There you go Mark, your starting to get it. What you saw in the field can be duplicated in captivity, If you understand what the animals are doing.

My last picture is of a banded rock rattlesnake heating up a food bolus. Notice, every part of the snake is in shadow, except the food bolus. Hmmmmmmmmm how tell tail is that?

Snakes work from cool or cold to warm, and in most cases do so regionally. That is, a part of the body is heated, the part that needs heat. You know may see(start to understand) the snakes do this for several reasons, security is one, but conservation of energy is another. They are so attuned to conservation they do not heat up the whole body. So no energy is wasted. This also depends on the type of snake. Snakes that are daily feeders in nature, like waters, racers or garters, can effort to waste energy to a point and heat the whole body.

Actually my field partner uses side heat alot. He keeps montane rattlesnakes and he keeps them in tanks. He uses a small lite aimed at the side of the cage. That gives a small heat spot and a decent temp range, in a relatively small cage.

This is the point that really gets me. In order to duplicate what these snakes do in nature, you must have a decent understanding of why they are doing it. Yet, some biologists, claim these animals do not do these things, and cannot in captivity. So they dimiss the snakes abilities. Hmmmmmm no respect for nature I guess.

For instance a key trait with montane kings that use cracks is, they must have the ability to enter and exit the crack without coming out. Hmmmmmmmmmmm why would that be important? Cheers

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