Strange question....

[Mina]

I have a strange question about snakes in general, not just ball pythons, although Dax does it as well. Whenever we hold any of our snakes, when they wrap any of their bodies around us, they pulse, kind of lightly squeeze and then relax.
Do other people's snakes do that? Does it mean anything?
I was just curious. Thanks for any answers.

[bonez]

Yea my snake does it, my friends snake does it..maybe they are generating heat or just like to squeeze, i dont know the reason, i do know they do it though..

[frankykeno]

From what I understand of how snake's muscles work Mina it's very normal. Their long bodies with the muscles that create the constriction pressure are very energy efficient. Those muscles draw a huge amount of energy however so this ability to "pulse" that energy when needed is a way to control the loss of it (if that makes sense). For me it seems to be like a t-stat that flips on and off, compared to one that proportional....both can achieve a goal but one if far more efficient than the other.

The more I research how snakes work the more fascinated I'm becoming with how incredibly well designed they are.

[Mina]

Thanks, Jo. Yes, that does make sense. I asked the question because Dax has always done it, in fact both he and Austin pulsed the first time I held them both. Toby just did it for the first time last night, or as my husband pointed out, Toby is now big enough that we felt it for the first time last night.

[ballroom]

I believe it to be an involuntary response to constrict when held . the reason I believe this is that most snakes have some sort of feeding response to an opening cage.. so if your picking them up they have already had some thought about being fed...
Also I have never seen a snake do it just lying in the cage Unless it was a female on eggs( thermoregulation)...
I could be way off but thats just my thoughts.

[frankykeno]

I wonder if it's a response to stimuli from us. Not that they are meaning to constrict but just a response thing. Apparently this rippling or pulsing in constriction is a direct response to signals from the prey...things like heart beats, breathing, twitching...basically signs of life. It would make sense then that if they are in direct contact with us, especially at pulse points on the human body, that their body might instinctively fire off muscle responses.