Snake anatomy. It's a ball python, and Slybella is some species of python, so the anatomical structures should be accurate for her.
Chapter 1: The Slacker
Brian Mosidi was a slacker. He cut classes and goofed off. Not to the point where he was utterly failing things, but to the point where his grades had rapidly declined and he was in danger of not graduating at the end of the semester, his last one. He had been doing well up till that point but had gotten senioritis and had cut classes, especially his first period biology (due to him goofing around on his motor bike that his parents gave him for his 17th birthday.) Now, however, with a bad report from his classes that came home to his parents, he was given an ultimatum, improve his grades so that he passed every class or else be grounded for months.
And so in the final quarter, he had busted his ass to get his grades up to at least a C, or, at worst, a high D (that was the case for British Literature, a course he was required to take, though he didn't know why). However, his biology grade was in the 40's. Try as he could, even with all the available extra credit, it seemed that, as he approached the third week before the end of the semester, that he would need a 100% on the final exam, which he knew was too high out of his reach, to get a passing grade in the class. It seemed that, barring a miracle, he was going to have to take biology again in the fall, with him being grounded all summer long.
"Dr. Bentenson" he said to his biology teacher, a ferret, "is there any way, any way at all for me to get enough extra credit to pass this class without acing the final exam?" "I don't see how. Your grades have been pretty low for the first half of the semester." "Look, I'm gonna get grounded all summer long if I have to repeat this class all over again! I'd be willing to do anything to pass it! "I don't see how I could justify giving enough extra credit to make up so many percentage points. Not unless....." he broke off, "well, there is one thing you could do. Something I've been working on as a little biology experiment. It's never been tested and, so far, nobody has been willing to volunteer to help trial run it, not even when offered $3000." "Holy shit, $3000 is a lot of dough. And they still turned it down?! What could it involve?" "Tell you what, you meet me after school today and I'll tell you. Right now, I've got to start class." he said as students began to file in for the start of class.
Chapter Two: The Proposal
As the final school bell rang, Brian made his way up to the biology classroom. He had to wait around for a student, who arrived first, to finish getting assistance from the instructor. Brian often had come these days after school to seek help as well. But this would be no ordinary tutoring session. As the student left, the ferret beckoned for him to come in. "Take a seat, Brian." he said.
"What did you have in mind? What is this experiment of yours?"
It's a biology experiment. I've developed something that is resistant to acid. This should entail someone, using the suit I developed, to go inside of the stomach of a creature and explore its digestive tract." "Explore a digestive tract?" Brain asked, not sure if he'd heard correctly. "Yes, that's right, of the class pet snake, Slybella.". Slybella was a large exotic python. "So you want the snake to swallow me?" "Yes, I think that's the best way to explore the digestive tract."
"So you want me to explore her stomach." "The whole digestive tract actually." "You mean from her mouth all the way to her anus?" "Snakes have a cloaca, as you'd know if you paid attention in class." "What's the difference between an anus and a cloaca?" "Looks like you're going to find out, at least if you're willing to go through with this." "Sounds a bit messy, coming out a snake's tailhole." "Well, it's up to you if you want to do this." "I don't see that I have much choice, unless I want to fail the class." "it is a dangerous, you know. I couldn't even get people, when paid, to do it. You could be digested and die." "Yes, well, being digested seems a less worse fate than being grounded all summer." "Well, if you're set on doing this, then come into my office first thing tomorrow morning. I have some forms for you to sign. Legal matters." "Ok, I'll see you then.
Chapter 3: Preparing for the Trip
Brain signed the forms. They were liability forms waiving Dr. Bentenson from liability in the event that he didn't survive the trip through the snake. As he was 18, he was old enough to sign legally binding forms. He and Dr. Bentenson had agreed that the best cover story so that Brian's parents wouldn't raise a stink would be to make it sound as it Brian was going on a special field trip for his biology class, in order to get enough extra credit to pass the class. This was, after all, more or less true. This would keep his parents from worrying about him when he didn't show up all week. He already had things set up so that he could make up the work in other classes. Naturally, he'd be getting all automatic 100's for any work in biology class that he'd be missing that week. The extra credit would give him enough so that he could get at least a D in the class while not needing to ace the final. He was set to be swallowed by the snake Monday morning, and it was Thursday now.
Since he would be preoccupied the following week, Brian made sure to do extra recreational activities the rest of that week and the weekend. He also took the time to research a bit on the anatomy of snakes. He found that it took a snake several minutes to send its prey from its mouth to its stomach. A python attacked it prey by trying to crush the life out of them. Thus, he knew he had to pretend to be subdued so that he wouldn't be suffocated or have his ribs cracked. He knew that he'd need food and water for the week that he was inside the snake. Regular food wouldn't do, for it would no doubt spoil without refrigeration, especially in the harsh conditions of a snake's digestive tract. So, of course, he packed lots of junk food. He also packed lots of water, as well as soda. Also, as it would no doubt reek inside a snake's digestive tract, especially at the lower end, he brought along several air fresheners. He also brought along toilet paper, as he wasn't sure if he could go a week without shitting and he'd have to go inside the snake. He also packed a change of clothes (though the suit would protect his clothes, they still would have been worn a week, and inside the hot interior of a snake too), a towel, shampoo, and a bar of soap. He didn't plan to shower inside the snake, but he knew he had to shower and clean off before returning home, as he knew his parents wouldn't be happy if they learned he'd come out the cloaca of a snake smelling like its bodily wastes and so he planned to clean off before going back home. Thankfully, there was a gym men's shower room right next to the biology classroom, so he could covertly sneak in to wash off.
