Effect of Ambient Temperature in Neonate Aspic Vipers: Growth, Locomotor Performance and Defensive Behaviors

Abstract

The impact of temperature during incubation and gestation has been tested in various reptiles; the postnatal period has been rarely investigated however. Three groups of newborn aspic vipers (Vipera aspis) were placed under contrasted thermal regimes during 7 months: (1) a cool 23°C constant regime, (2) a warm 28°C constant regime, and (3) an optimal regime with free-access to a wide range of temperatures. Later, all the snakes were placed under hibernation conditions (6°C) during 3 months. Finally all the snakes were placed in the optimal thermal regime during 2 additional months. The total duration of the experiment was of 12 months. Body mass and feeding rates were recorded weekly, body size was measured monthly. We also assessed locomotor performance and recorded several behavioral traits (e.g., defensive and predatory behaviors). As expected, snakes raised under cool temperatures exhibited low feeding rate, growth rate, body condition, and they exhibited poor locomotor performance; they also displayed marked defensive behaviors (e.g., high number of defensive bites) whilst hesitating during longer periods to bite a prey. Such behavioral effects were detected at the end of the experiment (i.e., 5 months after exposure to contrasted thermal treatments [3 months of hibernation plus 2 months of optimal regime]), revealing long term effects. Surprisingly, growth rate and locomotor performance were not different between the two other groups, warm constant 28°C versus optimal regimes (albeit several behavioral traits differed), suggesting that the access to a wide range of ambient temperatures was not a crucial factor.

Evaluating the thermal effects of translocation in a large‐bodied pitviper

“…Ectotherms rely heavily on behavioral thermoregulation and the use of sites containing specific thermal microhabitats (Row and Blouin‐Demers, ; Gardner‐Santana and Beaupre, ). Movement away from preferred thermal microhabitats during translocation represents a risk unique to ectothermic vertebrates, as temperature and its variation have proximate impacts on growth, performance, stress physiology, and reproduction (Kaufmann and Bennett, ; Cree et al, ; Aïdam et al, ). These physiological consequences of translocation could conceivably lead to reduced ability to avoid predators and less time for foraging, eventually leading to a decrease in the health of ectotherms subjected to translocation, especially if the same animals must be repeatedly translocated because they move back.…”

Climate Change Impacts on Tropical Reptiles: Likely Effects and Future Research Needs Based on Sri Lankan Perspectives

“…Common traits for performance curves include locomotor speed, endurance, prey capture ability, development time, reproductive rate, growth rate, and net energy gain (Huey and Stevenson, 1979;Hertz et al, 1988;Huey et al, 1990Huey et al, , 2012Angilletta et al, 2002). Among these traits, locomotion is the most frequently measured indicator of performance (Waldschmidt and Tracy, 1983;Huey and Kingsolver, 1989;Rall and Woledge, 1990;Adolph and Porter, 1993;Swoap et al, 1993;Hawkins, 1995;Kubisch et al, 2011;Woolrich-Piña et al, 2012;Aidam et al, 2013). Studies on lizards suggest that locomotor performance, which is tightly linked to an individual's body temperature, influences fitness (Irschick and Garland, 2001).…”

Immune activation influences the trade-off between thermoregulation and shelter use

“…We used the cornsnake, Pantherophis guttatus, to test our hypotheses because snakes utilize existing shelter (Hyslop, Cooper, & Meyers, 2009) and adjust their habitat selection to carefully regulate T b (Aïdam, Michel, & Bonnet, 2013;Blouin-Demers & Weatherhead, 2001;Lorioux, DeNardo, Gorelick, & Lourdais, 2012;Lourdais, Guillon, DeNardo, & BlouinDemers, 2013;McConnachie, Greene, & Perrin, 2011;Stahlschmidt et al, 2012). Like other animals (Johnson, 2002;Lefcort & Eiger, 1993), snakes may exhibit a shift in T b and increase shelter use due to immune activation; thus, we first hypothesized that immune activation influences thermoregulation and shelter use independently (sensu Kluger, 1986;Otti et al, 2011).…”