Do snakes drink milk from a cow. All snakes are venomous. Feeding the milk snake

Milk snakes do well in a terrarium.

Perhaps there are no other snakes with such a diverse natural color. Their whole body is painted with red, black, white or yellow rings, which makes them look like a brightly colored "traffic" rod.

The presence or absence of certain colors and their alternation is a specific (more precisely, subspecific) sign. We will talk about milk snakes Lampropeltis triangulutn.

And if we take into account the relatively easy maintenance and breeding and their non-toxicity, then the reason for their popularity among terrariumists becomes clear.

Milk snakes live on a vast territory, from North America to the north of South (the Canadian province of Ontario, a significant part of the United States, Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Belize, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador).

The biotopes of these snakes are very diverse: they inhabit deserts, forests and swamps, rising up to 1140 m above sea level in mountainous areas.

Milk snakes can be kept at home

Milk snakes are distant relatives of our snakes and belong to the genus King snakes (Lampropeltis).

The large range, various habitats and natural barriers have led to the fact that the coloration of animals within the species has become significantly different. This gave taxonomists a basis to distinguish 25 subspecies of milk snakes, however, in 2009, Ruron and Burbrink, and after them, in 2012, Boundy et al. identified the slate-like milk snake (Lampropeltis triangulum elapsoides) as a separate species Lampropeltis elapsoides.

As a result, 24 subspecies remained, which, you see, is not so little. Among milk snakes, there are both dwarfs, barely reaching half a meter, and giants, growing up to 1.8-2 m or more.

Please note that milk snakes can mate with other subspecies, forming "Cheburashka", not to be determined.

Why are milk snakes called milk snakes?

Since we are talking about terms, I will tell you about the reason for the emergence of the name "milk snake" (milk snake, or milksnake). The fact is that farmers who came to their barns in the morning often saw brightly colored snakes in them, which actually hunted for rodents.

In the event that cows suddenly lost milk for one reason or another, ignorant villagers believed that snakes sucked milk. Similar prejudices are characteristic of other places.

So, in Europe, snakes were blamed for the lack of milk in cows. Even snakes kept in captivity were given milk (they really drink it if there is no water in the terrarium).

For example, remember A. Conan Doyle's "Polished Ribbon" with a "swamp" viper and a bowl of milk. And now you can often hear the recommendation to feed snakes with milk.

Milk snakes eat rodents, birds, reptiles, amphibians and even insects.

Otherwise, one reptile will remain in the terrarium.

Feeding the milk snake

In captivity, snakes have a less varied menu. Some amateurs believe that it is impossible to give amphibians "milk". I did not conduct such experiments, because all my frogs are too valuable for me, and there are enough in the freezer.

On the Internet, I met statements that snakes do not take frozen (or rather, thawed and motionless) mice. I can say that this is not true. My snakes ate both freshly slaughtered (I don’t give live ones for the reason that food can bite a reptile) mice, and prepared in advance.

At the same time, they did not suffer from appetite, killing several pieces in one sitting. But they refused to eat dead birds and eggs too.

Although, as mentioned above, in natural conditions they do not disdain "chicken".

Hungry snakes are actively looking for food and at the moment of opening the door in the terrarium, they may fall out of it or mistakenly grab onto your hand. Therefore, be sure to hold the food with tweezers.

Although the "milks" are not poisonous, you are unlikely to like bites and holes in the skin. The size of the food should match the size of the snakes.

In some countries, in a fit of upholding the rights of food animals, snakes are often fed with special combined feeds in the form of a kind of sausages or minced meat (while forgetting about the rights and biological features predators).

In this case, you have to catch each pet, at the risk of being bitten, open its mouth, insert a special syringe into its mouth and pump up the snake with lunch. In this case, the plunger of the syringe must be pressed gently and slowly, as you can damage the animal's gastrointestinal tract.

