Taggart Patrick L, Morris Stephen, Caraguel Charles G B
School of Animal and Veterinary Science, The University of Adelaide, Roseworthy, SA, Australia.
Vertebrate Pest Research Unit, NSW Department of Primary Industries, Queanbeyan, NSW, Australia.
PeerJ. 2021 Jun 30;9:e11531. doi: 10.7717/peerj.11531. eCollection 2021.
Individual identification is fundamental to the study of captive and wild animals but can have adverse impacts if the method of identification is inappropriate for the species or question of interest. We conducted a randomised controlled trial to test whether passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags reduced the growth or survival of pythons. We randomly allocated 200 captive-bred Burmese python () hatchlings into two groups, tagged versus untagged. Hatchlings were individually identified using a combination of PIT tags and unique colour patterns, and their mass, snout-vent length (SVL) and body condition measured at 9, 73, 134, 220, 292 and 385 days of age. We recorded the date of all mortalities. Python morphometrics and their rate of change increased or fluctuated non-linearly with age. The impact of PIT tagging on python body mass and body mass growth over the 376 day study period was insignificant. PIT tagging additionally had an insignificant impact on python survival. However, we found minor differences in SVL growth between tagged and untagged pythons. These differences peaked at approximately 0.5 mm/day and appeared to drive similar, but more pronounced, differences between tagged and untagged pythons in their rate of change in body condition; peaking at approximately 3-4 g/day. While we cannot be certain that these small differences are, or are not, biologically meaningful, they nonetheless appear to be short-term and readily resolved. Unsurprisingly, the strongest driver of python growth was their age, with growth rapidly increasing or highest amongst younger snakes for all measures of size. Python sex was associated with their body mass and survival, with higher mass but lower survival amongst females. Python size at hatching did not impact on their growth or survival. Our results confirm that PIT tags are a valuable and effective tool for the identification and tracking of captive pythons, and snakes generally, and meet high safety and animal welfare standards.
个体识别对于圈养动物和野生动物的研究至关重要，但如果识别方法不适用于所研究的物种或感兴趣的问题，可能会产生不利影响。我们进行了一项随机对照试验，以测试被动集成应答器（PIT）标签是否会降低蟒蛇的生长速度或存活率。我们将200只人工饲养的缅甸蟒（Python bivittatus）幼体随机分为两组，一组佩戴标签，另一组不佩戴。通过PIT标签和独特的颜色图案组合对幼体进行个体识别，并在其9、73、134、220、292和385日龄时测量它们的体重、吻肛长度（SVL）和身体状况。我们记录了所有死亡的日期。蟒蛇的形态测量数据及其变化率随年龄呈非线性增加或波动。在为期376天的研究期内，PIT标签对蟒蛇体重和体重增长的影响不显著。PIT标签对蟒蛇存活率的影响同样不显著。然而，我们发现佩戴标签和未佩戴标签的蟒蛇在SVL生长方面存在细微差异。这些差异峰值约为0.5毫米/天，并且似乎导致了佩戴标签和未佩戴标签的蟒蛇在身体状况变化率上出现类似但更明显的差异；峰值约为3 - 4克/天。虽然我们不能确定这些微小差异是否具有生物学意义，但它们似乎是短期的且易于解决。不出所料，蟒蛇生长的最强驱动因素是其年龄，对于所有大小衡量指标而言，幼蛇的生长速度迅速增加或最高。蟒蛇的性别与它们的体重和存活率相关，雌性体重较高但存活率较低。孵化时的蟒蛇大小对其生长或存活没有影响。我们的结果证实，PIT标签是识别和追踪圈养蟒蛇及一般蛇类的有价值且有效的工具，并且符合高安全和动物福利标准。
