Snakes Information :

Just like the turtle, lizard, crocodile, and alligators, snakes are reptiles.

A snake is a reptile which evolved from the lizard approximately 135 million years ago and became the last reptile to arrive on earth. All reptiles are "cold blooded" because they keep a steady body temperature in order to function properly.

Snakes cannot produce their own body heat and prefer to operate at 25 to 30 degrees Celsius, varying between different species of snake. To keep this steady temperature they shuffle between cool and warm places, in cold weather they look for sunshine, and in hot weather look for shade under rocks, plants or in burrows.
Snakes are almost nocturnal and in colder places of the world hibernate until warmer weather comes. Snakes have no legs, no eyelids but most species have something called a brille which is a transparent lens that covers the eye. The whole body is covered in scales which vary in size, shape and colour throughout the species which helps identify which type of snake is which. The jawbone of a snake can be temporarily disconnected for swallowing larger prey, its possible for a snake to swallow prey bigger than the size of its own head. Some species of snake have an addition to their senses,(such as pythons, boas and vipers) they have an organ on the front of their face which detects heat allowing them to hunt and eat in complete darkness.

Habitat:

Snakes are well adapted to there habitats, their are burrowing snakes, arboreal snakes and completely aquatic snakes. The variety of shape, size and colour is due to the different surroundings in which it lives.
Many snakes are becoming endangered increasingly rare. The main cause of this is the destruction of there natural habitat, as a result of urbanisation, agriculture and road building. However snakes can play a vital roll in agriculture, controlling pests such as rats etc., this being helpful to humans. Although snakes are dangerous, they also have the right to exist like any other living creature.

Diet; Food and eating habbits:

Different species of snake feed on different prey, larger snakes can feed on deer and even crocodiles, but most snakes prefer smaller prey such as rats, birds, lizards, frogs and fish. Snakes have different ways of killing - boas and pythons constrict their prey, whereas most snakes have fangs which inject the prey with venom, killing them quickly and easily. 

Predators:

There are few creatures that only eat snakes, but many do snack on them. Birds are the biggest predator of the snake and not just big ones, smaller birds hunt little baby snakes.
The Secretary Bird worries a snake to death, dancing around it, stomping on it and throwing it up in the air until it dies.
Another predator of the snake is indeed a snake, they eat each other! 

Social Structure:

Baby snakes live on their own after they are born or hatch. More than half of young snakes die before they are 1 year old. 

Birth, Offspring:

Some species of snake are live born, some hatch from eggs. Snakes are usually one of the two; a viviparous or ovoviviparous. A viviparous animal is an animal employing vivipary: the embryo develops inside the body of the mother, from which it gains nourishment, as opposed to in an egg (ovipary). The mother then gives live birth.
An ovoviviparous animal develop within eggs that remain within the mother's body up until they hatch or are about to hatch. Unlike the embryos of viviparous species, ovoviviparous embryos are nourished by the egg yolk rather than by the mother's body. 

Attributes:

The hearing and sight is not the greatest of attributes of the snake, hence the reason they have evolved greater ways of hunting. Snakes flick their tongues, picking scent particles from the air and withdraw them into there mouth.
Snakes have small chambers in the roof of their mouths where snakes place the tips of there tongue, these are the Jacobson's organ which is connected direct to the brain. The tongue and the Jacobson's organ enhancing a greater sense of smell.
On the defensive side of things snakes are usually very well camouflaged within natural surroundings, desert snakes being light brown or yellow, or grass snakes being green or brown. Other species vary from are brightly coloured, striped in red, black, yellow or white, serving as a warning signal for enemies. Some snakes hiss, bite (snake bite) and puff up their bodies to bigger and stronger than they actually are. A good example of this is the Rattlesnake which makes a rattle noise by vibrating it's tail. The rattles are old remains of skin which have are trapped by a constriction at the end of the tail, this grows every time the snake sheds its skin making the snake longer in length. 

Fun Facts:

1. snakes flick there tongues, picking scent particles from the air and withdraw them into there mouth.
2. snakes are usually very well camouflaged in with there natural surroundings, desert snakes being light brown or yellow, or grass snakes being green or brown.
3. Snakes have small chambers in the roof of there mouths where snakes place the tips of there tongue, these are the Jacobson's organ which is connected direct to the brain.
4. The Reticulated Python (Python Reticulatus) is the longest recorded snake with the maximum verified length of 10.1 meters. That is almost the size of a bus!