herpetology : That part of zoology which treats reptiles |
So the Lord God said to the serpent:
"Because you have done this,--The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Genesis 3:14-3:15 |
ophiophilism : love of snakes | |
| That's not a big snake. This is a big snake! --Dan Murphy | |
As an avowed ophiophile, I have made it (one of) my missions to educate people about
reptiles in general and snakes in particular. The number of misunderstandings
about snakes is a source of continual amazement to me, thus I have created the following
Snake FAQ. If you find that your question isn't answered here, email it to
herp(at)opus.dabney.caltech.edu and I'll try to answer it as soon as possible.
Do snakes have bones?
Do snakes regurgitate the bones and hair of their food?
Do all snakes have fangs?
Do snakebites hurt?
Once I saw this 60-foot snake...
...who ate his owner.
Aren't you afraid that he'll choke you to death?
Are snakes mean?
Why do they stick their tongue out all the time?
What is a snake's skin made of?
How/Why does a snake shed?
Snakes are evil. The Bible says so.
What's the difference between a python and a boa?
What's the difference between heavy-bodied and thin-bodied snakes
Do snakes need a lot of space?
Where can I get a snake?
Aren't they cramped in that cage?
How often do snakes eat?
Yes. They are vertebrates and as such have a spine, skull, and ribs.
Their spinal columns may have over 200 individual vertebrae, thus allowing for their flexibility.
Their upper and lower jaws have the ability to separate, and their lower jaw can separate at the chin, thus
allowing them to eat prey up to three times their own circumference.
No. While some egg-eating snakes will swallow an egg whole, then crush it and
regugitate the shell, snakes in general do not regurgutate anything unless they are sick. Snake stomachs are
extremely powerful and efficient, dissolving everything from hair to bones to teeth.
No. While all snakes have teeth, only poisonous snakes have fangs.
Snake teeth are quite small and needlelike, and are just used for holding on to their prey.
Not really, unless the snake is poisonous or extremely large. Speaking as
someone who has had a 6 foot Burmese Python chomp on his face, I can tell you that I've had worse papercuts.
No, you didn't. The world record is 33 feet for a Reticulated Python, and though
it has been surmised that longer snakes exist in the wild they probably don't get any bigger than 40 feet.
It really is amazing how many people are under the misconception that people are eaten
by snakes all the time. In fact, there is only one record that I know of for a snake actually eating a grown
human, and that was the case of a Reticulated Python in a zoo eating a zookeeper who was not taking appropriate
precautions while feeding. There have been reports of large pet snakes escaping and eating small children, but these
are dubious and generally sound like examples of poor owners.
Rule No. 1 about owning a large snake is never let it form a full circle around your
neck. A well-kept snake would not actually try to strangle a human, but they are extremely strong
and may try to grab your neck for stability, exerting more than enough pressure to cut off the blood supply to
your brain and choke you out.
The temperament of a snake, like nearly every other animal, is usually a reflection on the
owner, not the snake (I'll reserve my rant on poor pet owners for another page). A snake which is handled
often, especially when it is young, will probably learn that humans are neither a threat nor prey and respond at worst
indifferently to people. Snakes will only attack something which is seen as a threat or food (snake train of
thought: Can I eat it? No. Can it eat me? No. Move on.). You may have noticed that I mentioned that I have been
bitten by a snake (actually, more than one). That happened to be a case of neglect by it's former owner, a pet
store, where he was fed a starvation diet and everyone who worked there was too scared to handle him. After getting
him home, we fed him a rather large meal of chicken wings and drumsticks and have fed him regularly since, and haven't
had any more problems whatsoever.
Snakes have very poor eyesight, so they rely on their sense of "smell" to guide them to prey.
When a snake flicks out its tongue, it picks up molecules from the air. The snake then inserts its tongue
into the Jacobsen's organ in the the roof of its mouth where the molecules are detected, much like our nose
detects smells.
Snake skin has two layers--an outer layer of scales and an inner layer containing the nerve endings
and color pigment cells. The scales are made of keratin, the same protein from which human fingernails are made.
Since the outer layer of a snake's skin is dead, it needs to remove it in order to grow.
When it comes time to shed it's outer skin, the snake will secrete a fluid between the two layers of its skin and
grow a new layer of scales under the old ones. It will then rub its nose on a rough surface and slither out of its
old skin.
Don't make me smack you.
Pythons lay eggs, while boas give birth to live young.
Heavy-bodied snakes are just that--they're generally heavier and thicker than thin
bodied snakes. Heavy-bodied snakes include all pythons and boas, which are generally found in tropical regions.
Thin-bodied snakes include corn snakes, rat snakes, king snakes, racers, and most any wild snake you'll see in a non-tropical
environment.
Not really. Heavy-bodied snakes generally find a nice warm place to curl up in and stay there
for a few weeks at a time. Thin-bodied snakes are more active and probably need more room than a heavy-bodied snake of
the same size, but they are generally smaller so that isn't really a problem.
More and more pet stores are carrying snakes
these days, but I am somewhat reluctant to recommend
any major pet store chain as the snakes they carry are generally neglected and often have problems with parasites.
Stores that specialize in reptiles will generally have a wider selection and more well-kept animals. The employees are
also usually more knowledgeable about the animals and can give you advice on how to care for your snake. You can also
purchase snakes directly from a breeder through the mail or internet, but they generally sell the rarer breeds which are
significantly more expensive than, say, a ball python or red-tail boa.
Contrary to popular belief, even large
heavy-bodied snakes
do not require that much room to live in. While most sources I've
seen
recommend an
enclosure 1 1/2 time the length of the snake, that really isn't practical
for the larger varieties. Heavy-bodied snakes spend most of their
time curled up in a warm place sleeping, especially after eating, so if the
snake can coil without being squashed, the cage is probably big enough.
Thin-bodied snakes on the other hand are significantly more active
and require more space to move around in.
Heavy-bodied snakes can get by just fine eating
once or twice a month, depending on the size of the meal and the age of the
snake. Thin-bodied snakes generally need to eat more often, sometimes
once a week or more. How often you feed your snake is usually a
matter of personal preference, with some people saying that snakes should
be fed small meals weekly and others saying that one big meal a month is
just fine. I happen to fall into the second group.