Do Sidewinder Rattlesnakes (Crotalus cerastes, Viperidae) Cease Feeding During the Breeding Season?

Abstract

Seasonal aphagia (a lack of feeding) can occur if foraging and reproduction occasionally result in conflicting demands on an individual, such that one activity takes precedence over the other. We tested the hypothesis that female and male Crotalus cerastes (Sidewinders) exhibit seasonal aphagia during the reproductive season. We examined the stomach contents of preserved specimens to assess variation in the feeding rates of C. cerastes. Non-reproductive females fed during the early and late stages of the active season, but reproductive females only ate during the first half of the active season. Female Sidewinders fed throughout the early vitellogenic phases of the reproductive cycle, but exhibited a tendency to reduce or cease feeding during the later stages of the cycle (gestation). Prey consumption during early reproductive stages can provide valuable energetic resources for sustaining a female's subsequent breeding activities. However, the physical burden of offspring mass and the concomitant decrease...