Posted by:
jfmoore
at Sat Nov 29 18:55:11 2003 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by jfmoore ]
“What I'm interested in is finding out if anyone has specific information, rather than third hand generic conventional wisdom.”
Hello Michael –
Unfortunately, whether one’s information is third hand, second hand or first hand, no one really knows why reptiles in captivity (not just snakes) sometimes fail to move away from heat sources even though they may be cooking themselves to death. Whether it is a python lying on a heat source, or a lizard or turtle underneath one, they don’t always seem to “know” when to move away. For that matter, we don’t even know if THAT is what they don’t know. Perhaps they DO realize when they are injured but don’t comprehend that safety lies just a few inches away. This seems totally counter-intuitive for life forms which maintain their body temperatures through behavioral thermoregulation, but it happens. And not infrequently.
“if a snake were to lay on a surface temperature of exactly 80 degrees for two hours, would that create a burn? What if the surface temperature were exactly 90 degrees? Or exactly 100 degrees? or exactly 110? or 120?”
Reptile skin probably suffers thermal injuries in the same way and at the same temperatures as cat, dog, pig, or human skin. So this part of your question should be fairly easy to answer, either by research online or experimentation on yourself. No, I am not being totally facetious. So, of course, 80 degrees would not cause a burn, but not all reptiles would be able to function optimally at that constant temperature (some colubrid snakes – too high? gravid pythons – too low; desert iguanas – way too low!)
“What about boiling temperature, say around 200 degrees? Would that guarantee a burn?”
At this point, I’ve got to tell you, I’m wondering what your intention in writing this was. Your post was obviously carefully composed. So, what, Michael, do you THINK boiling temperature would do to living tissue? There is a way for you to personally find out, and it is as close as your kitchen. By the way, how old are you?
“If the snake is lying on a large overheated surface, the snake might well move away before the time interval that would be required for a burn.”
Or it might not. That is why reptile veterinarians continue to see many cases of thermal burns. That is why we as keepers need to find out the appropriate temperature gradients for the animals we keep caged. Luckily, this information is now readily available in books and online for most commonly-kept reptiles.
In closing, let me trot out the same photos I often use when the topic of thermal burns in snakes comes up (with my standard disclaimer: No, these weren’t my snakes and no, I don’t know what the outcome was for these patients). It does not have to get this bad to be classified as a burn, and many of us have probably had something less serious happen to our animals. These days, with all the good heating and regulating devices adapted for reptile care, our herps have a far better chance of escaping this fate.
-Joan
Photos courtesy of Stephen L. Barten, DVM, Vernon Hills Animal Hospital, Mundelein, IL
[ Hide Replies ]
- burning a snake - mkraft, Sat Nov 29 14:05:58 2003
 RE: burning a snake (with images) - jfmoore, Sat Nov 29 18:55:11 2003- RE: burning a snake - Siri_Lin, Fri Dec 5 02:23:30 2003
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