[3] Energetic studies show that it takes more calories per meter to use concertina locomotion than either sidewinding or lateral undulation.
This mode of concertina, while still slower than lateral undulation or sidewinding, is still fairly fast, with snakes moving approximately 10% of their length per second.
[3] However, because the snake is straightening and re-forming bends, it requires the entire space of the tunnel to move, and any obstruction will disrupt locomotion.
In the presence of either of these, snakes will switch from concertina to another mode (as both of the above are faster and more economical), though in the case of extreme lateral constraint (tunnel width less than 3x body width), snakes will ignore the contact points that could be used in lateral undulation and perform concertina.
Unlike tunnel concertina locomotion, this mode avoids any obstacle which falls between the bends of the snake's body.