He also had to tell his girlfriend Leona not to contact him. He didn't want her to phone him while he was inside the snake, as that would likely lead to awkward questions if she heard digestive noises throughout the phone call. So he'd said that he was going to a remote area where he wouldn't get service for the field trip, so as to not offend her or arouse suspicion as to his telling her he would be unavailable for that week. Perhaps after this was all over, the two could make love on the following Friday night. They hadn't made love yet, but were getting closer, and having this to look forward to as a reward once the whole snake ordeal was all over made things more bearable.
He also packed a flashlight and a few changes of batteries. He also brought a phone charger with a small portable generator. It would be a shame if he didn't get any shots of the snake's innards and he doubted that his phone would last a week without charging. He had a metal container to place it in when not in use, so that it wouldn't get damaged by the snake's digestive system. Thankfully his phone was waterproof as well, so it wouldn't be harmed by saliva or other things inside the stomach, at least, he hoped that it wouldn't, as it cost about $500 and his parents weren't likely to get him such a nice one again if this one, which he'd only had for a year and a half, got ruined already.
The weekend, in which he enjoyed himself as much as he could, went by quickly. On Sunday night, he went to bed extra early. This was owing to the fact that he knew he wouldn't get quality sleep, if much sleep at all, inside the digestive tract of a snake. As Monday morning dawned, he got up and went through his normal routine He wondered if he was doing the right thing. Sure, he would now pass his class, but that was assuming he survived. What if something went wrong and he died? He'd never get to make love with Leona and he'd never get to own a house or own his own car (he borrowed his parents' car right now) and that would suck. Still, he had faith that his instructor had made his materials correctly so that he wouldn't digest and so he'd be able to breathe inside of the snake. He walked slowly to school, though he could have driven, savoring his time on the outside of the snake. Finally, as it neared the start of class, he entered the classroom.
Chapter 4: Swallowed by the Snake
"Now class" Dr. Bentenson said as the class filed into the room, "we have something special this week. Brian here has agreed to test out an experiment of mine. Of course, I'd like it if nobody told anyone else outside of this class about it. It violates some school rules. But if you can agree not to talk, this whole thing should be educational as well as fun for you all." "I'm not sure how much fun it will be for me," Brian interjected. "Yes, but at least you'll pass the class." "What's going on?" asked Eliza Kinkabu, a mink. "Brian here has agreed to go through the digestive tract of our class pet snake, Slybella, and give us an account of the snake's digestive tract." "Cool! We want to see this!" "I hope Brian gets digested!" "Won't he be snake poo if he goes all the way through?" "I promise I won't tell." "This is gonna be cool! Best week ever in this class!"
"Ok class. Settle down." Dr. Bentenson said. "Before we have Slybella swallow Brian, I think it good to first discuss the swallowing process of snakes and their esophageal anatomy. First, could somehow tell me how a snake can swallow large prey as well as, if you can, how they can breathe while swallowing said prey?" The anterior portion of the trachea, which resides along the bottom of the mouth/throat, is very strong/mobile and may be extended out of the mouth, beneath the prey being swallowed, to facilitate breathing during ingestion (which, in the case of very large constrictors, is a process that may take over an hour). Snakes tend to have highly kinetic skulls (up to 150 degree opening) for swallowing large prey whole. Most snakes have highly flexible lower jaws (due to the fact the left and right lower jawbones are often not connected) and very stretchable skin, enabling them to effectively wrap their mouths around large prey. Snakes generally eat their prey headfirst. his is because the bodies of most animals are oriented in a head-to-tail fashion, meaning that swallowing prey in that manner will permit everything to go down the snake's throat much smoother. Their forked tongue helps them locate the mouth of incapacitated prey so that they can ingest them head-first." said a skunk. "Very good. It should only take about half an hour for Slybella to get Brian in her mouth and down her throat." Dr. Bentenson said. "Maybe he'll get stuck." said a rabbit hopefully. "I don't think so. Now, could someone name the fucntion of the esophagus?" Dr. Bentenson said. "The primary function of your esophagus is to carry food and liquid from your mouth to your stomach. When you swallow, food and liquid first move from your mouth to your throat (pharynx). A small muscular flap called the epiglottis closes to prevent food and liquid from going down the “wrong pipe” — your windpipe (trachea). Another small flap called the uvula helps prevent liquid from passing upward into your nasal cavity. At the opening of your upper esophagus, there’s a ring-shaped muscle called the upper esophageal sphincter. Your upper esophageal sphincter senses when food or liquid is coming toward it. When it gets the signal, the sphincter relaxes or opens so that food can enter your esophagus. When there’s no food or liquid in sight, it stays closed. Once inside your esophagus, waves of muscular contractions (peristalsis) push the food downward. The food passes to the lower esophagus. At the opening of your lower esophagus, there’s another ring-shaped muscle called the lower esophageal sphincter. Like the upper esophageal sphincter, it senses when food and liquid are coming. It relaxes and lets the food pass through to your stomach. When no food or liquid is coming its way, it usually stays shut to prevent stomach acid and digestive juices from getting into your esophagus." said a mole.
"Correct. Also, it should be noted that snakes don't have a diaphragm. Can you tell us what’s the difference between the trachea and the esophagus?" "Your trachea (windpipe) and your esophagus are both muscular tubes located within your neck. However, they have two very different functions. Your trachea is part of your respiratory system, and your esophagus is part of your digestive system. Your trachea transports air in and out of your lungs, whereas your esophagus transports food and liquid from your throat to your stomach." said a mole.
