Interesting ....

[guidofatherof5]

The lecturer in me does surface from time to time

Nothing wrong with that.

[Hankj]

It has to be based on some sort of input? Air water or food. It can't take one part of its body and make it into a few new things and those new things weigh more or less without the snake taking in or discarding something.

[gregmonsta]

It has to be based on some sort of input? Air water or food. It can't take one part of its body and make it into a few new things and those new things weigh more or less without the snake taking in or discarding something.

Think of hormones acting like steroids or something to that effect, amplifying the creation of the necessary goods ... some tissue weighs more than other tissue even if it is made of the same key ingredients .... therefore the direct conversion of tissue x to y, even with minimal input can = something with higher density/weight (depending on various factors, of course).

[Hankj]

All I'm saying is the Law of Conversation of Mass. You CANNOT have weight gain without some input. Retaining a bunch of water and using that for some "reconstruction" and gaining weight I'll buy.

[Hankj]

And steriods don't make anything out of thin air. Try taking some steroids and not eating, you won't get any bigger. Sure they can amplify the creation of new tissue... from the food she's eating.

[ConcinusMan]

You know, I always wondered about that myself. Since garters start out as eggs, and have no connection to the body like mammals do, then why do gravid females gain so much weight? You would think that the already fertilized eggs developing would simply convert some of their weight to the babies and there would be no gain, but that's not what happens.

If there's going to be a gain, I would think it would be as the eggs are being formed in the body, before they are fertilized, not after. I laugh when people say their garter is gravid and "eating for two" so to speak. They are not. The nutrients are already there in the yolks, and have been since conception. And yet, the mother continues to gain weight long after the babies start growing. The only matter exchange happening after conception is gas exchange. That doesn't seem to account for enough weight.

[Hankj]

If she still eats and drinks normally she's retaining more of the nutrients and water, that's all.

[ConcinusMan]

I was thinking the same thing. If a snake is dehydrated and hasn't had a meal in a long time, naturally it's going to gain weight after eating and drinking, even if it is pooping just fine.

Of course, there could have been an error with those numbers too.

[Hankj]

And where can I find an article of garter snake pregnancy? I told that fact to someone "garter snakes give live birth" and then I was like HUH?? Just seems so counter intuitive them being snakes and all.

[ConcinusMan]

They don't get pregnant. They simply retain their eggs until they are ready to hatch, instead of laying them. Presumably an adaptation to cold. An animal that can move around and thermoregulate the eggs have a better chance of incubating successfully. That's why we don't say that snakes are "pregnant". They are "gravid"

Northwestern alligator lizards do the same thing. Live birth. Southern alligator lizards lay eggs.