Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 5, 2026

Using Enclosed Y-Mazes to Assess Chemosensory Behavior in Reptiles
Published on: April 7, 2021
Responses by king snakes (Lampropeltis getulus) to chemicals from colubrid and crotaline snakes
1Departments of Zoology and Chemistry, University of Tennessee, 37996, Knoxville, Tennessee.
Abstract:
Four litters of king snakes (Lampropeltis getulus), a snake-eating species, were tested for responses to chemicals from colubrid and crotaline snakes. King snakes presented with swabs rubbed against the dorsal skin of living snakes and with swabs treated with methylene chloride extracts of shed snake skins tongue-flicked more to swabs from a northern copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix), a crotaline, than to swabs from some colubrid snakes or to blank swabs. Six out of 10 king snakes in one litter attacked and attempted to ingest swabs treated with snake skin chemicals, implicating these chemicals as feeding stimuli for these ophiophagous snakes. Ingestively naive king snakes presented with plain air and snake odors in an olfactometer tongue-flicked more to snake odors. This study and others suggest that crotaline and colubrid snakes can be distinguished by chemical cues.
Related Concept Videos
Predator-Prey Interactions
Cell Signaling in Plants
Types of Toxins
Air pollutants, primarily gases, pose significant threats to respiratory health, leading to conditions like hypoxia, lung cancer, and in extreme cases, death.
Environmental pollutants like...
Epiphytes, Parasites, and Carnivores