Esophagus "Correct. Now, Brian, I believe it's time for you to go into the snake cage." Shaking from head to foot, Brian climbed down a rope ladder into the cage. The snake, Slybella, was asleep. However, his arrival in the cage awakened her. She stuck out her tongue, scenting the air. She scented her prey and slowly moved toward the mouse. She was used to being given meat such as mutton and chicken and hadn't had live meat since she had been captured and taken to the school as a pet. She felt that this was her luck day. Brian, however, was feeling very nervous as he saw the snake's slow approach. He knew it was all going to be unpleasant from here for the next entire week. Slybella reached him and he flinched as her wet and slimy tongue flickered across his face and she began to taste her prey with her tongue. Brian considered making a run for it, but noticed with alarm that the rope ladder had been removed. "I removed this so that you wouldn't be tempted to run." Dr. Bentenson said in response to his look of horror. Now Brian was trapped and there was no turning back. There was no way he could fight off this snake so the only way forward now was done her throat, through her digestive tract, and out her cloaca with her wastes.
Slybella continued to lick him as her body began to slowly wrap around him, starting to squeeze him. He'd read that this is how python's deal with their prey, so he decided to pretend to go along and pretend to lose consciousness. It was hard to avoid flinching as the snake continued to lick him, but, somehow, he managed. After she had licked him over, she put him into her mouth and sucked on him. He didn't like this and squirmed. Slybella, however, knowing that she had subdued him, didn't care. He would digest in her stomach so it made no difference if he was still conscious and fighting. Brian gagged as her breath washed over him. It reeked. He hoped that his air fresheners were strong enough to mask it. Soon, after sucking on him, she began to move him toward the throat. His head passed under her uvula and soon his torso. Several minutes after that, she swallowed had his head in the back of her mouth and going into her throat. Some minutes later, she had fully in her mouth and then swallowed him with a loud and powerful GULLLLLLLLP!
"Now Brian is passing down her throat, moved by peristalsis. The trip is slow due to the length of her esophagus. In about fifteen minutes, he should pass through the area of her diaphragm. After this, he will continue until he goes through the lower esophageal sphincter and into the stomach." Dr. Bentenson said. Brian could him him talk, though it seemed further and further away, the further he descended. Luckily, he had a communication device so that he could talk to the teacher and the class. It even had video capability. Right now, though, there was nothing much to see inside the dark esophageal tunnel. It sure did take a long time for him to descend, but soon, he reached the sphincter and was deposited in the stomach.
Chapter 5: The Stomach
Brian was glad that the stomach was devoid of acid. The air in there was hardly breathable. He quickly changed into the anti-digestive suit that Dr. Bentenson had made and put on the breathing mask. At least now he could breathe better, and, hopefully, he wouldn't be digested. The stomach was large, over ten times his size. It was pink and muscular. He could hear the breathing of the snake from her nearby lungs and the beating of her nearby heart. He could also hear her leftovers from her stomach, which had drained some hours before he was swallowed, gurgling below him inside her intestines. He turned on the light of his phone and could see the cardiac sphincter above him at the top of the stomach, sealed shut. As he moved the beam to the floor, he could see the pyloric sphincter leading to the small intestine, also sealed shut. He was going to be inside the stomach for quite a while.
"Brian, please turn on your phone's camera so that we can see the inside of the stomach." came the voice of Dr. Bentenson. Brian quickly turned on the phone. "Good. Now, class, as you can see the stomach. At the top is the cardia. It mainly contains the cardiac sphincter. The next part is the fundus. It stores gas from digestion and also stores food if the stomach gets too full. The body of the stomach is the part that contracts and mixes food. It's the biggest part of the stomach. The antrum is at the bottom in the tunnel shaped part. It is where the stomach connects to the small intestine. The bottom of the stomach is the pylorus, which contains the pyloric sphincter. "The stomach is the main part of the snake's digestive system, and, indeed, most digestive systems. In a snake, the food can remain in the stomach for four days."
Structure of Stomach "Looks like Brian is going to be there a long time!" laughed a possum. "Yes, he is. But he should survive." said Dr. Bentenson. "What if he doesn't?" asked another student. "Let's hope that he doesn't die." said Dr. Bentenson. "Doesn't Slybella's stomach have acid in it?" asked the possum. "Yes, it normally does, but Slybella recently drained her stomach, so it'll be empty for a while. When it does fill, it will fill with hydrochloric acid, which is strong enough to digest bones." "Maybe Brian will get digested into nothing and nobody will ever know what happened to him." "I've made precautions to avoid that event from occurring." "Damn it! You ruined the fun." "I don't believe in having students be digested alive, even the most annoying ones." The rest of the class period slowly went by, without anything eventful happening for Brian. He was getting hot and so drank some of the water that he'd brought with him. Thankfully, he'd frozen it before coming to school, so it was mostly still cool, despite now being inside the belly of a snake for about an hour. Slybella, meanwhile, slithered her way over to her milk dish, drank some, which doused Brian inside her stomach, and then slithered to a large rock, resting in the sun. She planned to just chill while she digested her meal. And besides, there was nothing really for her to do inside her cage. She was, so far, all alone. No boys to play with her.
