Snakes: Big, Small and Shedding Snakes
Clip: Special | 1m 4sVideo has Closed Captions
Snakes skin doesn’t stretch like human skin. So what do snakes do when they grow?
There are more than 3000 different species of snakes in the world. Which is the biggest? The smallest? And what do snakes do when they grow? They shed.
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Science Trek is a local public television program presented by IdahoPTV
Major Funding by the Laura Moore Cunningham Foundation and the Idaho National Laboratory. Additional Funding by Sparklight, the Friends of Idaho Public Television and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Snakes: Big, Small and Shedding Snakes
Clip: Special | 1m 4sVideo has Closed Captions
There are more than 3000 different species of snakes in the world. Which is the biggest? The smallest? And what do snakes do when they grow? They shed.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
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Science Trek
Science Trek is a place where parents, kids, and educators can watch short, educational videos on a variety of science topics. Every Monday Science Trek releases a new video that introduces children to math, science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) career potentials in a fun, informative way.[MUSIC] JOAN CARTAN-HANSEN, HOST: There're more than 3, 000 different species of snakes.
The biggest snake in the world is the green anaconda.
It can weigh up to 550 pounds and grow to up to 30 feet long.
Stretched out, that's about as long as the average school bus.
The Barbados thread snake is the world's smallest.
It weighs about .02 ounces and grows to about 4 inches long.
A snake has between 600 to 1,800 bones, depending upon the species.
That tiny thread snake has an average of 200 vertebrae, with a pair of ribs attached to each one.
In the wild, snakes eat when they find prey.
So, when there's no food around, snakes can slow their metabolism by 70 percent.
They only need to eat six to 30 meals a year to stay healthy.
And as snakes increase in size, their skin doesn't stretch like humans.
They simply grow a whole new layer of skin and then shed off the old one.
Snakes shed their skin about three to six times a year.
For more information about snakes, check out the Science Trek website.
You'll find it at ScienceTrek.org
Video has Closed Captions
Clip: Special | 1m 4s | Some non-venomous snakes look like their venomous cousins. Why? (1m 4s)
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Science Trek is a local public television program presented by IdahoPTV
Major Funding by the Laura Moore Cunningham Foundation and the Idaho National Laboratory. Additional Funding by Sparklight, the Friends of Idaho Public Television and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.