Crotalus viridis

Alving W.R. and Kardong K.V. (1996). The role of the vomeronasal organ in rattlesnake (Crotalus viridis oreganus) predatory behavior. Brain Behav Evol 48, 165-172. 

Neonate garter snakes, Thamnophis sirtalis, and brown snakes distinguish conspecific from heterospecific odors (Burghardt 1977, 1983). Newborn timber rattlesnakes, Crotalus horridus, are able to follow conspecific odor trails (Brown and MacLean, 1983). Neonate water snakes are attracted to conspecific odor (Scudder et ah, 1980) and neonate prairie rattlesnakes, Crotalus viridis, to lipoids from the epidermis of adult conspecifics (Graves etal., 1987). 

Experience can further hone behaviors that are already present in naive animals. From 28 to 138 days of age, neonate rattlesnakes [Crotalus viridis and C. horridus) recognize and attack prey. They also show chemosensory searching and trailing. The initial trailing is Jerky and erratic, but after several feeding experiences becomes more methodical (Scudder etal., 1992). 

Chiszar, D., Grant, H., and Hobart, M. (1993b). Prairie rattlesnakes Crotalus viridis) respond to rodent blood with chemosensory searching. Brain, Behavior and Evolution 41,229-233. 

Cruz, E., Gibson, S., Kandler, K., Sanchez, G., and Chiszar, D. (1987). Strike-induced chemosensory searching in rattlesnakes a rodent specialist (Crotalus viridis) differs from a lizard specialist [Crotalus pricer). Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society 25, 136-138. 

Graves, B. M. and Duvall, D. (1985). Avomic prairie rattlesnakes [Crotalus viridis) fail to attack rodent prey. ZeitschriftfurTierpsychologie 67,161-166. 

Crotalus Viridis Abyssus Common Name(s) Grand Canyon Rattlesnake... 

Crotalus Viridis Cerberus Common Name(s) Arizona Black Rattlesnake... 

Crotalus Viridis Decolor Common Name(s) Midget Faded Rattlesnake... 

Crotalus Viridis Lutosus Common Name(s) Great Basin Rattlesnake... 

Crotalus Viridis Oreganus Common Name(s) Northern Pacific Rattlesnake... 

A myonecrotic toxin found in the venom of the prairie rattlesnake Crotalus viridis. Basic polypeptide, MW 4600. Binds to sarcoplasmic reticulum, affects Ca++ levels produces cellular swelling and necrosis. 

Twenty-three individually housed northern Pacific rattlesnakes, Crotalus viridis oreganus (adult, long-term captives) collected locally in Whitman Co., WA, under State permits, were used in each of four experiments. Snakes were maintained on white laboratory mice (Balb/c or Swiss Webster), fed twice a month, and provided water ad... 

Chiszar, D., Radcliffe, C, W., O Connell, B., and Smith, H. M., 1981, Strike-induced chemosensory searching in rattlesnakes (Crotalus viridis) as a function of disturbance prior to presentation of rodent prey, Psychol Rec. 32 57-62. 

Haverly, J. E., and Kardong, K. V., 1996, Sensory deprivation effects on the predatory behavior of the rattlesnake, Crotalus viridis oreganus, Copeia 1996 419-428. 

Robinson, B. G., and K. V. Kardong, 1991, Relocation of struck prey by venomoid (venom-less) rattlesnakes Crotalus viridis oreganus. Bull. Maryland Herpet. Soc. 27 23-30. 

Twenty-three northern Pacific rattlesnakes Crotalus viridis oreganus) were used as the test animals. All individuals were housed in separate 10 gallon aquaria and kept on a 12h/12h l d cycle at 30°C. Water was provided ad libitum, and the aquaria were lined with newspaper. Prey items used during all experiments were Swiss-Webster mice obtained the day of the trial from a large breeding colony. 

Distance traveled by mice (Mus muscuius) after envenomation by prairie rattlesnakes (Crotalus viridis), Bull. Psychon. Sci., 18 108. 

Trailing behavior in prairie rattlesnakes (Crotalus viridis),... 

Hayes, W. R., and Galusha, J. C., 1984, Effects of rattlesnake (Crotalus viridis oreganus) envenomation upon mobility of male wild and laboratory mice (Mus musculus), Bull. MD Herpetol. Soc., 20 135. 

Aldridge, R. D., 1979, Female reproductive cycles of the snakes Arizona elegans and Crotalus viridis, Herpetologica, 35 256. 

King, M., McCarron, D., Duvall, D., Baxter, G., and Gern, W., 1983, Group avoidance of conspecific but not interspecific chemical cues by prairie rattlesnakes, Crotalus viridis, J. Herp., 17 196. 

Aldridge, R. D., 1975, Environmental control of spermatogenesis in the rattlesnake Crotalus viridis, Copeia, 1975 493. 

Diller, L. V., and Wallace, R. L., 1984, Reproductive biology of the northern pacific rattlesnake (Crotalus viridis oreganus) in northern Idaho, Herpetologica, 40 182. 

Gannon, V. P. J., and Secoy, D. M., 1985, Seasonal and daily activity patterns in a Canadian population of the prairie rattlesnake, Crotalus viridis viridis. Can. J. Zool., 63 86. 

Graves, B. M., In preparation. Behavioral and Chemical Ecology of Pregnant and Neonatal Prairie Rattlesnakes (Crotalus viridis viridis) in South-central Wyoming, Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Wyoming, Laramie. 

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