The bell rang, signaling the end of the first class period. The students all filed out. Over the next several minutes, as the second period began, Dr. Bentenson told the class about the experiment he was doing that involved Brian. "Hey Brian, how's it like in there?" one of the students called out. "Kind of smelly, though it's not that bad with these air fresheners and this breathing device." "Is it cramped in there?" "Not really that bad. I think she could fit ten of me in here." "Are you being digested?" "No, there's no acid in here." "Will you be digested?" "I hope not. Dr. Bentenson said this suit should stop me from getting digested." Brian felt Slybella move. She had awoken from her nap and noticed that meat had been placed in her cage. It was slabs of steak. She swallowed these, one at a time. They soon landed in the stomach beside Brian. Brian sighed. He was going to have to get used to this. Slybella soon drank more milk, splashing Brian in her stomach. "Are you ok in there, Brian?" a female fox asked. "Yes." "Are you getting bored?" "Yes. not much to do in here." As the second hour of class came to an end, Brian felt the urge to urinate. He'd drank some soda in the stomach, due to it being hot and making him thirsty. He quickly switched off his communication device (which had been given to him by Dr. Bentenson as a backup for his phone, when it was being charged, which it was right now. It lasted twice as long as his phone.), unzipped his pants, pulled out his penis, and let loose a torrent of piss at the stomach wall. He watched as it trickled down the stomach call, coming to rest at the floor of the stomach along with the milk, making bubbles as it mixed with it. When he had finished peeing and put his penis back inside his pants, he turned back on the communication device. "Sorry, had to take a little pee break." The rest of the day slowly went by, with little changing inside the stomach. Around noon, which he could only tell by his watch and his phone, he ate lunch. As he finished his lunch, something finally happened. He could hear gurgles around him and felt something splash against him. It wasn't milk, but something hotter. it was stomach acid. Thankfully, the suit seemed, so far, to be protecting him. "Looks like something finally is happening." Brian said into his communication device. "What, specifically?" came Dr. Bentenson's reply. "Acid is entering her stomach. Digestion is beginning, or will be for this meat she ingested, but hopefully not for me." A short time later, as the class filed into the room, Dr. Bentenson again told the class what was going on, this time pointing out that the digestion had started. "The PH level will slowly drop as time goes on, eventually reaching 1.5. This is strong enough to digest even bones. However, with this suit I made for Brian, he shouldn't be digested. However, there will be some discomfort in the stomach. As the snake doesn't have teeth that chew, its stomach will slowly process the meal by squeezing it. While the suit should prevent suffocation, there will be times when the stomach will be quite cramped." "Oh shit, I forgot about that part!" Brian groaned. "The stomach won't even be the worst part of the digestive tract, I'm afraid." said Dr. Bentenson. "At least I won't have to deal with that part for a while." "Can anyone tell my why a snake's stomach take so long to digest its food?" Dr. Bentenson asked the class. "Because they have a slow metabolism." a rabbit said. "Correct, and why do they have a slow metabolism?" "Because they are ectothermic, which means that they rely on their environment to regulate their body temperature. Since they don't have to expend as much energy to regulate their body temperature, that slows down their metabolism." said a gerbil. "Correct. And what is another reason why a snake would digest food more slowly than other animas?" "Because they eat food whole. Their stomach can even digest bones. So that also takes more time." said the rabbit again. "Correct. Thankfully, that suit I made for Brian should prevent his bones, or any other part of him, from being digested." "Let's hope so." Brian said. "Can anyone tell me the stages of digestion?" Dr. Bentenson asked. "Ingestion, propulsion, mechanical digestion, chemical digestion, absorption, and defecation." a fox said. "Correct. Ingestion involves the mouth while propulsion involves the esophagus, where food is moved by peristalsis to the stomach. Can you tell me the difference between mechanical and chemical digestion?" "Mechanical digestion does not change the chemical nature of the food. It just makes it smaller and compacts it. It involves chewing, churning in the stomach, and segmentation in the small intestine. Chemical digestion, on the other hand, does change the chemical nature. It starts with secretions in the mouth and then acid in the stomach. By breaking the food down in this way, it enables the villi in the small intestine to absorb the nutrients into the bloodstream." "Correct." As Dr. Bentenson and the class talked, Brian looked at the meat that Slybella had swallowed. It was beginning to sizzle as the acid hit it. It was first breaking into chunks and then, as time went on, starting to change chemically. Thankfully, the suit was keeping him from digestion. However, he did notice that the air was becoming stifling, due to the digestive process generating heat. He wanted to strip off the suit, but he knew he'd be toast without it. This was going to be a long four days!
