Talk:Snake

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Jumping snakes

Has anyone seen this article - it proves that dog-faced water snakes can actually jump ( which is considered a practically every reference on the net )

http://www.bbc.co.uk/expeditions/mangroves/stories/jumpingsnakes —Preceding unsigned comment added by 137.219.154.74 (talk) 04:29, 25 January 2010 (UTC)

Damn, it says "not available in your area." 174.111.242.35 (talk) 16:17, 30 June 2011 (UTC)

Pending changes

This article is one of a number selected for the early stage of the trial of the Wikipedia:Pending Changes system on the English language Wikipedia. All the articles listed at Wikipedia:Pending changes/Queue are being considered for level 1 pending changes protection.

The following request appears on that page:

Comments on the suitability of theis page for "Pending changes" would be appreciated.

Please update the Queue page as appropriate.

Note that I am not involved in this project any much more than any other editor, just posting these notes since it is quite a big change, potentially

Regards, Rich Farmbrough, 00:04, 17 June 2010 (UTC).

Frequency of shedding data incorrect.

As a snake owner, I can confirm that young snakes can easily shed more than four times a year and often do if food is plentiful. Unfortunately, I haven't yet found a peer reviewed citation for that, due to not having paid access to the journals. If someone who does have access could find a cite that would be nice, as the current data is incorrect. I'll also contact a herpetologist I know to see if he can think of a source.

Also, the current cite for the "up to four times a year" bit is now a bum link. (I'd remove it myself, but I don't have enough experience to be sure I won't bork the article in the process)

EDIT: I also just noticed that the cobra photo under Snake Charming seems to be of a cobra that's "in blue" or "milky" as we in the pet trade call it, meaning that its vision is impaired by the first stages of shedding. It might be worth noting in the image blurb. AbstractMage (talk) 19:37, 18 August 2010 (UTC)

Hm. Are you sure it's not just a camera artifact? DS (talk) 13:28, 24 August 2010 (UTC)

I've looked at it again and I'm certain that the cobra is either milky, or has something seriously wrong with it's eye. AbstractMage (talk) 10:14, 25 September 2010 (UTC)

Ambiguous language

"Living snakes are found on every continent except Antarctica and on most islands."

Are they found on most islands or are they not (if "most islands" is included in the exception)? 93.172.153.234 (talk) 18:29, 19 August 2010 (UTC)

Place names

The "Place Names" section is unnecessary. A simple sentence explaining how various places are named after snakes should not constitute an entire sub-section. Moreover, the sentence is not grammatically correct. 142.162.59.85 (talk) 01:32, 5 September 2010 (UTC)

snake eater?

In "consumption", someone had added the "information" that special forces are nicknamed "snake eaters". Is that just videogame knowledge of can it be verified (which it is not yet)? Thx, --88.75.209.42 (talk) 01:52, 14 September 2010 (UTC)

This still needs to be corrected. This should be removed until a source is provided. Not only is it trivia that's barely relevant to begin with, the addition of the video game reference is just one mosre step out on an already think branch. Unnecessary detail for an article this broad. 204.65.34.246 (talk) 18:55, 25 October 2011 (UTC)

Treatment of snakebites

"To produce antivenom, a mixture of the venoms of the different species of rattlesnakes, copperheads, and cottonmouths is injected into the body of a horse in ever-increasing dosages until the horse is immunized. Blood is then extracted from the immunized horse; the serum is separated and further purified and freeze-dried. It is reconstituted with sterile water and becomes antivenom. For this reason, people who are allergic to horses cannot be treated using antivenom"

This information is incorrect, horse allergic individuals can be and are treated with antivenin

Reference: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2146932/pdf/canfamphys00081-0113.pdf — Preceding unsigned comment added by Matthewsills (talk • contribs) 18:30, 17 December 2010 (UTC)

Um, did you read the paper you linked to? The individual was NOT treated with horse-based antivenom specifically because of the risk of allergic reactions. In the discussion, it mentions that some authors have suggested the *possibility* in the case of severe bites, but in no way should that be construed as an endorsement of such a treatment method. Mokele (talk) 20:09, 17 December 2010 (UTC)

space missing between two words

I was reading this article and noticed this. I can't edit the article and I was bored so I wrote this, so that maybe someone can fix it and remove this post :P It is in the Perception section: ...vomeronasal organ orJacobson's organ...Sekmet64 (talk) 20:55, 18 December 2010 (UTC)