You also run the risk of breaking the animal's teeth and damaging the mucous membrane, which can cause various unpleasant diseases such as stomatitis. As you can see, the process is not pleasant, unsafe and requires a lot of time and nerves.

Milk snakes are typical inhabitants of the soil. They do not need a high terrarium for their maintenance, I will say more, they do not need a large terrarium either. Snakes about a meter long can live perfectly in a terrarium with a volume of about 20 liters.

So I keep them in my favorite universal "cases" 50 cm deep, 20 cm high and 30 cm wide. The top of the terrarium is covered with a stainless steel mesh, and on the back wall there is an air vent, also covered with a mesh.

At the bottom, you can lay sheets of paper, newspapers, pour sawdust or sphagnum. A green artificial grass mat works well. It is better to have a double set of such rugs. At the time when you wash and disinfect the dirty one, there is already a clean bedding in the terrarium. A prerequisite is a shelter.

The easiest and cheapest option is a microwave container! A small hole is cut in the lid, through which a full snake can squeeze through, and a lump of wet sphagnum is placed inside.

More decorative (but also more expensive) shelters can be purchased at pet stores. Snakes do not need plants, they only decorate the terrarium.

But in terrariums, they usually lack light, they wither and die. It is much easier to use artificial decorations for this. You can also place a snag or branch in the terrarium.

I did not notice that the snakes recline on them, however, during the molt it is easier for them to get rid of the old skin, clinging to the irregularities of the tree bark. Stones can also be used for decoration.

The terrarium needs a large pond. Snakes not only drink a lot, but also love to bask in the water, especially during the molting period. The heavier and larger the bathing suit, the better: ordinary plastic cuvettes, even filled with water, reptiles not only move, but also turn over.

The comfortable temperature for snakes is between 20-31°C. Of course, it should be higher under the heat lamp than in the opposite corner to allow the snakes to choose the most comfortable temperature.

Milk snakes are crepuscular and nocturnal animals, but lighting in a terrarium is essential. To do this, it is better to use special lamps that emit ultraviolet light. You can buy them at the pet store.

lovers who have large collection snakes, often contain them in plastic containers with ventilation holes.

In the shelves, grooves are milled into which a low-power thermal cable is laid. It should not heat the entire bottom of the container, but only 1/4-1/3 of it. The design in such containers is minimalistic, there are no shelters and lighting in it.

Under such conditions, milk snakes not only grow well, but also multiply.

There will be questions, ask. Your Andrey.

God gives man the abundance of life so that man freely and openly rejoices. But if a snake smells this abundance once, a person will fall in love with a secret, secretive joy mixed with sadness ...

An excerpt from the book of St. Nikolai Serbsky (Velimirovich) "Thoughts about good and evil":

If a cow once allows her milk to be sucked by a snake, then she runs daily to certain place where the snake sucks her milk. It is the magic of the snake and the painful pleasure of the cow. The more the snake gets fat, the more the cow loses weight.

Ah, the painful pleasure of a cow - how soon it will turn into pain without pleasure! For when the milk in the udder dries up, the cow will be forced to feed the snake with blood. And if she does not wean herself from fatal meetings, the snake will suck out both flesh and brain from her.

The owner will come to kill. Whom to kill: a cow or a snake? Of course, a snake.

God gives man the abundance of life so that man freely and openly rejoices. But if the snake smells this abundance once, the person will fall in love with the secret, hidden joy mixed with sadness, and will begin to feed the snake with his life from day to day. This is the black magic of the snake and the sad joy of man. The more the snake gets fat, the more life in a person dries up.

Ah, the sad joy of man - how soon it will turn into sadness without joy! For the more life the snake sucks out of a person, the less life God gives to a person. And if a person does not terminate the fatal friendship in time, life will dry up in him, and then the snake will suck out his blood, and flesh, and brain - the shell of life.

The Master will come to kill. Whom to kill: a man or a snake? Of course, a snake.

That is why Christ is called the Lover of mankind. It means that the Lover of mankind will come to kill the murderer of man.

