Snake Anatomy & Skin

Anatomy

The snake has two distinct features. The first is its elongated body and second its ability to consume very large prey. Because of the location of the trachea and the glottis the snake can breathe during most of the time it is consuming his meal. The loose, stretchable ligaments of the jaw allow him to take in extremely large bodies.

Skin

The snake's skin is scaled but not in the same way as a fish is scaled. Soft folds of skin interconnect the scales on the snake. These also make the skin flexible. The snake sheds his skin at regular intervals. While humans continually produce keratin, which comes from the inside as old skin wears away from the outside, the snake grows a completely new skin from underneath the old one. After it is completely grown the old skin is shed or molted. A fluid is secreted between the old and new skin. The snake's eyes will appear cloudy and after a few days he will shed his skin, often in one piece. The colors of the snake will look best after molting.