ID the organs.

[AnAcOnDaMaN]

Hey all. Just took this cottonmouth under the knife today. I don't know much about ID'ing snake anatomy, besides the basics, so I wanted to know if anyone can help me out?







P.S.- If you need a zoomed in section of any area just ask. I'll post the pic of it if needed.

	Cottonmouth Cottonmouth (Agkistrodon piscivorus) - Also known as a Water Moccasin.

[SoberGuy]

Since I don't know anything either, I'd like to see someone download the image, put numbers on it, and then tell us what organs go to what number.

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[JuliusSqueezer]

Fun fun. Here's a boa, I dissected awhile back. You can get some hints from it. The biggest difference is that your snake only has one developed lung where boids have two. But you should be able to compare and find things. Also....It's good you cut the head off. A lot of people get envenomated mucking around with dead venomous snakes.

http://www.atlantafashionphotos.com/...s.php?album=10

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[AnAcOnDaMaN]

I called the company to inquire about the venom glands. They told me the only way I could get envenomated was if I dug the teeth into my own skin. I cut the head off anyway to be safe.

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[AnAcOnDaMaN]

Are the orange convoluted glands above the large intestines reproductive glands?
Oh and anyone care to see a cat that was cut up? Thought it might of been too graphic.

[schmelkdog]

please no

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[JuliusSqueezer]

Originally Posted by AnAcOnDaMaN

Are the orange convoluted glands above the large intestines reproductive glands?
Oh and anyone care to see a cat that was cut up? Thought it might of been too graphic.

Actually that is the small intestine. My boa that I dissected had been frozen for over a year so it was shrivled up and degraded at the time of dissection so mine isn't quite as detailed in that area. Most of the other organs were well preserved and in tact though.

[JuliusSqueezer]

The big slab of brown up front is the liver. That is any snake's largest internal organ.

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[AnAcOnDaMaN]

Im guessing that the blue'ish organ at the beginning of the small intestines is the stomach?
Not to mention that the cat was pregnant with triplets.

[AnAcOnDaMaN]

I may be doing a mudpuppy soon. Should I look out for anything unusual?

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[JuliusSqueezer]

It's really hard to tell without being there to move stuff around but I'm pretty sure I see at least one of the testes which would suggest the snake was a male. To find them (and they are not together like in most animals. They are offset a bit) first find the kidneys and then follow the little small tube off the front of each kidney towards the head and you will find something that resembles the kidneys again about 1/3 the way up from the tail. They look like little vienna sausages but the kidneys appear to be obstructed by the large intestine...that or they are further up than they should be and what I'm seeing is a kidney. Did you displace anything?

[AnAcOnDaMaN]

I don't think I moved anything around. I tried to clean up as much as I could. The whole strain of organs was like a string (all together) which I simply cut off from the spinal cord. I then cleared some skin and muscle tissue. I remember seeing something which resembled small vertebrate under the large intestines. They were reddish in color.

[JuliusSqueezer]

the stomach is just a more stretchy area in the intestine...Unless the snake has just eaten, it's hard to differentiate it from the rest of the digestive track. The bloated bulb looking thing in front of the second pin from the head ...or where the head used to be is the membrane incasing the heart. It's pretty interesting to gently and carefully peel that away so you can see the heart better. I think the blue thing may be the testical I was talking about but I'm not sure. You need a sharper scapel dude. It looks like the poor snake was dissected with a dull chainsaw lol

[AnAcOnDaMaN]

lol. It was a three way between scalpel, scissors and my hands. You shoulda seen what my friend did to a poor coppperhead. It was pretty amazing though looking at how the organs work. Here are some more pics.

[Mr. Animal]

nasty

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[MegF]

I believe the bulbous part by the neck area is the heart. If you open it, it should have one ventricle and two atria. Although the color isn't the same as the post mortem kidneys I've seen in the books, the bright yellow appears to be the kidneys with the large bowel sitting in there too. I have an excellent book called Biomedical and Surgical Aspects of Captive Reptile Husbandry that has a whole section on Euthanasia and necropsy with lots of photos.