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bci and others color change?
First of all the reason for posting on the general discussion is because i have seen it in more then just bci. So i thought it would fit it correctly.
While in Belize last summer we visited the mayan temples. On the way there i saw two very large, extremely light bci's in mesh cages for sale. I could tell they where wild and purchased them for 5 bucks a piece, only to let them go far out in the jungle on a hike we would be taking. I places the 2 very aggresive serpents in large pillow cases, put them in the back and was on our way to the temples. It was about a 2 hour drive maby longer bus ride to the temple. When we got there i got the snakes out and we headed into the jungle/woods. I opened one of the bags to see that both where black. When i purchased them they where probably the whitest bci's i have seen to become almost a melanistic. It was a very drastic color change. I have seen this in others but not this drastic. I thought realy nothing of it, until today i saw a program about these snakes on belize on the National Geographic channel. He briefly talked about how wierd the color change is. Is anyone familiar with why they do this, or if all species do this to a certain level, and what is it that they can do this?? I figured they turned darker to get more sun, and lighter to cool down. But if thats the case how do they do it, is it pigment cells like in chameleons? Thankyou for any help regarding this, jon
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