Why do snakes have scales?
454548
Snakes have scales because of the way they evolved. Lacking legs like most reptiles, they have to slide their bodies across surfaces and fur/bare skin would make that extremely difficult because it would produce too much friction, would be a pain for the snake to keep clean, and would provide too much cushion between the snakes muscles (which it uses to propel itself along the ground) and the surface it is crawling on. A furry snake probably couldn't move. \n\nMost scales are smooth and slick, allowing the snake to push itself along effortlessly, and also provide protection since it's like armor in a sense.\n\nSnakes have evolved different textures of scales, too, to help them survive in different environments and to catch whatever they like to eat. That explains why some snakes are smooth (land snakes that catch mice and such) and others are rough and sand-papery (seasnakes who have to grip slippery fish).
114606
Yes. They need a coating on their scales to protect them against the change in water condition. Some sharks can do this as well as some salmon...but in a tank....there is no way for them to live on.
937339
you have to know alittle about them check out this site its a guide on how to tell if a snake  is venomous\nhttp://www.kingsnake.com/snakegetters/snake.html
449457
That depends upon the snake species and its diet. Snakes that are snake eaters (ophiophagus) often have immunity to the venoms of other snake species, for obvious reasons. So snakes like the Australian Black snakes (Pseudechis sp.) are generally immune to the venoms of the snakes that they prey on. However I found a recent article (quoted below) in which Australian Copperheads (not related to copperheads in the US) succumbed to the venom of another copperhead. Copperheads are known to be snake eaters, which seems odd.
399423
Snakes, lizards and amphisbaena (which most of you won't have heard of, but they're neat!) have "hemipenes", basically dual penises.  It has no real advantage, it's just how they evolved.  They only use one at a time.  It's just a different way to evolve a penis structure on a bilaterally symmetrical animal.
1088013
Boas and other constrictor snakes are opportunistic hunters which will target a prey item that may fit their need for nutrition.  They are generalistic in nature, meaning that their diet does not rely upon a specific type or species.  This allows them to target any unsuspecting creature that may live in the general vicinity.\n\nThese snakes are voracious swallowers when they eat.  These snakes can expand their jaws through their intramandibular joint, allowing their mouths to open much wider than expected.  However, once one of these snakes has eaten its prey, it will not need to feed again for months.  \n\nMost full grown boas and pythons are not usual predatory targets.  It would be possible for a strong predator to attack a boa during consumption of a prey item, but a double meal may not in the best interest of the outside party.
1107848
snake refers to the book Genesis, where Satan appeared as a snake in order to deceive mankind and make us question the truth.\n\nAnd by the way, not everyone has freedom of speech. Jesus kind of died for what he was preaching. Read a history book. Or watch the news. Or do something besides smoke pot.
835726
A venomous snake have venoms delivered through fangs in its mouth to immobilize or kill its prey.Venomous snakes that use heomotoxins usually have their fangs to secrete the venom in the front of their mouths, making it easier for them to inject the venom into their victims. \n\nNot all snakes that produce venom have injecting fangs. Vipers and cobras are the two primary families of injecting venomous snakes. These snake have a venom gland that feeds directly into their completely hollow fang, which has a tiny hole near the tip. This gland is called the Duvernoy's gland. Venom is forced out of the hole near the tip of the fang, into the flesh of the snake's prey when it bites.\n\nSnake venom is saliva, a highly modified saliva, and is produced by modified saliva glands. The proteinaceous nature of snake venom was established by Napoleon Bonaparte's brother, Lucien in 1843. Venoms are rich in hydrolithic enzymes, a complex mix of polypeptides, nucleases, peptidases, etc., which help digest the snake's prey.♥
1150037
a lizard and a snake. neither harms the other or benefits. they live together in peace and harmony.
574744
I hoped that there might be some sensible answers here, but it appears sadly no. Most snakes have only one lung, as the other has shrunk considerably, but the one lung can be quite long. They do not breath through their anus, although some Australian freshwater turtles do. Their tongue has nothing to do with beathing, it is a chemical brush. \nThey breathe through their nostrils and their mouths (Through the hole in the front that the tongue goes in and out of) and they do no have a diaphram that moves up and down like we do, rather they inflate their lung by moving muscles attached to the ribs, so the ribs move slightly in and out. The have a reinforced trachea so they can still breathe when swallowing prey considerably larger than their usual diameter.\n\nI hope this helps.
578308
They have the short, simple digestive system of a carnivore that is very tolerant of rotting food full of bacteria.\n\nSome reptiles are also very tolerant of rotting food.
288917
First off: THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS AN EVOLUTIONARY SCALE OF COMPLEXITY. The idea that the beings can be ordered from bacteria to human belongs in the 18th century.\nThere were both birds and mammals around in the Mesozoic Age, when snakes evolved. And the first snakes were similar to boas, not venomous ones; the colubroids (the group that includes the venomous forms) are first recorded in the Miocene (that is Tertiary, long after the diversification of modern birds and mammals). Therefore, you are starting from a false premise.\nAlso, salivary glands are present in all tetrapods, and especially in amniotes (reptiles, birds and mammals). Saliva possesses enzymes, and it's not that difficult (from a biochemical or evolutionary viewpoint) that any mutations that changed those enzymes into other more toxic ones were retained because of their advantage when subduing prey. Indeed, the evolution of venomous saliva did not happen once: Gila monsters and at least some insectivorous mammals also have similar (but independently evolved) systems.  \nThus:\n- snakes did not precede birds and mammals\n- poisons are made of enzymes, and all enzymes can be "poison" to some living being or other (ask the bacteria that are killed by the saliva in your mouth!)
824691
the snakes are fed and handled constanly so they normaly feel no threat, A snake will only use it's precious venom when neccesary, whether it having to eat or the threat of another animal. Sometimes these christian handlers are bit and they suffer the same pain as any other human.
611924
The bright coloration and unique pattern act as a warning sign to potential predators. It is much the same as poisonous snakes.
1002118
1.snake\n2.imagination
423862
Snakes have internal ears.Although these are not as well developed, they can sense ground vibrations.\n\nHearing: Snakes can hear but this sense is not as well-developed as its other senses.Snakes don't have external ears or even a middle ear. They only have a small bone (columella) which connects the jaw bone to the inner ear canals. These inner ear canals work superbly as the snake moves in three dimensions! A snake picks up sound through the skin which passes on to this jaw bone.There are also indications that the lung may act as a sound receptor.\nTongue is used for detecting chemicals in the air
632971
No, but it probably feels vibrations, which is kinda like hearing.  Snakes don't have ears, but they "hear" vibrations.