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Oxygen Consumption and the Energetics of Island‐Dwelling Florida Cottonmouth Snakes

We measured oxygen consumption (V̇o2) to estimate standard metabolic rates (SMR) in cottonmouth snakes (Agkistrodon piscivorus conanti) from Seahorse Key and the adjacent peninsula of northern Florida. The island population is unusual because adult snakes feed on fish that are dropped by colonial nesting birds, and food resources are temporally limited relative to that of mainland populations. We found no differences in SMR between island and mainland snakes at any of four experimental temperatures (15°–30°C), suggesting that any adjustments to energy limitations involve other aspects of physiology or behavior. As with other viperid species, the SMR of cottonmouths is about one‐half of that expected from interspecific allometric regressions previously reported for snakes generally. Allometric mass exponents of SMR averaged 0.76 and were not affected by temperature. We found that V̇o2 increased with temperature (Q10 = 2.4–2.8) and was elevated 29% during scotophase compared with photophase. Neonates exhibited elevated V̇o2 compared with older juveniles of similar size, apparently due to assimilation of yolk that is present in the neonatal gut. In adult snakes, specific dynamic action (SDA) following feeding resulted in four‐ to eightfold increases in V̇o2, with magnitude and duration related positively to relative meal size. The total energy devoted to SDA increased with meal size and averaged 32.8% ± 4.4% of total ingested energy. We estimate that a nonreproductive 500‐g adult cottonmouth at Seahorse Key uses 3,656 kJ of assimilated energy annually for maintenance and activity, which requires ingestion of approximately 1 kg of fish.