oaf@mit-vax.UUCP (Oded Feingold) (02/17/85)
Yesterday I discovered that an electrical failure left my room and four burmese pythons (python molurus bivitatus) in the cold. When I entered the room their temperature was 42 degrees. I estimate that power had been off for 36 hours, so they had been close to that cold for that long. (I have high confidence in that estimate - clocks and vaporizer water levels.) All of them recovered vital signs (righting reflex, waking up) after rewarming in 94 degree water. Within two hours they seemed alert and normal, though one had convulsions for 10 minutes on first being rewarmed. They are now back at 86 degrees, which I hope will stay stable. I have not noticed any pathological sequelae so far. Specific questions: 1) What bad effects, if any, should I expect over the next few days/weeks? 2) Among the four snakes, two had recently eaten - should I assume that digestion failed over that time and the food should be expelled? 3) One of the remaining two is a one-month gravid female. What effect will the cold snap have on the developing eggs? 4) Should I undertake any medical procedures in advance of symptoms? General question: Any other herpetologists on net.pets? Thanks. Oded Feingold MIT AI Laboratory oaf%oz@mit-mc.ARPA 545 Tech Square mitvax!oaf.UUCP Cambridge, Mass. 02139 617-253-8598