Snakes Flashcards
Order
Squamata
Suborder
Serpentes
Behavior
• Solitary (territorial/aggression/food) • Diurnal, nocturnal, crepuscular
• Captive husbandry vs natural history
Integumentary
• Protective barrier • Respiration
• Movement
• Growth
• Sensory detection • Coloration
Ecdysis
• Secretes lubricant (seen commonly in eyes) • Sheds in one piece
• Process may take week or two
• Should not be handled or fed
• Furnishings/water bowls/humidity
Scales
• Smooth- no central ridge • Keeled- central ridge
Musculoskeletal System
Skull
Maxilla
Mandible
Vertebral column
Maxilla
• No symphysis
• Intramandibular hinge (flex in middle)
• Articulated streptostylic quadrate (move sideways)
Vertebral column
• Varies in number
• No sternum
• Precloacal has ribs
Serpentine
Undulating
Crawling
Rectilinear
Advance and pull for large snakes
Heart positions
Terrestrial
Arboreal
Aquatic
Terrestrial heart position
Close to head, blood vessels distal portion of body)
Arboreal heart position
Close to head so blood can reach brain better
Aquatic heart position
Middle of body so pumping effort is minimal, blood pressure regulated by
external water pressure
Heart chambers
• 2 atrium, 1 ventricle (functioning 5 chambers that separate oxygenated and deoxygenated blood/R & L aortic arches, pulmonary artery)
Blood vessels
• No valves to prevent backflow (contraction of muscle)
• Renal portal system (Blood from caudal portion goes to kidneys)
Trachea
• Incomplete rings (ventral ridged/dorsal membranous) • Base of tongue/glottis
Lungs
• No diaphragm
• Left (non-functioning)
• Right (elongated/cranial-gas exchange, caudal air sac • Intercostal muscles
Teeth placed
Upper and lower jaw
Tongue
Multiglandular/ mucous
Salivary glands
5—venom
Pharynx
muscular sphincter
Kidneys
• Lobulated & elongated-R more cranial • Lack loop of Henle and renal pelvis
Urodeum
No bladder
Make reproductive system
• R & L testicles (no epididymis)
• Hemipenes (pair)
• Copulation only one is used
• Spurs (positioning cloaca)
Female reproductive system
• Ovaries
• Ovaducts (no uterus)
• Cloaca
Cutaneous heat receptors
• Dermis & epidermis
• Pit organs detect infrared heat
Ears
• Hearing and balance
• No tympanic membrane
• Middle ear non-existent
• Inner ear similar to mammals/ vibrations
Smell
Vomeronasal organ
Eyes
• Harderian gland (moist)
• No lacrimal glands
• Poorly developed rectus muscles and limited rotational muscles
• Lack scleral ossicles and cartilage
• Dilation and contraction of pupil is voluntary
Housing
• Size
• Type of Habitat (arboreal, terrestrial, aquatic) • Secure
• Ventilation
• Cleaning/disinfecting
• Heat source (tape/lamps/outside enclosure) • Visual
Natural habitats
Naturalistic
Simplistic
Naturalistic habitat
• Aspen, cypress, ground coconut shells
• Sand used with extreme caution for dessert dwellers
• Avoid potting soil –fertilizers and chemicals
Simplistic habitat
• Easy to clean
• No enrichment, hard to control temperature and humidity • Indoor/outdoor carpet, Newspaper (ink is not toxic)
Heating
Outside enclosure
Ectothermic
Daily monitoring
Lighting
• Maintain day/night cycles
• UV lighting (natural not as detrimental as diurnal lizards)
• Do not allow to overheat if basking (car)
• Summer/winter
• No drafts
Water/humidity
• Hygrometers to monitor
• Misting
• Appropriate size bowl (soaking/don’t overfill) • Change water often/clean
• Substrate that doesn’t pool
• Monitor
Nutrition
• All are carnivores
• Eat whole prey
• Ca from bones
• Defecate undigested parts
• Health of prey item
• Balanced
• proper thawing
Anorexia
• Cold prey (heat seeking)
• Motion
• Color of prey (white vs neutral)
• Environmental temperature (regurgitate if to cold/won’t eat)
• Shedding
• Respiratory disorder
• Hide box
Reproductive
• Cloacal prolapse (which organ/straining or copulation)
• Hemipenile prolapse or paraphimosis
• Oviductal or shell gland prolapse
Obstructive Dystocia
inability to deliver eggs or young, anatomical defects, fetal defects
Non obstructive Dystocia
husbandry, infection, poor physical condition, improper nesting site, humidity, temperature.
Causes of Dysecdysis
• Poor husbandry, temperature, humidity, malnutrition • Stress, handling, metabolic disorders
Increased Ecdysis
• Hyperthyroidism
• Dermatitis
Cardiovascular disorders
• Hypocalcemia
• Hypercalcemia with hypervitaminosis D3 • Endocarditis
• CHF
• Cardiomyopathy
• Vitamin E deficiency
Respiratory
• Pneumonia (bacterial/fungal/viral/parasitic) • Masses, trauma, dehydration, substrate
• Infectious stomatitis (bacterial) “mouth rot”
• Poor husbandry, POTZ, stress
• Rubbing cage walls
• Live prey causing small abrasions
Urinary
• Renal dysfunction (older snakes)
• Gout – excess protein metabolism leading to urate acid production
• Bacterial nephritis
Eye
• Retained spectacles (common/dysecdysis)
• Pseudobuphthalmos (Obstruction of nasolacrimal duct • Subspectacle abscesses
Paramyxovirus
• Respiratory
• Incubation 21 days with grave prognosis • Highly contagious
Inclusion body disease (IBD)
• Viral, CNS, “star-gazing”
• Boids (Boas, pythons)
• Fatal/euthanasia
Lumps and bumps
• Neoplasia
• Abscess • Parasites
• Most pathogens bacterial causing GI issues
• Salmonella
• Campylobacter
• Klebsiella
• Enterobacter
• Yersinia
• Pseudomonas
• Mycobacterium
• Coxiella burnetii (Q fever)