Varanoidea & snakes

Okay, so I don't know whose dumb idea to put the snake's superfamily as Varanoidea, but it needs to go. The only way snakes and varanids are related, is that they are both in the order Squamata. I don't know how to remove it, so if someone else could, please do. Snakes are not included in Varanoidea. --TangoFett (talk) 02:06, 1 February 2011 (UTC)

While the phylogenetic position of snakes is controversial, this positions is hardly "stupid", and is in fact the conclusion of the most thorough morphology-based phylogeny (Estes 1988), as welll as several of Lee's excellent papers. For other references, see [1] and Pythonomorpha. In future, I recommend against proclamations of "stupidity" when you're clearly unfamiliar with the literature of the field. Mokele (talk) 02:40, 1 February 2011 (UTC)

Then place a source in there. But as far as Wikipedia dictates, Serpentes belongs to, for some reason, Scleroglossa. Which is also stupid, if you don't mind my saying so. Serpentes should simply be a suborder of Squamata and that's it. In my opinion, of course. --TangoFett (talk) 05:31, 1 February 2011 (UTC)

References can't be placed in the taxobox. And your commentary on what is "stupid" is, frankly, laughable. It's pretty clear you lack the knowledge necessary for an informed opinion on the topic. Mokele (talk) 12:45, 1 February 2011 (UTC)

Blind Snakes

Blind snakes are not completely blind, but they do have very poor vision. They live almost thier whole lives underground. They are quite thin & are covered with smooth scales. These scales are smoother than normal snakes. This allows them to move more easily through the soil in which they live in. They can't open their mouth wide, but they don't really need to, for usually all they eat is termites & ants. Obviously these little snakes don't need venom for thier live-stlye so they don't have it. They also may vary from pink, black, brown, or blue colors.

                                                                                                --Nikidoodle22 (talk) 20:05, 22 February 2011 (UTC)

World range of snakes map is inaccurate

The map at the bottom of the taxabox purporting to show the global range of snakes, is quite inaccurate in regards to their northern limit in North America. The Common Garter Snake for instance has a normal range extending over 1200 kilometers north of the inferred northern limit shown on the map. Other snakes living north of the demarcation on the map would be the Western Rattlesnake, the Gopher Snake, the Western Hognose Snake, and the Plaines and Western Terrestrial Garter snakes. McGill Universities biodiversity site has links to various maps showing the range of many northern species and can be found at http://canadianbiodiversity.mcgill.ca/english/species/herps/squamata.htm

I propose the existing map be removed until an amended version can be created. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Philip72 (talk • contribs) 09:51, 26 February 2011 (UTC)

So fix it, but the current map stays until a fixed version is available, since it's accurate for ~99.9% of species. Mokele (talk) 16:32, 26 February 2011 (UTC)

The map is also inaccurate for sea snakes, since Pelamis platura can be found along the Baja California coast and even in the Gulf of California. It is also known to occur in northern New Zealand. Here is a more accurate map of sea snake range:

Edit request from Bigfixer, 30 May 2011

in Religion section, (Book of Numbers 26:6–9) should be (Book of Numbers 21:6–9). wrong chapter Bigfixer (talk) 12:19, 30 May 2011 (UTC)

Done - Happysailor ^(Talk) 12:51, 30 May 2011 (UTC)

Caduceus and the rod of asclepius

In the article, the caduceus is said to be a medical symbol. That is incorrect. The rod of ascepius, which had one snake and no wings, was a medical symbol, but the caduceus which had two snakes and sometimes a pair of wings, was a symbol of commerce, messengers and negotiation. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 94.65.18.69 (talk) 17:54, 17 August 2011 (UTC)

Spelling

On left-hand-side margin, in blue print. the term for snake's shedding skin phenomenon is MISSPELLED with the letter 'u'-like so: 'moUlting'. I kindly request a spelling CORRECTION to: 'mOlting'. Thank you AK63 (talk) 11:06, 22 October 2011 (UTC)

This is not a spelling error; it is the British English spelling. Since Wikipedia is an international encyclopedia, we use many variations of English. Also, when you add a new topic to a talk page, add it to the bottom of the page. (Not a big deal, it's just tradition.) Danger (talk) 14:31, 22 October 2011 (UTC)

I looked it up though and per WP:ENGVAR and this edit, this article should be written in American English. Danger (talk) 16:02, 22 October 2011 (UTC)