Snake

Suborder Serpentes

Reptile

Transcript:

Today on Animal Fact Files we’re talking about snakes. Snake are like sharks - they have a bad reputation that is mostly undeserved. Be it from biblical tales of deceitful serpents or the most recent addition to the SyFy channel - snakes are most often viewed in a poor light.

Now we’ll be fair and say that snake bites do kill people, but, of the more than 3,500 species of snakes currently living on our planet, only about 200 are actually able to kill a human. That’s less than six percent of snakes! So let’s take some time to get to know these animals for the awesome creatures they really are! Most people know certain groups of snakes like the colubrids, the vipers, and the pythons - but there are so many other kinds of snakes, too!

File snakes are also known as elephant trunk snakes and have wrinkly skin. There are also sunbeam snakes who have an iridescent sheen like a sand striker. There are shieldtail snakes with a keratinous knob at the ends of their tails which forms a shield shape. There are even tentacle snakes with funny little feelers protruding from their snoots. And with that much diversity there are plenty more we don’t have time to discuss!

Snakes are found almost worldwide. There are some major islands they don’t inhabit such as Ireland, Greenland, New Zealand, and Iceland as well as smaller islands and atolls. Snakes are also not found in Antarctica but this isn’t much of a surprise because there aren’t any reptiles in Antarctica! Also, snakes are ectotherms, meaning they regulate their body temperatures using external sources. Considering Antarctica is quite chilly, snakes wouldn’t be able to survive there.

Throughout the rest of the world, snakes live in all kinds of habitats including forests, deserts, swamps, grasslands, the freaking ocean! We talked about sea snakes previously and there’s something amazing about them that were going to touch on just a little later in this episode. Within these habitats, snakes may spend their time in a variety of areas such as the forest floor, in dense grasses, in trees, and even underground! Corn snakes have flexible belly scales that give them traction to climb trees while burrowing snakes prefer to spend their time underground. So there’s a lot of diversity - and that even applies to snake sizes!

Currently the longest recorded snake is the reticulated python who can reach more than 30 feet (9.1 meters) in length - but most snakes don’t even dream of reaching this size. In fact, the smallest snake is the Barbados threadsnake and they only reach four inches (10 centimeters) at maximum length! As they grow, snakes shed their skin, typically as an entire piece and even the transparent lid covering their eyes goes with it. On average, an adult snake sheds a handful of times each year.

They come in all kinds of colors and patterns, too. Stripes, splotches, and bright hues are no stranger to these creatures, and some can even change color! And in regards to snake fangs, some, like vipers, have fold back fangs, some, like garter snakes, have fangs in the backs of their mouths, some, like cobras, have fangs that are just there and not very long, and some have no fangs at all meaning they use other methods for catching prey!

Snakes are carnivores, meaning they eat other animals. Their diets can include ants, earthworms, insect larvae, eggs, slugs, snails, centipedes, spiders, crabs, lobsters, eels, fish, fish eggs, frogs, toads, tadpoles, lizards, other snakes, birds, rodents, rabbits, deer, pigs, cows, crocodiles, antelope, and monkeys - just to give you an idea. In turn snakes may be taken by mongooses, spiders, hedgehogs, eagles, hornbills, monitor lizards, crocodiles, and other snakes.

Young snakes may receive protection from their parents, but not typically. Python moms will coil around their eggs and shiver to keep them at an optimal temperature - other snakes just lay their eggs and leave. Some give birth to live young, and this is where sea snakes come back in - they’re the only known living reptiles to give birth in the ocean! There are also some snakes who, as far as we know, have no males of their species and only reproduce via parthenogenesis! How long a snake can live really depends on the species.

For more facts on snakes, check out the links in the description. Thank you to majid mir and Ethan Sue for today’s request. Give a thumbs up if you learned something new today, and thank you for watching Animal Fact Files.