"Can anyone tell me what the contents of the gasses in the stomach are?" Dr. Bentenson asked. "Smelly stuff!" Brian said. The class laughed. "Could anyone be more specific?" "15 to 16 percent oxygen, 5 to 9 percent carbon dioxide, and the rest nitrogen. The air breathed in is about 21 percent oxygen, and some of it is absorbed by the blood capillaries in the stomach. The carbon dioxide is made by the reduction of the food by the stomach's gastric juices. The nitrogen is not absorbed as a gas and is just moved on." said a pig. "Very good." The rest of the day slowly went by. Brian watched as the food that Slybella had eaten was slowly broken down into watery chunks. The mess, as he learned from Dr. Bentenson's talking, was called chyme. During the last class period of the day, Brian was interrupted from his daydreams by a sudden shaking and loud noise in the stomach. Slybella had burped. Thankfully, the suit allowed him to continue breathing, despite the decrease in the air supply. "Does anyone know what is usually expelled during burping?" Dr. Bentenson asked. "Yes, nitrogen and oxygen." Brian replied. "Correct." At long last, the school day was over. Brian had been taking notes the whole time, for he would get an exam on all discussed on a snake's digestive system, instead of the final. As he was experiencing it personally, he thought that that would help with remembering the material enough to ace it. Plus, he literally had all week to study the material. After class was over, he could take it more easily. He no longer had to take notes, unless something important happened. He would still do videos often for the sake of the research (Dr. Bentenson was going for a Noble Prize for his work), but could now take many breaks, including sleeping. He doubted he could get much sleep in here, but at least he could try. "I'll see you tomorrow, well, you know what I mean." Dr. Bentenson said as he left and locked the class door forty minutes after the school day had ended and it was time for him to go home for the night. "Bye." The hours slowly went by. Around evening, Brian, who had been studying his notes, was hit by milk that Slybella drank. He groaned. This was hard to get used to. So was riding in the large soup of what had once been Slybella's breakfast. There were some chunks of meat still discernable, but a lot of it was now more chyme than a solid substance. He could fell Slybella slithering across her cage, moving to he knew not where. He was now used to her moving and was able to keep his balance, but he recalled a time earlier that day when he'd been taking a leak, only to be knocked over and land face down in his own piss.
It must be boring to be a snake in a cage all day, he thought, just about as boring as being trapped in a snake's stomach all day. He felt the snake stop and move around and around. She was curling up on a rock to sleep for the night. He could hear the steady rhythm of her breathing as she dozed. He could also hear her heart rate decrease as she went to sleep.
Brian felt nature's call. And, since he hadn't had a bowel movement since Saturday, he felt that now was as good a time as any to go Number Two as well. He turned off the camera, pulled down his pants and underwear and bent into a squat. Urine splashed down to the stomach floor as he peed, sizzling as it hit the acid. Soon, a log of shit fell out of his open anus and landed in the acid below as he defecated. He finished emptying out his wastes and then wiped himself, before quickly pulling back on his pants and underwear. He turned the camera on, recording as his excreted waste began to bubble and foam as the acid softened it. It was now more the composition of melted fudge than logs of feces. Around 1 AM, Brian nodded off, dozing as he rested against the stomach wall. He was awoken around dawn, as the stomach began to shift. Thus far, the digestive process had just consisted of acid pouring in and trying to break down the stomach contents, Now, however, peristalsis had set in.
"Damn wake up call this is!" he moaned. By the time class had started, the stomach was making regular contractions as it tried to process him. "How are things going in there?" Dr. Bentenson asked. "Very cramped. The stomach is starting to contract." "This process is called peristalsis. Can anyone here tell me what that is?" "It is an involuntary wavelike contraction of muscles in the throat, stomach, and intestines. In the esophagus and intestines, it moves food along to the exit, in this case the cloaca. In the stomach, it helps process food and break it down into chyme, which can be absorbed by the villi in the small intestine." said a fox. "Very good." "Unfortunately, you said that this process will take a few days before I leave the stomach." Brian sighed. "I did. A snake's slow metabolism requires that it take this long. I'm afraid you haven't even seen the worst of the contractions yet. Those won't be till the last day in the stomach." "Just great!" Time slowly went by. The contractions of the stomach slowly increased. Slybella ate more meat, which was slowly broken down. "Can anyone tell me how bacteria help break down food in the stomach?" Dr. Bentenson said. "There are 100 trillion bacteria inside the gut. They help break down complex sugars known as polysaccharides. The bacteria break these down into glucose molecules, which are more easily absorbed by the intestines. They produce sugar-breaking enzymes such as such as polysaccharide lyase and carbohydrate esterase. One side effect of the bacterial activity is that they produce gas." said a squirrel. "So, that's where farts come from!" said a hen. The class laughed. "More like stomach gasses. Flatulence is different from stomach gasses. We'll discuss 'farts' when we get to the large intestine. Anyway, bacteria also help to produce vitamins that we cannot produce ourselves, especially the B group. " added Dr. Bentenson. As the day went by, the growling of the stomach grew louder as the digestive process intensified. The smell of the gas also grew worse. While the mask from his suit kept out most of it, it didn't kept out all the smell. Also, the suit wasn't proving to be 100% effective against the stomach acid either. By the end of the second school day, he was starting to have an itch, as some of the acid bypassed the suit. Thankfully, this was, so far, the worst of the damage. He now was having to shield his penis whenever he peed, to keep it safe from stomach acid. His urine quickly sizzled as it hit the acid below. He was peeing quite regularly now, as the hot interior of the stomach made him very thirsty. He was very glad that he'd had the foresight to stash lots of fluids. As night fell, he knew that, with the contractions of the stomach, this night he'd be lucky if he got any sleep at all. He managed an hour and a half, due to exhaustion, but that was it before again being woken up at dawn as Slybella stirred.
"How are things in there?" Dr. Benenson asked. "Cramped. And the acid level is slowly rising." "Yes, well, it shouldn't hurt you thanks to that suit." "It has gotten to me a little bit, but not much, thankfully." "I guess I'll have to work on the kinks in it when this is all over. At least it's mostly doing it's job." "Yes, this is some suit." Dr. Bentenson turned to his class. "Can anyone here tell me what stomach acid is and where it comes from?" "It comes from the stomach, duh! That's why they call it stomach acid." snorted a smart-aleck ferret. The class laughed. "Stomach acid, or gastric acid, is secreted by the lining of the stomach. It is made of hydrochloric acid, potassium chloride, and sodium chloride. The stomach walls secrete mucus, which protect the stomach from the stomach acid." said a rat. "Correct." The rest of the day went on, and so did the next. The acid level continued to rise, eventually filling the stomach. The contractions were constant and the food had been so reduced that it was now impossible to tell what it had once been. The acid had burned off some of his fur, but it would easily grow back before he was excreted. As the fourth day inside Slybella dawned, and as class began, something finally happened. The stomach began to drain. Slowly, he approached the bottom. "Looks like the stomach is draining." "Good, your first stage of the trip is done now." said Dr. Bentenson. Brian reached the bottom, and was slowly squeezed through the sphincter. Finally, with a large push, he was squeezed fully out of the stomach and in to the small intestine.