Neither various ethical elegies and regrets, nor long recipes help at all.

countless sages, when it comes to a snake curled up under the leaves in a ball, which is waiting for a person and to which a person is heading, drawn by the magic of the snake and the newly acquired craving for sad pleasure. What use, in fact, from all these evasions and wrappers, if it is obvious that the snake needs to be killed? What use are philosophers and hierophants when a hero is required?

But the snake was under the foliage, so the philosophers and hierophants not only could not see it, but, without realizing it, they covered it even more with foliage. The deceived became deceivers, the opponents of the snake, unconsciously - its allies.

Relations with snakes in humans somehow did not work out. For most peoples, the snake is a symbol of all the worst features: meanness and ingratitude, deceit and cold, merciless cruelty. And only in some cultures snakes were considered gods or companions of the gods. But even where they were worshiped, they still tried to settle away from them. In any case, do not let them into the home: the presence of a legless reptile in the house was considered unacceptable. But there are no rules without exceptions. In a number of European countries, the most common snake of the temperate zone, the common snake, has become such an exception.

Animal care

Already ordinary - Natrix natrix
Type - chordates
Class - reptiles
Squad - scaly
Suborder - snakes
Family - already-shaped
Genus - snakes

Medium-sized snake with a slender long body. The small oblong head is distinctly separated from the neck. The tail is 3-5 times shorter than the body. The length is usually 0.8-1 meter, but specimens are known to be over 1.5 and even up to 2 meters long. Females are noticeably larger than males. The coloration is quite variable: the upper side of the body is dark gray, olive, brown or black, often with darker spots arranged in a checkerboard pattern. The underside is dirty white or light gray, with a dark longitudinal stripe down the middle of the belly, but in some individuals this stripe occupies almost the entire underside. Characteristic- two symmetrical spots on the back of the head, on the border with the neck, usually yellow or orange, sometimes off-white. Occasionally there are individuals without spots. The range of snakes in the north includes southern Karelia and central Sweden (where it reaches the Arctic Circle in some places), in the west - the Iberian Peninsula and the British Isles, in the south - the northern coast of Africa (to the Sahara), in the east - Transbaikalia and central Mongolia. hibernation in middle lane Russia from October - November to March - April. Mating season - from April to May, oviposition - in July - August. There are cases of autumn mating (with oviposition after wintering). Reaches sexual maturity at 3-4 years. Life expectancy is 19-23 years. It tolerates captivity well, is unpretentious in content, and is easily tamed. Able to live in man-made landscapes, urban forest parks and even directly in settlements, however, it suffers greatly from vehicles: grass snakes crawling out onto the asphalt to warm themselves often die under the wheels of a car. Therefore, in densely populated areas, the number of snakes is rapidly declining, but in general the species is out of danger.

The area where snakes can be found is extremely wide. They live in almost any landscape: in forests of all types, in meadows, in river floodplains, in swamps, in the steppe, in the mountains, even in gardens and city wastelands. The only obligatory requirement for their habitat is a perennial body of water, preferably stagnant or slowly flowing. Remaining in appearance a typical land snake and not having any special devices for life in water, it is already connected with it so much that it was reflected even in its Latin name: Natrix - “water snake” (literally “swimmer”). They drink a lot and often, bathe regularly. They can swim far and long, and without a visible goal - only for the sake of the process itself, usually along the shore of a reservoir, without trying either to get out onto land or sail away. A case is described when a naturalist, following a swimming snake along the shore, counted 1800 steps. However, snakes were also noticed in the middle of large lakes, and even in the open sea, sometimes tens of kilometers from the nearest shore.

On the surface of the reservoir, it already moves in a characteristic “serpentine” style: the motionless neck sticks out vertically from the water, and the body and tail undulate in a horizontal plane. But he also swims perfectly under water, hunts there, and sometimes seems to rest, lying at the bottom for a long time or wrapping himself on an underwater snag.

