JACKSON, Miss. (Reuters) - The family of a University of Mississippi student withdrew him from the school on Tuesday after a video appearing to show him biting the head off a hamster while on spring break this month was posted online.

Brady Eaves, 18, appears in the video to snap the neck of the hamster before he bites off its head, spits it on the ground and throws the body into the distance. The crowd around him reacts with screams and cheers.

Before withdrawing from the school, Eaves, who was a member of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity, had been expelled from its local chapter over the incident, the fraternity said.

The incident occurred in Florida during the school's spring break from March 9 to 13, and did not take place at a fraternity-sponsored function, University of Mississippi Phi Delta Theta chapter President William Kneip said.