Keeping snakes without a hotspot

[Doug 351]

Since mention was made of ratlesnakes, I thought I'd throw this out there. Scientists were trying to figure out how a certain species of rattlesnake could survive in sub-freezing temperatures and digest it's food.

They basically force fed one of these rattlesnakes and studied it under conditions mimicking it's habitat. After a period of time, they had to take emergency action to save the snake.

Well, they missed ONE thing! In the wild, rattlesnakes invenomate their prey which initiates and assists the digestive processes. They injected prey with venom and repeated the experiment with much success.