bps and sickness

[new2BP]

just a simple question. are smaller or baby BP's or maybe snakes in general more acceptable to sickness and desease when they are young vs when they become mature or sub adults?

[Starsonedge]

Really it just depends on the inclosure they're in. Any snake will get sick if it has no heat source, babies will just get colder faster, and probably sicker faster. Just like children I suppose.

[Adam_Wysocki]

babies will just get colder faster, and probably sicker faster.

Huh? What are you basing that one on?

That's completely false.

-adam

[Starsonedge]

Common sense? Smaller = lose heat faster >_> I'm just guessing. But you don't have to act like a big shot because you've kept snakes longer than me.
It's all to do with how you keep them basically. I'm just using a *reall* general idea

[daniel1983]

The loss of heat or gain of heat from any object is based on the temperature of the object, the temperature area of the objects surroundings, and the contact surface area between the object and its environment(The greater the surface area the more heat will be lost). heat storage is based on the mass of an object(larger mass= more heat storage). An adult ball python would store alot of heat due to its size but lose more heat due to its larger surface area. the hatchling would store less heat due to its size but lose less heat due to the smaller surface area. Based on those FACTS and the identical structure of large and small ball pythons, I would make the EDUCATED guess that the rate of heat loss in both large and small pythons would be equal if they were in identical environments and had the same initial temperature.

ha ha...I hope that point was clear...my thermodynamics explainations can never be made simple....but i tried

[daniel1983]

just a simple question. are smaller or baby BP's or maybe snakes in general more acceptable to sickness and desease when they are young vs when they become mature or sub adults?

Smaller bps tend to stress easier than adult ball pythons. Remember they are the prey in the wild and....completely defenseless...that would be stessful for anything. Like most animals (including people), increased stress levels can make them more prone to sickness. But stress can effect adult bps also, so the best thing to do is make sure your husbandry is correct and limit stress on the snake.

[iceman25]

(The greater the surface area the more heat will be lost). heat storage is based on the mass of an object(larger mass= more heat storage). An adult ball python would store alot of heat due to its size but lose more heat due to its larger surface area. the hatchling would store less heat due to its size but lose less heat due to the smaller surface area. Based on those FACTS and the identical structure of large and small ball pythons, I would make the EDUCATED guess that the rate of heat loss in both large and small pythons would be equal if they were in identical environments and had the same initial temperature.

Hi Daniel, I must disagree with some of your statements. While what you say is strictly true for a two dimentional universe, it is not so the case in ours. When it comes to an objects size and heat loss, we have to look at Surface area and Volume together without seperating them both. We have to look at them as a ratio called the "Surface Area: Volume" in the scientific community(I'm sure you already knew that ).

Lets look at some examples. Say we have two cubes, one twice the dimensions of the other.

Cube A: length/width/height = 1

Cube B: length/width/height = 2

Investigate A:

Volume of A = 1*1*1 = 1cubic units.

Surface Area of A = 6*1*1 = 6 square units.

Surface Area:Volume = 6:1

Investigate B:

Volume of B = 2*2*2 = 8cubic units

Surface area of B = 6*2*2 = 24square units.

Surface Area:Volume = 24:8 = 3:1

Conclusion:

As you can see, the Surface Area:Volume ratio for the smaller cube is higher than the larger cube. I agree with you when you said that large mass = more heat storage. The larger cube will take a longer time to heat up to a particular temperature, lets call it "T". It will also take a longer time to loose heat than the smaller cube.

Under the same controlled conditions as the larger cube, the smaller cube will take a lot less time to heat up to the same temp "T", and will loose that heat at a higher rate:

Proof of the above stated:

Cube A ratio = 6:1
Cube B ratio = 3:1
Initial Temp of A and B(both same) = T

Rate of loss of heat for A = 6T per minute
Rate of loss of heat for B = 3T per minute.

Hence the Larger Cube looses heat at a slower rate than the samller cube. This means that a smaller BP with a larger surface area:volume ratio will loose and gain heat faster than a larger BP

[Adam_Wysocki]

Common sense? Smaller = lose heat faster >_> I'm just guessing. But you don't have to act like a big shot because you've kept snakes longer than me.
It's all to do with how you keep them basically. I'm just using a *reall* general idea

LOL .... If you're "just guessing" you should have said so in your original post. Too many people post "guesses" or "opinions" on the internet that are just not true and someone that does not know any better will believe them as fact and repeat it to someone else that doesn't know any better.

It's not about who has been keeping snakes longer ... it's about stating false information as fact on a message board where people come to learn. If I see something that I know is bull poopie, I'm going to point it.

-adam

[iceman25]

LOL .... If you're "just guessing" you should have said so in your original post. Too many people post "guesses" or "opinions" on the internet that are just not true and someone that does not know any better will believe them as fact and repeat it to someone else that doesn't know any better.

It's not about who has been keeping snakes longer ... it's about stating false information as fact on a message board where people come to learn. If I see something that I know is bull poopie, I'm going to point it.

-adam

His guess in this case(smaller = loose heat faster) was correct

[Adam_Wysocki]

His guess in this case(smaller = loose heat faster) was correct

Could have done just as well flipping a coin .... the bottom line is that there is not a greater risk of babies getting sick compared to adults ... either way is just as likely or unlikely.

I still don't understand the whole point of "losing heat" and what that has to do with anything???? A snake can have a body temperature in the high 80's and still get a respiratory infection from ambient air temps in the 70's or below .... in my opinion the entire discussion is a little silly.

And FWIW, the rate of heat lose is proportional to the amount of heat required for the given size. Smaller snakes will lose heat faster, but need much less of it than large adults. I can keep my hatchling bp's at a constant 84 degress with no hot spot and they will thrive ... adult ball pythons must have a basking area in the low to mid 90's.

I just love making new friends

-adam