Hormonal component to shedding?

[jwolfe152]

We would need a real scientist to do any research. I'm imagining something involving chemical analysis of the air around shedding time - the component would need to be airborne because we're observing synchronised shedding across different vivs.

mine are cross viv also and your right i just wasnt sure how to word it for most to understand.
i would love to do research on any and all herps i have always loved them, even when i was scared of them and thats why i never really messed with them. i was always afraid of being bit or running across the wrong kinds mainly copperheads but im fairly confident i could handle an encounter with one with either a stick to move it (not smash it to pieces lol) or just leave it be and move on. the internet is a very powerful tool for anyone wanting to learn at least a basic knowledge of anything(as long as its not bomb, explosives, or drug making lol)

[d_virginiana]

Hm... IS there a way to measure airborne hormones from reptiles? Hormones in a blood analysis would probably echo a hormone increase intense enough to be airborne, but that would be risky considering garters' small size. The thing that got me started thinking about all the different stages in shedding and what may trigger them was that first shed after Harley's skin issue. Where she hadn't been producing the outer layers of skin for months, you could actually see the new skin forming in detail. Very interesting stuff.

mine are cross viv also and your right i just wasnt sure how to word it for most to understand.
i would love to do research on any and all herps i have always loved them, even when i was scared of them and thats why i never really messed with them. i was always afraid of being bit or running across the wrong kinds mainly copperheads but im fairly confident i could handle an encounter with one with either a stick to move it (not smash it to pieces lol) or just leave it be and move on. the internet is a very powerful tool for anyone wanting to learn at least a basic knowledge of anything(as long as its not bomb, explosives, or drug making lol)

Unless they've already been upset by a dog (or an idiot with a shovel) they're some of the most chill snakes I've ever dealt with. That's been my experience anyway; I'm not advocating anyone else to go out and try it. IMO they're probably so chill because they know they could really mess you up if they wanted to.

[jwolfe152]

i figure what they would do is synth(or at least try and get something close) the hormones and release them in a controlled way to several samples and see what happens.

i know they can be chill when i was real young, i dont remember my age) i was running around near a creek and jumped right over top of one landing only a few inches away from it. i was young so i freaking ran and screamed and all it done was lift its head a bit no striking that i remember. but my uncle came and was all WTF are you screaming about and i told him i saw a big ol snake, well he went to see if it took off and no it was still there but he went and got a shovel and killed it still to striking or anything. i found out later he killed it because he had seen a huge increase in them where all the kids ran and played and just wanted to be sure nobody got bit. i know its still wrong to kill it but he is pretty scared and i dont think anyone on that hill had the balls to just relocate it. now i have talked to a lot of neighbors about snakes and told them if they cant scare it off come get me and i would attempt to get it into a plastic tub or something, they dont want to kill them because of the rats and mice but they are all pretty scared of them too.

[chris-uk]

Hm... IS there a way to measure airborne hormones from reptiles? Hormones in a blood analysis would probably echo a hormone increase intense enough to be airborne, but that would be risky considering garters' small size. The thing that got me started thinking about all the different stages in shedding and what may trigger them was that first shed after Harley's skin issue. Where she hadn't been producing the outer layers of skin for months, you could actually see the new skin forming in detail. Very interesting stuff.

I was thinking maybe gas chromatography (or maybe the atomiser type of kit that are used for detecting traces of drugs or explosives, I'm sure the kit is available to configure for different substances) analysis from swabs inside the viv. If you were going to extremes in experimental design you could drive airflow between vivs and use some filter media to try to trap whatever you want to analyse. If the hormone is airborne it should be detectable from the air or surface swabbing... assuming of course you had a vague idea as to what you are looking for and the equipment is sensitive enough to detect it at the levels that influence shedding in the snakes.

All very much a thought experiment, because when you consider the equipment requirements, the time period and space requirements to keep the subjects for the duration, it's not an experiment that has any chance of being considered practical.

[d_virginiana]

Especially if there's a social component to it as well with smaller, more timid snakes being more likely to have a shed triggered by larger, calmer ones (I swear, Stupid has NEVER been the first one to go blue, ever). The social interactions of garters haven't even really been studied-- which is ridiculous since they can't be TOO complicated. I mean, that in itself would be groundbreaking since king cobras are so far the only snake species documented to have complex social interaction.

[chris-uk]

We need to find someone with either a pot of cash and an interest in garter snakes, or someone who can direct areas of study at a university. Whilst this sort of research would be groundbreaking, I don't see a commercial payback from it, so it would need to be academic research for the sake of research.
Another research project to add to the list of projects to fund when I win the lottery.

[d_virginiana]

We need to find someone with either a pot of cash and an interest in garter snakes, or someone who can direct areas of study at a university. Whilst this sort of research would be groundbreaking, I don't see a commercial payback from it, so it would need to be academic research for the sake of research.
Another research project to add to the list of projects to fund when I win the lottery.

I have a whole load of wildlife research projects I'd love to fund. The top of the list is still my suspicion about possum saliva (Really, I think there is some serious potential to find new antibacterial agents there).

[jwolfe152]

you never know when research can be of any significant gain till they do it. take penicillin, oh look mold, nothing to learn there.

[chris-uk]

you never know when research can be of any significant gain till they do it. take penicillin, oh look mold, nothing to learn there.

Unfortunately the era of gentleman scientists is long gone. Most research is done by people paid to do it, and the people paying tend to pay for things that have some sort of benefits at the end of the project.

[Stefan-A]

Unfortunately the era of gentleman scientists is long gone. Most research is done by people paid to do it, and the people paying tend to pay for things that have some sort of benefits at the end of the project.

Fortunately. If people weren't getting paid for it, nobody would do it.

Of course they don't get to conduct basic research often enough.