Salt water and pythons

[Darlyn]

we relocated an injured 4metre reticulated python from the gili islands to lombok
its scars are quite distinctive
2 years later it was back in the gilis

I prefer the Gilis to Lombok as well. Don't think I could swim that far tho

 

[hulloosenator]

Land snakes swim in salt water all the time if they have to. They also slither across sand all the time if they have to .......They have evolved that way and i am sure they dont think about absorbing salt through their skin or having sand up their clanger when they poop.

I have seen many pythons crossing salt water inlets and Carpet snakes are plentiful on Fraser Island ( a sand island )

Its the same old thing here isnt it ....? some people just like to go out of their way to critisize other without doing any homework.

 

[frostblue]

I do not think its people criticizing the health problems, its more the why do it when it serves no purpose in a captive situation, also in regards to it attracting more people to the hobby, it would just set a bad example and encourage using reptiles for attention seeking behavior rather then for the right reasons.

There may be no medical reason not to do something, that does not mean you should go ahead and do it, never mind that depending on your license and state its a breach of the rules. It comes down to why do it when it serves no practical purpose.

 

[Bluetongue1]

I am not surprised that were criticisms put forward on health grounds. A thread on bathing snakes that was posted this year provided a lot of misinformation. It had snakes taking in water through their skin in fresh water, losing it though their skin in hypertonic salt water and/or gaining salt at the same time. It also had passive loss or gain of water from the cloaca through osmosis with passive movement of solutes as a direct result. Snake skin is even more impervious to water than human skin. If you are highly active in water, such as swimming a lot, your body sweats in response to getting hot, just like a footy player after a winter’s night training session.

Uptake and excretion from the cloaca is under active control of the columnar epithelial cells which line it and the rest of the digestive tube. (I was unable to post at the time so it is good this has come up)

Apart from the publicity, I wouldn’t say it serves no useful purpose. Lot’s of people let their pythons roam around the back yard for the exercise, to encourage them to dump outside their enclosure and for behavioural enrichment. However, I do feel the snake should be given the option of crossing the beach and entering the water of its own volition, rather than being put into the water to begin with if that is what happens.

Blue

 

[MissFuller]

Land snakes swim in salt water all the time if they have to. They also slither across sand all the time if they have to .......They have evolved that way and i am sure they dont think about absorbing salt through their skin or having sand up their clanger when they poop.

I have seen many pythons crossing salt water inlets and Carpet snakes are plentiful on Fraser Island ( a sand island )

Its the same old thing here isnt it ....? some people just like to go out of their way to critisize other without doing any homework.

I never criticised the person, as stated in my original post I was simply after any health issues it could cause (doing my homework as such) from people who have more knowledge then me.

Thank you everyone for your input!
It's greatly appreciated, I think at the end of the day it's up to the individual keepers belief,
I certainly won't be doing it myself