In the water and near it, it already finds its main prey - frogs and small fish. At one time it was even considered a serious pest. fisheries, although this was a clear exaggeration: with its modest appetites, the water-loving snake practically does not affect the number of fish fry. In addition, a nimble little fish is not a very easy prey: no matter how great it swims, it still cannot keep up with it. He waits for the moment when the prey is close, and makes a swift lunge.

The tactics of hunting frogs is different: it catches them on land, actively pursuing them. His movements during the hunt are graceful and swift, but even a medium-sized frog could easily get away from the snake by making several large leaps. However, for some reason, the frogs do not do this and, in general, seem to underestimate the danger of the snake. He, as a rule, easily overtakes a stupid victim, and here the most difficult begins.

The fact is that the snake does not have any special devices for killing prey. He simply swallows any game he catches alive. But if there are no problems with the fish - a slippery streamlined victim goes straight to the stomach, then swallowing a frog can be difficult, especially since the snake does not always manage to grab it from the head. Although its mouth and pharynx, like many snakes, can be greatly stretched, a huge meal can stretch for several hours. However, there is no hurry for the snake: even if the frog manages to escape, he will immediately grab it again. On the other hand, after such a dinner, the next time you will get hungry at the earliest in five days. If necessary, he can live for months at all without food. One German zoologist of the 19th century did not feed the snake he caught for more than 10 months - from June to April, and all this time the snake was in an active state and did not try to hibernate. By the end of the record hunger strike, he had noticeably lost weight, but remained quite healthy. When the experimenter finally gave in and fed the prisoner, he had no digestive problems.

Frogs and fish are the main diet of this snake, but in principle, almost any animal can serve as food for snakes. right size. Its menu regularly includes newts, lizards and even toads. On occasion, he diversifies his diet with a chick that has fallen out of the nest or a newborn cub of a water rat. Uzhata willingly catch insects, especially such slow-moving ones as caterpillars, or eat various larvae. Many European peoples have a belief that snakes manage to milk domestic cows by sticking to the udder. This, of course, is a fantasy: devoid of soft lips, snake jaws are poorly adapted for sucking. In addition, snakes, like snakes in general, are afraid of ungulates and, even settling in human structures, bypass the cow stall and the sheep barn. However, in captivity, many snakes do drink milk, which is actually quite surprising. Even most mammals are able to absorb this product only in childhood: in the course of growing up, they stop synthesizing the enzyme that breaks down milk sugar - lactose. Reptiles, on the other hand, should not have such an enzyme. However, snakes do not appear to have any trouble drinking milk. But they, of course, do not eat plant food, they also neglect carrion.

A moderate eater and a dexterous hunter, he spends little time on the extraction of food. It is active mainly during daylight hours, but prefers to hunt in the morning or evening. During the day, snakes bask more in the sun somewhere on a large stone, stump, sloping or fallen trunk, hummock, or some other “tanning bed”. At night, they go to shelters - piles of stones, rodent burrows, voids in the ground from rotten tree roots. The meaning is clear: in our latitudes, even in summer, the nights are quite cool, and already an hour or two after sunset, the snake left in the open cools down, loses its activity and turns into a ready-made dinner for the first predator that comes across. And the list of those who are not averse to eating a snake is long: almost all large and medium-sized predatory mammals (from hedgehog and weasel to raccoon dog and fox) and many predatory and simply quite large (such as storks or herons) birds. Young snakes are attacked by rats and even ... large frogs.

