Keeping snakes without a hotspot

[chairman]

Once again from the world of tortoises, but tortoises "generate heat" after eating too. However, it is my understanding that it is not the tortoise that creates the heat but the gut flora and fermentation process that accompanies digestion in hind-gut fermenters. Something similar could be true for the crocodilians, tegus, and rattlesnakes... they are not producing heat like exotherms but if their gut flora is given fuel then the microorganisms may generate heat or initiate chemical processes that create heat. It would also make sense that larger meals result in more heat, the microorganisms have more fuel to work with.

I'm afraid that I don't have a citation for the tortoise heat generation, it has been a couple years since I read about it.