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yestersay morning i found a dead snake that i know had to have been run over the day before and it was still floppy. i checked at about 4:30 pm and it was still floppy, but slightly less.
does it take days to set in or never?
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jake barney
my addiction:
1.1 ball pythons
0.2.1 corns
1.0 cal king
0.0.1 wc garter
Rigor mortis is a temporary condition that will subside over time. Chances are you just missed it.
From Wikipedia -
Assuming mild temperatures, rigor usually sets in about 3-4 hours after clinical death[citation needed], with full rigor being in effect at about 12 hours, and eventually subsiding to relaxation at about 72 hours. Times for the onset of rigor mortis can vary from a few minutes to several hours depending on the ambient temperature. Factors influencing rigor mortis include the age and condition of the body, as well as the mode of death and the surroundings. For example, rigor mortis will tend to set in faster in those who were active immediately prior to death.
Steve
Rigor Mortis is caused by a breakdown in the structure of the muscle tissue which releases calcium inside the muscle cells. That stimulates muscle contraction and because the animal is dead, it doesn't have the ATP necessary to relax the muscles. It happens very suddenly, which gives rise to the stories of dead people "sitting up", etc.
It only lasts a short while because the muscle fibers begin to break down and the contractile filaments inside begin to be destroyed, causing the muscles to relax again.
It does occur in snakes. I have actually watched it happen in a dead Tropidodipsas fasciatus (Banded Snailsucker?). I was trying to take a photo of a roadkill that I had picked up and put in the cooler overnight. When I set it out in a "lifelike" pose it suddenly started going into rigor mortis and its body moved around violently before stiffening in a very "unlifelike" position after about 60 seconds. It was very strange to watch a very dead snake twisting about like that, opening its mouth like it was in its "death throes".
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Chris Harrison
San Antonio, Texas
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