Respiratory consequences of feeding in the snake Python molorus

Snakes can ingest large meals and exhibit marked increases in metabolic rat e during digestion. Because postprandial oxygen consumption in some snakes may surpass that attained during exercise, studies of digestion offers an a lternative avenue to understand the cardio-respiratory responses to elevate d metabolic rate in reptiles. The effects of feeding on metabolic rate, art erial oxygen levels, and arterial acid-base status in the snake Python molo rus are described. Four snakes (180-250 g) were cannulated in the dorsal ao rta and blood samples were obtained during 72 h following ingestion of a me al (rat pups) exceeding 20% of body weight. Oxygen consumption increased fr om a fasting value of 1.71 +/- 0.08 to 5.54 +/- 0.42 mi kg(-1) min(-1) at 4 8 h following feeding, and the respiratory gas exchange ratio increased fro m 0.67 +/- 0.02 to a maximum of 0.92 +/- 0.03 at 32 h. Plasma lactate was a lways less than 0.5 mM, so the postprandial increase in metabolic rate was met by aerobic respiration. In fasting animals, arterial PO2 was 66 +/- 4 m mHg and haemoglobin-O-2 saturation was 92 +/- 3%; similar values were recor ded during digestion, but haematocrit decreased from 15.8 +/- 1.0 to 9.8 +/ - 0.8 due to repeated blood sampling. Plasma [HCO] increased from a fasting level of 19.3 +/-:0.8 to 25.8 +/- 1.0 mmol 1(-1) at 24 h after feeding. Ho wever, because arterial PCO2 increased from 21.1 +/- 0.5 to 27.9 +/- 1.4 mm Hg, there was no significant change in arterial pH from the fasting value o f 7.52 +/- 0.01. Acid-base status returned to pre-feeding levels at 72 h fo llowing feeding. The increased arterial PCO2 is most likely explained by a reduction in ventilation relative to metabolism, but we predict that lung P O2 does not decrease below 115 mmHg. Although ingestion of large meals is a ssociated with large metabolic changes in pythons, the attendant changes in blood gases are relatively small. In particular, the small changes in plas ma [HCO;I and stable pH show that pythons respond very differently to diges tion than alligators where very large alkaline tides have been observed. It is unclear why pythons and alligators differ in the magnitude of their res ponses, but given these interspecific differences it seems worthwhile to de scribe arterial blood gases during digestion in other species of ectothermi c vertebrates. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.