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| Braz,HB; Rocha,MMT; Furtado,MFD. |
| This study evaluates the mortality and average survival rates of captive female Philodryas olfersii and Philodryas patagoniensis snakes maintained for venom production. Also, two factors likely to reduce captive survival were studied - body condition at admission and seasonality. Mortality peaks occurred during the second month in captivity. More than half the individuals were dead at the end of the third month. This suggests that the first three months in captivity are the most critical in terms of survival and adaptation. Females collected and admitted during spring and summer lived less time than those collected in autumn and winter. As gravidity and egg-laying occur during spring and summer, we suggest that the lower survival rates in these seasons may... |
| Tipo: Info:eu-repo/semantics/article |
Palavras-chave: Animal husbandry; Snake venom; Seasonal variation; Body mass index. |
| Ano: 2012 |
URL: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1678-91992012000200006 |
