailand on May 16. The photo was shared on May 17 by the Facebook page Smart SME. That page posted what appeared to be a retraction regarding the photo they had shared from the Twitter user, stating that they had been informed by a commenter that the image was a work of art. The commenter included another angle of the artwork, which Smart SME shared after deleting the original post.

Bottom Line

The image allegedly showing a snake which swallowed a wok is actually a snapshot of a work of art meant to depict a snake which had swallowed a turtle.