Effects of Moderate Food Deprivation on Plasma Corticosterone and Blood Metabolites in Common Watersnakes (Nerodia sipedon)

Lack of food is one of the most common natural stressors that animals face, yet the physiological response to food restriction in most nonmammalian species is poorly understood. Food restriction can elicit an elevation of plasma glucocorticoid hormones and changes in blood metabolites in several vertebrates, but this has not been shown in snakes, despite their remarkable ability to tolerate food shortages. The purpose of this study was to...