Unlike most vipers, female rattlesnakes (Crotalus atrox) continue to hunt and feed throughout pregnancy

Abstract

AbstractFor various reasons, reduction or cessation of feeding (anorexia) can occur in either sex during periods of reproduction among vertebrates, from cichlids to elephant seals. Anorexia is commonly associated with gestation in snakes. Using radiotelemetry, we investigated the feeding and spatial ecology of a live‐bearing viperid snake, the western diamond‐backed rattlesnakes (Crotalus atrox). Specifically, from 2001 to 2010, we determined the feeding frequency and home range size of adult females (n = 27) during the active season (March–October) in a population from the Sonoran Desert of Arizona. We addressed a central hypothesis: Do hunting and feeding occur throughout pregnancy? Also, we tested a corollary hypothesis: Does pregnancy influence home range size? We documented hunting and feeding from March to October and during pregnancy (June to mid‐September). Feeding frequency was significantly greater in late pregnancy, a result that is in sharp contrast to most other large‐bodied vipers. Furthermore, home range sizes in gestating subjects did not differ from those in nonreproductive years. Births occurred from mid‐August to mid‐September and mean litter size was 3.4. Frequent feeding in C. atrox during gestation unquestionably provides energy and nutrients to the mother, which is likely important for survival, but such food consumption does not imply that nutrients are used by the fetuses. There is, however, recent evidence in other snakes, including a pitviper, that amino acids are transferred to fetuses. Feeding during pregnancy in C. atrox may be important for both income and capital mode reproduction. Hunting and feeding throughout gestation might be accomplished by having relatively small litters not burdened by a body cavity filled with fetuses. Reduction in litter size may thus be a life‐history (fecundity) trade‐off that permits females to survive and maintain pregnancy in regions where drought and high temperatures are often extreme and chronic.