Tanzen

[Tanzen]

Hi All. I'm a 33yr old single mom in Brisbane with one child and dozens of pythons, one of which is an awesome maternal incubator. I also do snake relocations. my son just rolls his eyes now when I tell him we're off to do a catch. hmmm not sure if he inherited my passion but he's quick to tell people off when they get the black headeds wrong (5 yr olds know everything).
Anyway I won't be buying any more for a while cos I spent ALL my savings skiing!
Whilst skiing someone said to me they had heard that the venomous snakes produced less venom at the higher altitudes. Doesn't make sense to me but then I really wouldn't have a clue :wink:

 

[Pike01]

Hi Tanzen, never heard that before but it would make sense.The higher you go the cooler it gets and the slower a snakes metabolism would be.At the same time if they were reaching their PBT it probably wouldnt make much difference, all to do with temperature.

 

[Tanzen]

my ski instuctor saw a basking copperhead on a rock(the rock itself cleared of snow)altitude 2000 ft.in the spring thaw.
my thoughts were they'd have to be producing enough to eat and procreate or they wouldn't be there?

 

[alexr]

Hi Tanzen - welcome to APS.

 

[NCHERPS]

Hi Tanzen,
I think you would have to do a comparison between the same species at altitude and those not.
I am not aware that anyone has done such a study on copperheads. I wouldn't be so concerned about qty of venom with Elapids as much as potency, and I am sure that they have enough of that :wink: .

It's amazing just how adaptable snakes are isn't it, you wouldn't think that you would find them in snowy area's, but they have adapted well.
You will find that most cold area snakes are live bearers, such as the copperhead and so don't have to worry about externally incubating, which would be harsh in such enviroments.

Skiing, got to give that a go at some point! Looks like fun.

Neil