{"id":2033,"date":"2021-05-17T02:15:16","date_gmt":"2021-05-17T06:15:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ncseagrant.ncsu.edu\/hooklinescience\/?p=2033"},"modified":"2023-07-28T13:42:51","modified_gmt":"2023-07-28T17:42:51","slug":"do-water-snakes-get-thirsty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ncseagrant.ncsu.edu\/hooklinescience\/do-water-snakes-get-thirsty\/","title":{"rendered":"Do Water Snakes Get Thirsty?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

New research shows that snakes in watery habitats are sensitive to dehydration.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anglers who spend all Saturday on the boat know the importance of drinking water and staying hydrated when it\u2019s warm out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Humans, in fact, can live without food much longer than we can live without water. But does this general rule apply to other animals like reptiles, some of which live in freshwater?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Research Need<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Both the banded and brown water snakes are freshwater amphibious species that live throughout North Carolina.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These snakes utilize various sources of water in the environment to remain hydrated and keep their electrolytes balanced. After a meal, they take in more water, which suggests that feeding increases their need for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, specifically, under what conditions do water snakes change their drinking and feeding behavior?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What did they study?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Researchers hand-captured live specimens of banded and brown water snakes from creeks and swampy habitats in Alachua County, Florida. They maintained each snake in a cage, and, during a one-hour period each day, they provided access to a pool of tap water and food (live feeding fish).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The research team then observed the feeding behavior of the snakes and continuously weighed each one to measure any evidence of the effects of dehydration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What did they find?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

All snakes drank freshwater when they experienced relatively small amounts of dehydration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Snakes that had access to food but not water readily ate while dehydrated, but stopped eating during prolonged dehydration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both freshwater and semi-marine\u00a0species of water snakes are more sensitive to dehydration than other species of snakes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So what? <\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

By documenting the relationship between freshwater availability and feeding behavior in water snakes, it may be possible to better understand how these and similar animals evolved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reading<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Matthew Edwards, Coleman M. Sheehy, Matthew T. Fedler, Harvey B. Lillywhite. Thirst and drinking in North American watersnakes (Nerodia<\/em> spp.). J Exp Biol<\/em> 1 March 2021; 224 (5): jeb241414. doi: https:\/\/doi-org.prox.lib.ncsu.edu\/10.1242\/jeb.241414<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Open access funding provided by University of Florida.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Summary by Lauren D. Pharr<\/em>
Lead photo: banded water snake, Lower Roanoke River, courtesy of NC Wetlands<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The text from Hook, Line & Science<\/em> is available to reprint and republish at no cost but only in its entirety and with this attribution: Hook, Line & Science<\/em>, courtesy of Scott Baker and Sara Mirabilio, North Carolina Sea Grant. HookLineScience.com<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New research shows that snakes in watery habitats are sensitive to dehydration.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":89,"featured_media":2038,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ncst_custom_author":"","ncst_show_custom_author":false,"ncst_dynamicHeaderBlockName":"","ncst_dynamicHeaderData":"","ncst_content_audit_freq":"","ncst_content_audit_date":"","ncst_content_audit_display":false,"ncst_backToTopFlag":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[14,16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2033","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ecosystems","category-research"],"displayCategory":null,"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nDo Water Snakes Get Thirsty? - Hook, Line and Science<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"New research shows that snakes in watery habitats are sensitive to dehydration.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ncseagrant.ncsu.edu\/hooklinescience\/do-water-snakes-get-thirsty\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Do Water Snakes Get Thirsty?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"New research shows that snakes in watery habitats are sensitive to dehydration.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/ncseagrant.ncsu.edu\/hooklinescience\/do-water-snakes-get-thirsty\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Hook, Line and Science\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-05-17T06:15:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-07-28T17:42:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/ncseagrant.ncsu.edu\/hooklinescience\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2021\/05\/banded-water-snake-Lower-Roanoke-River-Wetland-Game-Lands-ncwetlands-41536898110_3d6c434f5e_o-scaled-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1712\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Staff\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Do Water Snakes Get Thirsty?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"New research shows that snakes in watery habitats are sensitive to dehydration.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/ncseagrant.ncsu.edu\/hooklinescience\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2021\/05\/banded-water-snake-Lower-Roanoke-River-Wetland-Game-Lands-ncwetlands-41536898110_3d6c434f5e_o-scaled-1.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Staff\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ncseagrant.ncsu.edu\/hooklinescience\/do-water-snakes-get-thirsty\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ncseagrant.ncsu.edu\/hooklinescience\/do-water-snakes-get-thirsty\/\",\"name\":\"Do Water Snakes Get Thirsty? 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