Sarmatian snake (Elaphe sauromates) belongs to the species of snakes from the family of already-shaped, the class of reptiles. More recently, it was considered as a subspecies of the four-striped snake. This is a rather large snake, one of ten varieties of the genus of climbing snakes.
In our country, she is better known as the Pallas snake, which was given to her in honor of the famous Russian traveler and scientist-encyclopedist - P. S. Pallas, who described many plants and animals in his writings.
It has long been believed that this species of snakes killed goats and cows to suck out their milk, for which he was called the "milker of cows" and was mercilessly exterminated for a long time. This is the reason for the extinction of these creatures, more precisely, a significant reduction in their numbers throughout the range. In addition, the number of representatives of the species living on our planet today was negatively affected by habitat change due to economic activity.human.
Today, the Sarmatian snake, the photo of which you can see in this article, is singled out as a separate species. This happened due to a more detailed study and the discovery of significant differences from other varieties.
Distribution
The range covers Bulgaria and Romania in Europe (east of the Prut and Danube rivers), southern Ukraine, Moldova, the steppe and southern regions of Russia (Astrakhan and Rostov regions, Novorossiysk) and Ciscaucasia (Chechnya, Kalmykia, Ingushetia, Stavropol Territory and Dagestan). Snakes of this species are also found in Armenia, Eastern Georgia, in the eastern regions of Turkey, in the north-west of Iran, in the north-west of Turkmenistan and in Western Kazakhstan.
Today, the Pallas snake, whose photo can often be seen on the pages of publications for naturalists, has a vulnerable conservation status.
Habitats
Representatives of the species prefer to settle in desert, mountainous and steppe regions. You can meet the Sarmatian snake both on forest edges and on the slopes of rocks covered with shrubs, in saxaul and riparian forests, on dunes and s alt marshes, in vineyards and orchards. The snake easily moves through bushes and trees, from branch to branch, throwing the front part of the body at a distance of about half a meter.
Snake is active from the second half of March - early April to the end of September - early November.
External Features
This is a rather large snake - some specimens with a tail can reach two meters in length. Sarmatian snake has a characteristic color, although representatives of the species from different parts of the range may differ from each other quite significantly. For example, in the western regions they have more pronounced brown, almost black or brownish-brown oval or diamond-shaped large spots that run along the back and in some areas merge into a zigzag strip.
The belly is covered with numerous dark spots. The tail is of moderate length. In adults, the lower part of the body is usually a solid, bright yellow, although there are snakes with a bright orange belly and almost white.
The young growth is significantly different in its color. In young individuals, the back is painted gray, with regular and clear and transverse stripes, which sometimes merge into a zigzag stripe. Rows of black rounded spots are clearly visible on the sides. The belly is painted in pinkish color with black speck.
When young snakes reach a length of 50 centimeters, their body color changes. This usually occurs at the age of four.
Lifestyle in nature
Most often Sarmatian snake inhabits open landscapes. Perfectly climbs rocks and trees, often climbs onto branches for warmth or in search of food. Cracks in rocks or soil, rodent burrows, voids under stones, including the ruins of buildings, are used as shelters. Lives in man-made landscapes in the presence of shelters.
Researchers say that in some cases, the snake is active at night. The Sarmatian snake has a rather brightcolor, which is an excellent camouflage masking the animal in characteristic biotopes. It is for this reason that when there is a danger of detection, the snake does not try to hide - it lies motionless, in the hope that the protective coloration will help it go unnoticed.
When catching this species of snake, two variants of snake behavior are noted. Sometimes she opens her mouth and hisses, after which she makes a throw towards the source of danger. The length of the throws can sometimes reach the length of the snake's body. In the southern regions of Russia, the snake comes out of wintering in April, and if the weather is warm, at the end of March. At sunrise, the snakes come out of their hiding places, bask until about 10 o'clock, then hide and come out again only at 15 o'clock.
Food
In natural conditions, the basis of the diet of the Sarmatian snake is large rodents, birds, their chicks and eggs, much less often - lizards. The snake strangles its prey with body rings. Like other species of the genus Elaphe, this snake has an egg saw. Swallowing eggs, the snake makes a crunch of crushed shells. True, the snake does not always use such a saw, often the snake moves the eggs intact into the stomach.
At different times of the year, the taste preferences of this reptile change: in spring, it prefers to hunt birds, then they switch to their eggs, and in summer and autumn, rodents form the basis of the diet. Interestingly, the snake is able to completely refuse food for more than a month. This usually happens before wintering or during the mating season.
Reproduction
Sarmatian snakeis an egg-laying snake. The female lays 6 to 16 white oval eggs. They are quite large - 55 x 23 mm. Mating occurs immediately after emerging from hibernation, most often in April. In early May, a lot of pregnant females appear. Pregnancy continues for two months.
Females are very caring mothers. They curl up in a ring around the masonry and guard it for the entire incubation period. If the snake is disturbed at this time, it may attack, but more often it coils even more tightly and remains almost motionless.
After hatching, young snakes are 26 cm long and weigh no more than 17 grams. Newborns of this species are the largest among the genus Elaphe.
Maintenance of Sarmatian snakes
These snakes are kept in horizontal type terrariums. For an adult snake, the size of the bottom of the terrarium should not be less than 70 x 40 centimeters. Young individuals are grown in separate containers, gradually increasing their size.
The soil in the terrarium is moss, coconut flakes, leaf litter, coconut chips and paper. A prerequisite for keeping this variety is the presence of humidity chambers and shelters.
In a warm corner, the temperature is maintained up to +35 °C, and in a cold corner - within +27 °C. Humidity is recommended to be low with good ventilation. Small drinkers will be required, since this type of snake does not bathe in them. No UV source needed, buthowever, it is necessary to provide good natural light, as it is an important factor in stimulating snakes to mate.
Feeding
Sarmatian snakes are fed according to the following scheme: young animals - once a week, and adults - once every 10 days. Mice and rats, other rodents are used as food: mastomis, hamsters, gerbils. Twice a year snakes are given birds and their eggs, lizards. It is strongly not recommended to feed a pet with eggs alone - snakes have a metabolic disorder.
Wintering
To stimulate the Sarmatian snake to reproduction, it is necessary to organize wintering for it. This is done as follows:
- The first week - the temperature in the terrarium remains the same, there is a drink, but the snake is not fed.
- Second week - room temperature is maintained in the terrarium (+25 °C).
- Third week - during the day the temperature is about +20 °C, and by night it must be reduced to +15 °C.
- Fourth week - the temperature in the daytime is reduced to +10 °C, while the snake is kept in wintering containers, without access to water and light.
Then the snake is put away in the vegetable drawer in the refrigerator. Wintering lasts about two months, but if the reptile does not lose weight, it can be increased to 4 months. The snake is taken out of wintering in the reverse order, but the process is accelerating. In four days, the temperature is raised to +15 ° C. Then the snakes are transferred to the terrarium, which is not heated for two or three days, then the heating is turned on and the temperature is brought to normal.
After coming out of hibernation, the female and male are housed together. If the snakes are not active, they are seated, given food and try again. A pregnant female needs a varied diet: birds, rodents, lizards and eggs. Feed her until she refuses to eat.
The female lays her eggs in a shelter with damp moss. Young growth can be fed after the first molt. If young individuals refuse to eat, they are sent to wintering, which we described above. But usually raising young animals does not cause much trouble.
