does your snake yawn? - Page 2

jjaj02 · 09-29-04, 01:32 PM

HEHE that is so funny. I'm gonna go home and sit there and wait........and wait to see mine yawn. Or maybe I'll just go have a nap. I swear every time I read the word "yawn" I did what it told me too. Im tired now. Thanks a lot. Oh ya and awesome pic LdyDrgn.

lostwithin · 09-29-04, 01:35 PM

They do yawn too re-adjust the jaw after eating, but this not the main reason as i said most of the time its too get a better perspective I of there surroundings, yawning increases the number of receptors exposed too the open air, therefore relaying more of/ a better signal too the brain, it makes sense if you really think about it snakes depend greatly on olfactory senses, (there "taste/smelling" of the air, and if a mild sent is picked up that they wish too investigate they can "yawn too expose the number of sensors exposed. , like when you smell cookies baking, you take a deep breath through your nose too smell it better.

I’m not saying they do not yawn like humans do, I have never thought too look into it, But If your ball python( or other boid) comes out for no apparent reason and "yawns" chances are it picked up a sent and came out too investigate. I say boid simply because I haven’t researched other families of snake too say for certain that they do display the same behavior although I have seen reference too rattle snakes doing the same thing so I would think it is the same for all species of snake.

Devon

lostwithin · 09-29-04, 01:40 PM

I can "make" my burm yawn no problem at all, simply because he loves too eat the others have too be really hungry, but with my burm if you enter the room with a rat, then remove the rat from the room, my burm will "yawn" as soon as he picks up a bit of rat sent, because he can tell its there but cant tell exactly where. It’s tricky too much sent in the room and he doesn't bother because he can find it with just his toung, but if you manage too do it right, it works like a charm.

Devon

Invictus · 09-29-04, 03:27 PM

Devon, this still sounds like more of a theory to me. Do you have any literature to back up that snakes yawn to get a better sense of their surroundings? I've never read anything to even suggest that to be the case. It's not like they have their tongue out when they do it. Added to which, we have several snakes in our living room, and we quite often catch them yawning, like I said, completely out of the blue. No new scents, nothing. I notice it most often in my boas and corns, but I have seen all of my snakes do it at least once.

lostwithin · 09-29-04, 03:56 PM

Invictus, I will try too find exact references for you It's been a while since I read it But I'll do my best for you, And as for them doing it out of the blue, It may very well just be a yawn for increased Oxygen flow, but you also have too remember there are thousands of scents that could be floating around the room that humans are completely unaware of. humans have Horrid sense of smell its an evolutionary trade off our species has made, We have an advanced sight sensory with superb depth perception but on the flip side we have all but lost our sense of smell (olfactory) in comparison too other animals.

Devon

arkuden · 09-29-04, 04:08 PM

its interesting to know this. I really thought it would have mostly been for the same reasons as humans... well to an extent anyway. I remember the first time i saw my BP; Echo yawn.... i was scared becuase id never seen it before and i had just finnished reading up a bit on Respiratory diseases for snakes lol. Talk about timing.... ohh i think echo is comming out for a bit... lets see if he wants to explore

lostwithin · 09-29-04, 05:29 PM

Invictus, I was checking and noticed you mentioned the snakes toung not coming out when they "yawn", But if you look up the Jacobson's organ which is the olfactory sensory unit that the snake uses you will find that the snakes toung relays the message from the surrounding air too the top of the mouth, the actual sensors are located on the roof of a snakes mouth. The toung flickering picks up air particles carries them into the mouth then presses them against the roof of the snake’s mouth. When the snake "yawns" it is exposing those sensors too the surrounding air there is no need for the toung since while "yawning" the sensors are in direct contact with the air particles.