Therefore, the demand for shelters among the supper population is always high, they are always in short supply. And when a person comes to the habitats of snakes, snakes willingly master the shelters built by him, settling under the decks of bridges and gates, in garbage heaps and compost heaps, in sheds, chicken coops, bathhouses, underground floors and cellars, and even right in houses (although usually all still under the floor). Back in the 19th century, snakes were quite common in Russian, Lithuanian, German villages. The peasants, if not very happy with the creeping tenants, then, in any case, did not try to get rid of them: it was believed that the death of a “home” snake brings misfortune. In addition, it already has an important advantage: it practically cannot cause any harm to a person. All that he is capable of as self-defense is to burp food from the stomach (if there is any), emit a trickle of fetid liquid from the other end of the body, and fall into thanatosis (“feigned death”). Snake bites are almost painless, and most often these snakes do not bite at all when caught. And in captivity or when living in a house, they quickly get used to people and stop using their chemical weapons.

Reliable shelters are also needed for another purpose - wintering. Its terms are different: on the northern and northeastern borders of their range, snakes can sleep for 8-8.5 months a year. However, even in central Russia, these reptiles go for wintering only at the end of October or even in November, and wake up immediately after the snow melts. A few years ago, the author observed a quite vigorous and active snake in the March forest. True, spring then stood out unusually early and warm. For wintering, these reptiles use shelters of the same type as for overnight stays, but more solid. It is necessary that they do not freeze, a pile of stones or a pile of deadwood is not suitable for this. Such places are in short supply, therefore, several snakes, or even several dozen, are packed into the most comfortable and roomy winter apartments. Such a neighborhood does without conflicts, even if snakes of other species hibernate along with the snakes. In general, I must say, the relationship in the dinner community is incomprehensible to a person: it seems that he never (except for the mating season) seeks a society of his own kind, but also has nothing against him. The snakes do not protect the borders of their possessions and sometimes even in the summer they gather in large numbers in a limited area, but at the same time they do not seem to notice each other.

Soon after waking up from winter sleep, it's time for supper weddings. Its terms are very variable, depending on the region and on specific weather conditions, but general rule is that mating games begin after the first molt in the new season (and it most often occurs after the capture and digestion of the first prey). At this time, you can observe the so-called "nuptial balls", consisting of one female and several (up to 20) males. The snakes entwine furiously, but as far as can be judged, they do not cause any damage to each other. In July - August, females lay from a few to several dozen eggs (the recorded record is over a hundred), which are covered not with a shell, but with a soft leathery shell. So that they do not die from drying out, females look for a moist and at the same time warm enough shelter, for example, a bunch of rotten leaves, a fairly thick pillow of moss, or a rotten stump. When such places are scarce, the snakes use them collectively. Once under lying in a forest clearing old door about 1200 dinner eggs were found.

Having laid the last egg, the female leaves the place of laying at least until the next year. If everything goes well, then after 5-8 weeks small snakes 11-15 centimeters long come out of the eggs. The first task in their independent life is to find a place for their first wintering: the calendar is already the end of summer or the beginning of autumn. It would be nice to meet the winter full, but this is not necessary: ​​even if the duck catches nothing, the reserves taken out of the egg will be enough for him to hold out until spring. True, it will grow more slowly. But with a peaceful dinner, this is not so important.

Photo by Nikolai Shpilenok

From generation to generation, rumors and legends about snakes still dominate the minds of people. In order to somehow break this vicious circle, we have collected the most common myths about snakes and refuted them.

Snakes drink milk.

This myth became known to many of us thanks to the work of Conan Doyle's "Colored Ribbon". In fact, trying to drink milk to a snake can be fatal: they do not absorb lactose in principle.

When attacking, snakes sting.

For unknown reasons, many people believe that snakes sting with their sharp, forked tongues. Snakes bite with their teeth, like all other animals. Language serves them for completely different purposes.

Snakes before the throw, threatening, stick out their tongue.

As already mentioned, the snake's tongue is not designed to attack. The fact is that snakes do not have a nose, and all the necessary receptors are located on their tongue. Therefore, in order to better smell the prey and determine its location, snakes have to stick out their tongues.

Most snakes are venomous.

Of the two and a half thousand species of snakes known to serpentologists, only 400 have poisonous teeth. Of these, only 9 are found in Europe. Most poisonous snakes in South America - 72 species. The rest were almost evenly distributed across Australia, Central Africa, Southeast Asia, Central and North America.

