Satiety and eating patterns in two species of constricting snakes

Nielsen, Torben P.; Jacobsen, Marianne; Wang, Tobias

doi:10.1016/j.physbeh.2010.09.001

Cited by 4 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…Organisms need to balance foraging and feeding with predator avoidance, and the risk of predation is important in altering behavior of foragers (Sih, ). Taking large prey increases predation risk for snakes at the outset, because the snake may be incapacitated while subduing and ingesting prey, which may take an extended period of time, and prey handling time increases with prey size (Cruz‐Neto et al., ; Nielsen, Jacobsen, & Wang, ). Snakes typically avoid predation by crypsis, flight, and defensive behaviors.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Behavioral differences following ingestion of large meals and consequences for management of a harmful invasive snake: A field experiment

Siers

Adams

Reed

2018

Ecology and Evolution

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Many snakes are uniquely adapted to ingest large prey at infrequent intervals. Digestion of large prey is metabolically and aerobically costly, and large prey boluses can impair snake locomotion, increasing vulnerability to predation. Cessation of foraging and use of refugia with microclimates facilitating digestion are expected to be strategies employed by free‐ranging snakes to cope with the demands of digestion while minimizing risk of predation. However, empirical observations of such submergent behavior from field experiments are limited. The brown treesnake (Serpentes: Colubridae: Boiga irregularis) is a nocturnal, arboreal, colubrid snake that was accidentally introduced to the island of Guam, with ecologically and economically costly consequences. Because tools for brown treesnake damage prevention generally rely on snakes being visible or responding to lures or baits while foraging, cessation of foraging activities after feeding would complicate management. We sought to characterize differences in brown treesnake activity, movement, habitat use, and detectability following feeding of large meals (rodents 33% of the snake's unfed body mass) via radio telemetry, trapping, and visual surveys. Compared to unfed snakes, snakes in the feeding treatment group showed drastic decreases in hourly and nightly activity rates, differences in refuge height and microhabitat type, and a marked decrease in detectability by trapping and visual surveys. Depression of activity lasted approximately 5–7 days, a period that corresponds to previous studies of brown treesnake digestion and cycles of detectability. Our results indicate that management strategies for invasive brown treesnakes need to account for cycles of unavailability and underscore the importance of preventing spread of brown treesnakes to new environments where large prey are abundant and periods of cryptic behavior are likely to be frequent. Characterization of postfeeding behavior changes provides a richer understanding of snake ecology and foraging models for species that consume large prey.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Behavioral differences following ingestion of large meals and consequences for management of a harmful invasive snake: A field experiment

Siers

Adams

Reed

2018

Ecology and Evolution

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“…Inexperienced animals may perceive exaggerated predation risks, even to the extent that they compromise their own fitness ( Lima, 1998 ; Lima and Dill, 1990 ). Foraging opportunities often have associated mortality risks through increased exposure time to predators ( Lima and Dill, 1990 ), and snakes may be more susceptible during times when they are incapacitating, handling, or digesting prey ( Cruz-Neto et al, 1999 ; Garland and Arnold, 1983 ; Nielsen et al, 2011 ; Siers et al, 2018 ). Yet some research with snake neonates has indicated that larger individuals are bolder, which reflects inherent differences in behavioral traits between hatchlings of different sizes ( Mayer et al, 2016 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Clutch may predict growth of hatchling Burmese pythons better than food availability or sex

et al. 2021

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Identifying which environmental and genetic factors affect growth pattern phenotypes can help biologists predict how organisms distribute finite energy resources in response to varying environmental conditions and physiological states. This information may be useful for monitoring and managing populations of cryptic, endangered, and invasive species. Consequently, we assessed the effects of food availability, clutch, and sex on the growth of invasive Burmese pythons (Python bivittatus Kuhl) from the Greater Everglades Ecosystem in Florida, USA. Though little is known from the wild, Burmese pythons have been physiological model organisms for decades, with most experimental research sourcing individuals from the pet trade. Here, we used 60 hatchlings collected as eggs from the nests of two wild pythons, assigned them to High or Low feeding treatments, and monitored growth and meal consumption for 12 weeks, a period when pythons are thought to grow very rapidly. None of the 30 hatchlings that were offered food prior to their fourth week post-hatching consumed it, presumably because they were relying on internal yolk stores. Although only two clutches were used in the experiment, we found that nearly all phenotypic variation was explained by clutch rather than feeding treatment or sex. Hatchlings from clutch 1 (C1) grew faster and were longer, heavier, in better body condition, ate more frequently, and were bolder than hatchlings from clutch 2 (C2), regardless of food availability. On average, C1 and C2 hatchling snout-vent length (SVL) and weight grew 0.15 cm d−1 and 0.10 cm d−1, and 0.20 g d−1 and 0.03 g d−1, respectively. Additional research may be warranted to determine whether these effects remain with larger clutch sample sizes and to identify the underlying mechanisms and fitness implications of this variation to help inform risk assessments and management. This article has an associated First Person interview with the first author of the paper.

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Description of the feeding rhythm of cone snails in French Polynesia

Teillard,

Gache,

Dutertre

et al. 2024

Journal of Molluscan Studies

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The Conidae is a family of marine gastropod molluscs that includes carnivorous and venomous species. The venom they produce is remarkably diverse and has recently drawn much interest from a pharmacological perspective. To respond to this growing interest, a better understanding of the ecology and biology of the species is required. Only a few studies have examined the feeding behaviour and the trophic specialization of these species in detail. In this study, we investigated diet through hunger and satiety experiments of eight species of cones that occur in French Polynesia and that present different feeding modes (piscivorous, molluscivorous or vermivorous). Monitoring behaviour of cones during fasting periods demonstrated a correlation between increased hunger and nocturnal cone activity, mainly for piscivorous species, while the molluscivores did not show this correlation. In the study on satiety, we defined an average frequency of feeding for cone species that were fed prey ad libitum. Finally, this study provided indications that will help to define an equilibrium feeding frequency in further studies involving the cultivation of cones.

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Satiety and eating patterns in two species of constricting snakes

Cited by 4 publications

References 27 publications

Behavioral differences following ingestion of large meals and consequences for management of a harmful invasive snake: A field experiment

Behavioral differences following ingestion of large meals and consequences for management of a harmful invasive snake: A field experiment

Clutch may predict growth of hatchling Burmese pythons better than food availability or sex

Description of the feeding rhythm of cone snails in French Polynesia

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