Re: Snake Biology Lesson
Posted by curiousTT on February 4, 2024, 8:12 pm, in reply to "Snake Biology Lesson"
How erotic and educational. Great one!
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Snake Biology Lesson
Snake anatomy. It's a ball python, and Slybella is some species of python, so the anatomical structures should be accurate for her.
Chapter 1: The Slacker
Brian Mosidi was a slacker. He cut classes and goofed off. Not to the point where he was utterly failing things, but to the point where his grades had rapidly declined and he was in danger of not graduating at the end of the semester, his last one. He had been doing well up till that point but had gotten senioritis and had cut classes, especially his first period biology (due to him goofing around on his motor bike that his parents gave him for his 17th birthday.) Now, however, with a bad report from his classes that came home to his parents, he was given an ultimatum, improve his grades so that he passed every class or else be grounded for months.
And so in the final quarter, he had busted his ass to get his grades up to at least a C, or, at worst, a high D (that was the case for British Literature, a course he was required to take, though he didn't know why). However, his biology grade was in the 40's. Try as he could, even with all the available extra credit, it seemed that, as he approached the third week before the end of the semester, that he would need a 100% on the final exam, which he knew was too high out of his reach, to get a passing grade in the class. It seemed that, barring a miracle, he was going to have to take biology again in the fall, with him being grounded all summer long.
"Dr. Bentenson" he said to his biology teacher, a ferret, "is there any way, any way at all for me to get enough extra credit to pass this class without acing the final exam?" "I don't see how. Your grades have been pretty low for the first half of the semester." "Look, I'm gonna get grounded all summer long if I have to repeat this class all over again! I'd be willing to do anything to pass it! "I don't see how I could justify giving enough extra credit to make up so many percentage points. Not unless....." he broke off, "well, there is one thing you could do. Something I've been working on as a little biology experiment. It's never been tested and, so far, nobody has been willing to volunteer to help trial run it, not even when offered $3000." "Holy shit, $3000 is a lot of dough. And they still turned it down?! What could it involve?" "Tell you what, you meet me after school today and I'll tell you. Right now, I've got to start class." he said as students began to file in for the start of class.
Chapter Two: The Proposal
As the final school bell rang, Brian made his way up to the biology classroom. He had to wait around for a student, who arrived first, to finish getting assistance from the instructor. Brian often had come these days after school to seek help as well. But this would be no ordinary tutoring session. As the student left, the ferret beckoned for him to come in. "Take a seat, Brian." he said.
"What did you have in mind? What is this experiment of yours?"
It's a biology experiment. I've developed something that is resistant to acid. This should entail someone, using the suit I developed, to go inside of the stomach of a creature and explore its digestive tract." "Explore a digestive tract?" Brain asked, not sure if he'd heard correctly. "Yes, that's right, of the class pet snake, Slybella.". Slybella was a large exotic python. "So you want the snake to swallow me?" "Yes, I think that's the best way to explore the digestive tract."
"So you want me to explore her stomach." "The whole digestive tract actually." "You mean from her mouth all the way to her anus?" "Snakes have a cloaca, as you'd know if you paid attention in class." "What's the difference between an anus and a cloaca?" "Looks like you're going to find out, at least if you're willing to go through with this." "Sounds a bit messy, coming out a snake's tailhole." "Well, it's up to you if you want to do this." "I don't see that I have much choice, unless I want to fail the class." "it is a dangerous, you know. I couldn't even get people, when paid, to do it. You could be digested and die." "Yes, well, being digested seems a less worse fate than being grounded all summer." "Well, if you're set on doing this, then come into my office first thing tomorrow morning. I have some forms for you to sign. Legal matters." "Ok, I'll see you then.
Chapter 3: Preparing for the Trip
Brain signed the forms. They were liability forms waiving Dr. Bentenson from liability in the event that he didn't survive the trip through the snake. As he was 18, he was old enough to sign legally binding forms. He and Dr. Bentenson had agreed that the best cover story so that Brian's parents wouldn't raise a stink would be to make it sound as it Brian was going on a special field trip for his biology class, in order to get enough extra credit to pass the class. This was, after all, more or less true. This would keep his parents from worrying about him when he didn't show up all week. He already had things set up so that he could make up the work in other classes. Naturally, he'd be getting all automatic 100's for any work in biology class that he'd be missing that week. The extra credit would give him enough so that he could get at least a D in the class while not needing to ace the final. He was set to be swallowed by the snake Monday morning, and it was Thursday now.
