Postprandial thermophily, transit rate, and digestive efficiency of juvenile cornsnakes, Pantherophis guttatus

We measured substrate temperature preference of juvenile cornsnakes in a linear thermal gradient during a fast and after feeding. After feeding the snakes selected temperatures approximately 6 °C warmer than those chosen by fasting snakes. We measured transit rates, the time from feeding to defecation, in snakes maintained at 22 or 32 °C or during ecdysis. Snakes at 32 °C had a significantly faster transit rate than those at 22 °C and during ecdysis snakes retained feces. The digestive efficiency ranged from 87% to 95% for individual snakes.