Interesting Snake Facts

[Skorpious]

Since my parents work with and are friends with a few teachers from the local primary school, I was asked to do a presentation for one of the senior classes (grade 5-6) cause they are doing a project on snakes.
Anyway I was planning on doing up a fact sheet for the kids with interesting snake facts (primarily python ones) and would value any input (including corrects if I have made any mistakes).
What I have so far.

* Snakes are deaf and 'smell' the air using a special organ called the Jacob's Organ on the roof of there mouth.

* The whole incredibly slow metabolism thing (sorry to lazy to write it out at the moment, its 1 am) how they can survive for ages with little to no food and how they only eat once a week (or less).

* Australia has just over half (13) of the world's total pythons species (25). Including the third largest, the Amethyst or Scrub Python with can grow up to a reported 8.5m (28 ft).

* Pythons never stop growing and must shed their skin when it gets to small. Thus the older a python the larger it will normally be.

* Pythons can swallow food items up to three times the size of their head due to elastic jaw ligaments.

Will probably think of some more tomorrow. Anyway thanks

 

[Wrasse]

Actually, they are not deaf.

Although a snake has no external ears, it does have the ability to hear sounds, both carried along the ground and airborne, via the bones of the jaw and rudimently organs acting as the ear does.

 

[basketcase]

* Pythons never stop growing and must shed their skin when it gets to small. Thus the older a python the larger it will normally be.

^ completely dependant on food supply

theres alot more...
- do snakes have tails... yes blah blah blah
- no blinking
- heat pits
- movement
- vestigial spurs
etc etc etc etc etc etc etc... etc

 

[Skorpious]

Thanks see I know jack all. Still better teaching them something then the old 'shovel' mentality.

Oh and yeah Basketcase I should have expanded that one a bit more. Thats sort of what I meant bout 'normally'

 

[Brodie]

Its closer to 5 times their head size, maybe up to about 10 after seeing photos of an olive eating a large wallaroo the other week.

To make it more interesting to kids maybe you could say something about how a snake can eat something up to 5 times larger than its head.. That would be like us trying to eat a watermelon whole.

Ill see if I can think of some more stuff for ya, as it is a great thing your doing!

 

[improvius]

There was an article floating around earlier this year about how a python can literally increase or decrease the size of its heart. So when it nabs a big meal, the heart will get bigger to process the food, then shrink them back down to use up less energy. Lemme see if I can find the linky...

Ah yes here ya go:

http://www.ngnews.com/news/2005/03/0302_050302_python.html

-Imp

 

[Guest]

* Snakes are deaf and 'smell' the air using a special organ called the Jacob's Organ on the roof of there mouth.

By collecting air particles on their tongues.

*Also they are cold blooded so they need an external heat source to keep warm unlike us that can produce our own body heat.

 

[improvius]

* Australia has just over half (13) of the world's total pythons species (25). Including the third largest, the Amethyst or Scrub Python with can grow up to a reported 8.5m (28 ft).

And you have the world's smallest - the anthill python.

-Imp

 

[improvius]

One more, but someone should verify this - aren't the tongues forked so that they can smell in "stereo" and determine which direction a particular scent comes from?

-Imp

 

[womas4me]

Yep, forked tongue enables a ' direction ' to be determined.

I've been told and read somewhere that snakes are deaf to airborne noise but very sensitive to vibration, ie they dont hear a clap, but the feel the noise it makes through the air

 

[peterescue]

the bones that go into making up a snakes jaw are the bones that we hav in our inner ear.
Reptiles have three chambers in their heart(not crocs, they are birds as everyone knows :wink: )
Reptiles can regulate the blood flow through various parts of the body to avoid heat loss.

 

[womas4me]

Is it also true that snakes eg bhp, can put blood through the head / brain area first to get the brain going, then direct it more around the body?

 

[PilbaraPythons]

Wrasse is correct in his statement. Although most hearing data have come from work on colubrids it seems that snakes can indeed hear some air borne sounds that fall between certain frequencies and not surprisingly the hiss that the snake makes just happens to fall with in this frequency. Colubrids have the internal mechanism of the inner ear eg: sachualus, cochlear, utriculas. ( please excuse the spelling which is guaranteed to be wrong ). I would give a more detailed explaination but right and unfortunately I have to go to work right now.
Cheers Dave

 

[Magpie]

They "smell" using the Jacobson's organ, not Jacobs.
As several have stated, they are not deaf. However they are only sensitive to sounds in the range of 100-400Hz (Humans can hear 40-20,000Hz). Interestingly this means they may be able to hear male voices talking, but are unlikely to hear females or screaming. See Autumn 2005 edition of Nature Australia for more (It should still be at your local newsagent).
Also, the scrubby is the 3rd longest snake, not the 3rd largest.
And they are not "cold blooded" they are ectotherms. They keep their blood at around 30C where possible, they just use an external heat source. Fish are cold blooded.

 

[instar]

Um, scaley, long , no legs, bitey end and a pooing end ! Can someone write that all scientific and correct please?

 

[rodentrancher]

Guess that Skorpius doesn't need to get too technical for the kids, but just needs to have simple but true facts to give em eh?

 

[Magpie]

You could alsomention that there are snakes adapted to living just about anywhere on earth, seasnakes, swamp snakes, file snakes that live in fresh and marine water, snakes that live on moutains, in deserts. The only place they aren't is in the polar regions.

 

[Skorpious]

I have corrected my notes where needed and added the rest. Thanks guys.

 

[Kenshin]

the scrub python is the 4th largest PYTHON in the world...... i belive it goes reticulated, burmese, african rock pythons, aussie scrub python

 

[Guest]

ya could mention how snakes including australian copperheads are seen active above the snowline of mountains, including Mt kosiosko...this might help em understand that snakes can still be active in cold conditions.