In the present study 86 snakes (31 pythons, 32 colubrids and 23
boas) were analysed - 21 different species of various ages with a
body weight ranging from 3 g to 4,900 g. During necropsy,
biometrical measurements of bodies and internal organs (liver,
kidney, heart and gastrointestinal tract), were performed by means
of standardized protocols. Thereafter 69 livers, as well as skin
and vertebral bones of 11 snakes were separated. The following
parameters of body, liver, skin and bones were examined by Weende
analysis: dry matter (DM), crude ash, crude fat and crude protein.
Body fat was determined by gas chromatography; bone density by
hydrostatic balance; calcium, sodium and potassium by means of
flame photometry; spectralphotometry was used for phosphorus
analysis; copper, zinc, magnesium and iron were determined by
atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS) and selenium by graphite
tubing technology in the AAS. The average percentage of the
gastrointestinal tract was 6 % of the body weight (BW) with an
age-related decreasing tendency. Its average length was 98 % of the
body length, resp. 218 % of the snout-cloaca-length. The liver
amounted to 3 % of the body weight. DM content of the complete body
averaged 27 % oS DM, increasing with age in colubrids and pythons.
Dry matter consisted of 62 % crude protein, 18 % crude ash and 17 %
crude fat. For the following parameters, except calcium and
phosphorus, no correlations were shown between age and species.
There was a considerable increase of calcium from juvenil to adult
colubrids. With an average of 15 g calcium/kg DM in the whole body,
the calcium content in snakes corresponds to the calcium content in
small rodents. The phosphorus concentration in the whole body was
extraordinary high. With an average of 50 g/kg DM colubrids showed
a higher value than giant snakes with 34 g/kg DM. The
calcium-phosphorus-ratio in the whole body of 0.4 was inverted in
contrast to many other species, in the bones it was 2.5.
Additionally, the examined snakes were characterised by a very high
bone density of 1.5 g/cm³. The average concentrations of potassium
(10 g/kg DM), sodium (8.4 g/kg DM) and magnesium (1,800 g/kg DM)
did not differ considerably from most other species. Iron, zinc and
copper, however, showed high concentrations in the whole body. The
remarkably high content of iron had an average of 1,869 mg/kg DM in
the whole body and 2,081 mg/kg DM in liver. Zinc revealed a content
of 255 mg/kg DM in the whole body and 115 mg/kg DM in liver. Copper
showed a content of 27 mg/kg DM and 28 mg/kg DM in liver. The
selenium concentrations in the rest of the body were 174 µg/kg DM
and 254 µg/kg DM in the skin.
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