arkuden , Sorry about hijacking your post lol,

Devon

Removed_2815 · 09-29-04, 05:57 PM

Hey Ken,
Although I don't know if lostwithin's information is theory or not - I might have a look through our journal database to see what turns up, however, I can offer the following piece of information. Cat owners may have noticed that after their cat finishes smelling something particularly alluring they will hold their mouth open as if panting. This is known as the flehman response and it is employed by felines to increase the air flow around their vomeronasal organ (vomer and nasal are simply two facial bones in which this organ is situated - the Jacobson's Organ is another name for vomeronasal organ). The reason cats do this is precisely why lostwithin is proposing that snakes yawn - to increase air flow to this olfactory organ. Whether or not it's true I can't say but often why one species exhibits a particular behaviour is why another species does too.
Cheers,
Ryan

arkuden · 09-29-04, 07:53 PM

i dont mind at all Devon haha. It was a nice suprise and i got a lot of information out of this.

JD@reptiles · 09-29-04, 08:11 PM

If they should bump there jaw on somthing or maybe after a drink somthings not in the right place, they will adjust there mouth.

Quote:

Originally posted by Invictus
How do you explain them doing it completely out of the blue then, even days or weeks after a meal? You cannot tell me they are still adjusting their jaw. Almost all creatures on earth have some kind of yawning mechanism to increase oxygen flow to the body.

Paleosuchus · 09-29-04, 08:27 PM

As for the out of the blue yawning, it could be a number of different reasons. Lostwithin's comprehension on why they do this is great never thought of that. But as JD@reptiles mentioned the slightest thing can "disorganize" there jaws. There jaws are far from being solid( in comparison to ours), there flexible, the bottoms arnt even conected, anything can set them of balance. I guess its like after you eat popcorn and get a kernal stuck in the back of your throut and spend hours probing at it. Hell we have fingers to help us out, they dont the only way they can fix things in there is by opening and closing it. Just my thoughts, Jason

Invictus · 09-29-04, 11:51 PM

This is getting absolutely ridiculous. I can't believe the number of wild assed theories that fly around over something so simple. SNAKES YAWN, PEOPLE. Like almost every other creature on earth, they yawn. It's not after drinking, it's not after eating, sometimes they just YAWN. Any creature that has lungs has the ability to yawn. Good lord, this thread is starting to make ME yawn now...

Invictus · 09-29-04, 11:57 PM

http://www.uc.edu/news/ebriefs/yawn.htm

Quote:

I. YAWNING IS UNIVERSAL
A. THE BIRDS DO IT (O.K. THE BEES DON'T DO IT), BUT WE DO TOO
Robert R. Provine, professor of psychology and assistant director of the Neuroscience Program at the University of Maryland - Baltimore County:
Yawning's roots as an instinctive, unconscious, neurologically programmed social process are very ancient and widespread. "Most animals with backbones yawn and even some without. Dogs, cats, rats, snakes, fish, birds and humans all yawn. Fetuses at 11 weeks after conception yawn in utero."

JD@reptiles · 09-30-04, 11:17 AM

buddy, calm down. i didn't said they never yawn... most the time they are just adjusting there mouth. if you look carefully at the snake when its doing it, you will see if its yawning or not. look at its throat. but if you have to be right, snakes yawn all the time... this is why i dont post much anymore. you say one thing and somone jumps down anothers throat. though mine wasn't a theory, i read it in a book a while ago. also you'll notice snakes with mouth rott do that a lot too. thanks invictus for googling the answer once agian. any animal with lungs can yawn? do snails yawn? do fish yawn?

Vanan · 09-30-04, 11:18 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Invictus
This is getting absolutely ridiculous. I can't believe the number of wild assed theories that fly around over something so simple. SNAKES YAWN, PEOPLE. Like almost every other creature on earth, they yawn. It's not after drinking, it's not after eating, sometimes they just YAWN. Any creature that has lungs has the ability to yawn. Good lord, this thread is starting to make ME yawn now...

Correction. Snakes have no need to yawn to increase oxygen intake. They hyperventilate. Ever noticed your snakes breathing faster just before they strike their food? They're not "panting" to cool themselves off like most mammals. Also, Ryan's right on the money about the Flehman's response in cats. It's a known fact that snake jaws are "stretchable" via the long quadrate bones and the connecting ligaments.