Since he would be preoccupied the following week, Brian made sure to do extra recreational activities the rest of that week and the weekend. He also took the time to research a bit on the anatomy of snakes. He found that it took a snake several minutes to send its prey from its mouth to its stomach. A python attacked it prey by trying to crush the life out of them. Thus, he knew he had to pretend to be subdued so that he wouldn't be suffocated or have his ribs cracked. He knew that he'd need food and water for the week that he was inside the snake. Regular food wouldn't do, for it would no doubt spoil without refrigeration, especially in the harsh conditions of a snake's digestive tract. So, of course, he packed lots of junk food. He also packed lots of water, as well as soda. Also, as it would no doubt reek inside a snake's digestive tract, especially at the lower end, he brought along several air fresheners. He also brought along toilet paper, as he wasn't sure if he could go a week without shitting and he'd have to go inside the snake. He also packed a change of clothes (though the suit would protect his clothes, they still would have been worn a week, and inside the hot interior of a snake too), a towel, shampoo, and a bar of soap. He didn't plan to shower inside the snake, but he knew he had to shower and clean off before returning home, as he knew his parents wouldn't be happy if they learned he'd come out the cloaca of a snake smelling like its bodily wastes and so he planned to clean off before going back home. Thankfully, there was a gym men's shower room right next to the biology classroom, so he could covertly sneak in to wash off.
He also had to tell his girlfriend Leona not to contact him. He didn't want her to phone him while he was inside the snake, as that would likely lead to awkward questions if she heard digestive noises throughout the phone call. So he'd said that he was going to a remote area where he wouldn't get service for the field trip, so as to not offend her or arouse suspicion as to his telling her he would be unavailable for that week. Perhaps after this was all over, the two could make love on the following Friday night. They hadn't made love yet, but were getting closer, and having this to look forward to as a reward once the whole snake ordeal was all over made things more bearable.
He also packed a flashlight and a few changes of batteries. He also brought a phone charger with a small portable generator. It would be a shame if he didn't get any shots of the snake's innards and he doubted that his phone would last a week without charging. He had a metal container to place it in when not in use, so that it wouldn't get damaged by the snake's digestive system. Thankfully his phone was waterproof as well, so it wouldn't be harmed by saliva or other things inside the stomach, at least, he hoped that it wouldn't, as it cost about $500 and his parents weren't likely to get him such a nice one again if this one, which he'd only had for a year and a half, got ruined already.
The weekend, in which he enjoyed himself as much as he could, went by quickly. On Sunday night, he went to bed extra early. This was owing to the fact that he knew he wouldn't get quality sleep, if much sleep at all, inside the digestive tract of a snake. As Monday morning dawned, he got up and went through his normal routine He wondered if he was doing the right thing. Sure, he would now pass his class, but that was assuming he survived. What if something went wrong and he died? He'd never get to make love with Leona and he'd never get to own a house or own his own car (he borrowed his parents' car right now) and that would suck. Still, he had faith that his instructor had made his materials correctly so that he wouldn't digest and so he'd be able to breathe inside of the snake. He walked slowly to school, though he could have driven, savoring his time on the outside of the snake. Finally, as it neared the start of class, he entered the classroom.
Chapter 4: Swallowed by the Snake
"Now class" Dr. Bentenson said as the class filed into the room, "we have something special this week. Brian here has agreed to test out an experiment of mine. Of course, I'd like it if nobody told anyone else outside of this class about it. It violates some school rules. But if you can agree not to talk, this whole thing should be educational as well as fun for you all." "I'm not sure how much fun it will be for me," Brian interjected. "Yes, but at least you'll pass the class." "What's going on?" asked Eliza Kinkabu, a mink. "Brian here has agreed to go through the digestive tract of our class pet snake, Slybella, and give us an account of the snake's digestive tract." "Cool! We want to see this!" "I hope Brian gets digested!" "Won't he be snake poo if he goes all the way through?" "I promise I won't tell." "This is gonna be cool! Best week ever in this class!"
"Ok class. Settle down." Dr. Bentenson said. "Before we have Slybella swallow Brian, I think it good to first discuss the swallowing process of snakes and their esophageal anatomy. First, could somehow tell me how a snake can swallow large prey as well as, if you can, how they can breathe while swallowing said prey?" The anterior portion of the trachea, which resides along the bottom of the mouth/throat, is very strong/mobile and may be extended out of the mouth, beneath the prey being swallowed, to facilitate breathing during ingestion (which, in the case of very large constrictors, is a process that may take over an hour). Snakes tend to have highly kinetic skulls (up to 150 degree opening) for swallowing large prey whole. Most snakes have highly flexible lower jaws (due to the fact the left and right lower jawbones are often not connected) and very stretchable skin, enabling them to effectively wrap their mouths around large prey. Snakes generally eat their prey headfirst. his is because the bodies of most animals are oriented in a head-to-tail fashion, meaning that swallowing prey in that manner will permit everything to go down the snake's throat much smoother. Their forked tongue helps them locate the mouth of incapacitated prey so that they can ingest them head-first." said a skunk. "Very good. It should only take about half an hour for Slybella to get Brian in her mouth and down her throat." Dr. Bentenson said. "Maybe he'll get stuck." said a rabbit hopefully. "I don't think so. Now, could someone name the fucntion of the esophagus?" Dr. Bentenson said. "The primary function of your esophagus is to carry food and liquid from your mouth to your stomach. When you swallow, food and liquid first move from your mouth to your throat (pharynx). A small muscular flap called the epiglottis closes to prevent food and liquid from going down the “wrong pipe” — your windpipe (trachea). Another small flap called the uvula helps prevent liquid from passing upward into your nasal cavity. At the opening of your upper esophagus, there’s a ring-shaped muscle called the upper esophageal sphincter. Your upper esophageal sphincter senses when food or liquid is coming toward it. When it gets the signal, the sphincter relaxes or opens so that food can enter your esophagus. When there’s no food or liquid in sight, it stays closed. Once inside your esophagus, waves of muscular contractions (peristalsis) push the food downward. The food passes to the lower esophagus. At the opening of your lower esophagus, there’s another ring-shaped muscle called the lower esophageal sphincter. Like the upper esophageal sphincter, it senses when food and liquid are coming. It relaxes and lets the food pass through to your stomach. When no food or liquid is coming its way, it usually stays shut to prevent stomach acid and digestive juices from getting into your esophagus." said a mole.