You can "secure" the snake by pulling out its teeth.

For a while, this might actually work. But the teeth will grow back, and the snake during their growth, not being able to express the poison, can become seriously ill. And by the way, snakes cannot be trained - for them, any person is nothing more than just a warm tree.

Snakes always attack at the sight of people.

As statistics show, most often snakes bite people in self-defense. If a snake hisses and makes threatening movements when it sees you, then it just wants to be left alone. As soon as you step back a little, the snake immediately disappears from view, in a hurry to save its life.

Snakes can be fed meat.

Most snakes feed on rodents, there are species that eat frogs and fish, and even insectivorous reptiles. And king cobras, for example, prefer only snakes of other species to eat. So what exactly to feed the snake depends only on the snake itself.

The snakes are cold to the touch.

snakes are typical representatives cold-blooded animals. And so the body temperature of the snake will be the same as the temperature external environment. Therefore, not being able to maintain optimal body temperature (slightly above 30 ° C), snakes love to bask in the sun so much.

Snakes are covered in slime.

Another bike that has nothing to do with snakes. The skin of these reptiles contains practically no glands and is covered with dense smooth scales. It is from this pleasant to the touch snake skin that shoes, handbags and even clothes are made.

Snakes wrap around the branches and trunks of trees.

Quite often you can see the image of the snake-tempter, wrapping around the trunk of the tree of knowledge. However, this has nothing to do with the actual behavior of snakes. They climb onto the branches of trees and lie on them, but snakes do not need to wrap their bodies around them.

1. Snakes drink milk.

In one of his detective stories, Arthur Conan Doyle developed the idea that snakes drink milk. Soon this idea became generally accepted. In fact, drinking milk to a snake can be fatal, since the body of snakes is not adapted to the assimilation of lactose-containing products.

2. When attacked, the snake will definitely sting.

Not always a snake attack is accompanied by a bite. Snake venom is not contained in the tongue, but in the dental canals. The probability of getting poison into your body is possible only with a bite. Snakes are as afraid of people as people are of snakes. When meeting with a person, the snake tries to avoid any contact. But only in case of serious danger, she can bite.

3. Before attacking a person, the snake sticks out its tongue.

A common stereotype that came from watching some movies. Snakes lack nostrils corresponding to Airways are on the tongue. For this, the snake sticks it out, and this has nothing to do with the attack.

4. Almost all snakes are deadly.

Not all snakes are venomous, according to serpentologists, out of 2.5 thousand species of snakes, only 400 are dangerous. Most of them live in South America.

5. A snake is not dangerous if its teeth are pulled out.

The snake's venom is located in the dental canals, pulling out the teeth for a while can protect yourself. But when the teeth grow back, there is a high probability of getting a dose of poison when bitten.

6. If a snake sees a person, it will definitely attack.

The snake does not like contact with a person and attacks only in case of danger. As soon as the snake sees a person, it either freezes or starts hissing and wriggling. So she asks to be left alone. If you take a few steps back, then the snake will most likely disappear from view.

7. Snakes eat meat.

Basically, snakes feed on mice, frogs, and some types of reptiles. The king cobra prefers to eat its smaller counterparts. Each species has its own preferences and cannot be generalized.

8. All snakes are cold.

The snake is a cold-blooded animal. But her body temperature matches the environment. Unable to constantly maintain their body temperature at the right level, snakes love to bask in the sun.

9. The snake's body is slimy.

The body of a snake has no pores, so it cannot be slimy. On the contrary, the skin is pleasant and dry to the touch.

10. A snake wraps around trees.

This is connected with the story of a snake-tempter, which, according to legend, twisted around a tree trunk. In fact, snakes crawl along the trunk onto tree branches and are located there almost parallel to the ground. They just lie on the branch, while not wrapping around it.