I would guess the principal reasons would be for simple comfort or for thermoregulation. Lying belly side up occurs in males as well as females and in other species of snakes. As this is a more vulnerable position, snakes often seem to need some amount of seclusion to coil this way, such as a being in a hide container or not otherwise sensing the presence of humans. I’ve seen burrowers lie this way buried underneath the substrate. The main conditions I could correlate with this behavior are being gravid, being opaque, and having recently fed. But I think they may also do it any old time just because of the comfort factor, as we often shift positions when sitting, standing and lying prone.



Tangentially, I had a Texas indigo that frequently rested on his side. Likewise, I often see certain of my blood pythons stretched out straight, or in a big loop, totally on their sides. Now THAT is kind of creepy looking and I sometimes think for an instant that the animal is dead.



-Joan

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