Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey all, my daughter tried her hand at the forum but may not have adequatley posed her question.

She's going to use "How does temperature affect the feeding habits of the Burmese Python" as the theme for her science project this year. She needs as much data as possible to give her a better idea of the real answer. She'll use our snake as physical/visual data but anything ya'll could add would be greatly appreciated.

There's already a second place ribbon on the cage from last years project. We're looking for a first place this year!

Thanx,
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DZ
1.0.0 Burm, Moses
0.0.2 Ball, Chico & Chewy (rescue, many scars)
0.2.0 Cats, Merideth & Hannah
1.0.0 Black Chow, Pivo RIP Oct 23
Lotsa fish
1.4.0 Rats
0.2.0 Humans (a little obnoxious though)

Since all reptiles are 'cold-blooded' (ectothermic), they rely on heat to function. No heat, and they wont survive for long. As the tempratures decrease reptiles body systems will slow down, meaning they will use up less energy, therefore needing less food (as seen in hibernating/brumating reptiles. They are not fed, and if they were cooled correctly, most will only have a slight wieght loss.) As temperatures increase, their body systems become more active, and soon they will be ready to eat again. Because They need the heat to thrive, if not given enough heat they wont even have the desire to eat. Also, if there is not enough heat given to a reptile, their digestive systems wont work, and their food will start decaying inside of them, which is another reason why some snakes will refuse food if theres not enough heat for it. Giving them too much heat will also be dangerous. I'm not sure on what exactly happens in regard to feedings though, I'm sure someone will be able to expain it, and correct any mistakes I may have made.
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0.1.0 Columbian boa constrictor
1.0.0 Albino burmese python
1.0.0 Pine/bull snake hybrid
0.1.0 Ball python
3.0.0 Cornsnake (anerythristic, snow, normal)
0.0.1 Cali kingsnake
0.0.1 Rainwater albino leopard gecko
1.0.0 Tokay gecko
1.0.0 Bahama anole
0.0.1 Red eared slider
1.4.0 Cat
4.3.0 Bird
1.0.0 Dog

I looked at some of my notes as we take temperature readings of our burms when feeding. For the most part, we get the strongest feeding responses when the burms have an inner coil temp of 82-85 deg. F (based on observations of 25 adult burms). We provide a thermal gradient of 80-82 deg F on the cool side and 88-90 on the warm side and shortly after basking in 85 deg temps, burms seem to be much more in hunting mode than when they spend a prolonged period of time in a cool area of the cage; once again, this is just observational data but still a very important tool in understanding this species. Humidity also plays an important part in feeding stimulus.

Hope this helps a little.

Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center
City of Lake Forest Parks & Recreation, IL

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DZ
1.0.0 Burm, Moses
0.0.2 Ball, Chico & Chewy (rescue, many scars)
0.2.0 Cats, Merideth & Hannah
1.0.0 Black Chow, Pivo RIP Oct 23
Lotsa fish
1.4.0 Rats
0.2.0 Humans (a little obnoxious though)