This is read by an automated voice. Please report any issues or inconsistencies here. Snakes as pets tend to attract a certain kind of owner. Maybe it’s the quiet. Maybe it’s the fact that they don’t ...

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. I write about biodiversity and the hidden quirks of the natural world. More than 4,200 species of snakes exist on the planet and ...

Skip Maas, a PhD candidate in the Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, holds his personal pet snakes, Gaius and Agrippina. In the lab, Maas studies python metabolism to better ...