"Correct. Also, it should be noted that snakes don't have a diaphragm. Can you tell us what’s the difference between the trachea and the esophagus?" "Your trachea (windpipe) and your esophagus are both muscular tubes located within your neck. However, they have two very different functions. Your trachea is part of your respiratory system, and your esophagus is part of your digestive system. Your trachea transports air in and out of your lungs, whereas your esophagus transports food and liquid from your throat to your stomach." said a mole.
Esophagus "Correct. Now, Brian, I believe it's time for you to go into the snake cage." Shaking from head to foot, Brian climbed down a rope ladder into the cage. The snake, Slybella, was asleep. However, his arrival in the cage awakened her. She stuck out her tongue, scenting the air. She scented her prey and slowly moved toward the mouse. She was used to being given meat such as mutton and chicken and hadn't had live meat since she had been captured and taken to the school as a pet. She felt that this was her luck day. Brian, however, was feeling very nervous as he saw the snake's slow approach. He knew it was all going to be unpleasant from here for the next entire week. Slybella reached him and he flinched as her wet and slimy tongue flickered across his face and she began to taste her prey with her tongue. Brian considered making a run for it, but noticed with alarm that the rope ladder had been removed. "I removed this so that you wouldn't be tempted to run." Dr. Bentenson said in response to his look of horror. Now Brian was trapped and there was no turning back. There was no way he could fight off this snake so the only way forward now was done her throat, through her digestive tract, and out her cloaca with her wastes.
Slybella continued to lick him as her body began to slowly wrap around him, starting to squeeze him. He'd read that this is how python's deal with their prey, so he decided to pretend to go along and pretend to lose consciousness. It was hard to avoid flinching as the snake continued to lick him, but, somehow, he managed. After she had licked him over, she put him into her mouth and sucked on him. He didn't like this and squirmed. Slybella, however, knowing that she had subdued him, didn't care. He would digest in her stomach so it made no difference if he was still conscious and fighting. Brian gagged as her breath washed over him. It reeked. He hoped that his air fresheners were strong enough to mask it. Soon, after sucking on him, she began to move him toward the throat. His head passed under her uvula and soon his torso. Several minutes after that, she swallowed had his head in the back of her mouth and going into her throat. Some minutes later, she had fully in her mouth and then swallowed him with a loud and powerful GULLLLLLLLP!
"Now Brian is passing down her throat, moved by peristalsis. The trip is slow due to the length of her esophagus. In about fifteen minutes, he should pass through the area of her diaphragm. After this, he will continue until he goes through the lower esophageal sphincter and into the stomach." Dr. Bentenson said. Brian could him him talk, though it seemed further and further away, the further he descended. Luckily, he had a communication device so that he could talk to the teacher and the class. It even had video capability. Right now, though, there was nothing much to see inside the dark esophageal tunnel. It sure did take a long time for him to descend, but soon, he reached the sphincter and was deposited in the stomach.
Chapter 5: The Stomach
Brian was glad that the stomach was devoid of acid. The air in there was hardly breathable. He quickly changed into the anti-digestive suit that Dr. Bentenson had made and put on the breathing mask. At least now he could breathe better, and, hopefully, he wouldn't be digested. The stomach was large, over ten times his size. It was pink and muscular. He could hear the breathing of the snake from her nearby lungs and the beating of her nearby heart. He could also hear her leftovers from her stomach, which had drained some hours before he was swallowed, gurgling below him inside her intestines. He turned on the light of his phone and could see the cardiac sphincter above him at the top of the stomach, sealed shut. As he moved the beam to the floor, he could see the pyloric sphincter leading to the small intestine, also sealed shut. He was going to be inside the stomach for quite a while.
"Brian, please turn on your phone's camera so that we can see the inside of the stomach." came the voice of Dr. Bentenson. Brian quickly turned on the phone. "Good. Now, class, as you can see the stomach. At the top is the cardia. It mainly contains the cardiac sphincter. The next part is the fundus. It stores gas from digestion and also stores food if the stomach gets too full. The body of the stomach is the part that contracts and mixes food. It's the biggest part of the stomach. The antrum is at the bottom in the tunnel shaped part. It is where the stomach connects to the small intestine. The bottom of the stomach is the pylorus, which contains the pyloric sphincter. "The stomach is the main part of the snake's digestive system, and, indeed, most digestive systems. In a snake, the food can remain in the stomach for four days."
Structure of Stomach "Looks like Brian is going to be there a long time!" laughed a possum. "Yes, he is. But he should survive." said Dr. Bentenson. "What if he doesn't?" asked another student. "Let's hope that he doesn't die." said Dr. Bentenson. "Doesn't Slybella's stomach have acid in it?" asked the possum. "Yes, it normally does, but Slybella recently drained her stomach, so it'll be empty for a while. When it does fill, it will fill with hydrochloric acid, which is strong enough to digest bones." "Maybe Brian will get digested into nothing and nobody will ever know what happened to him." "I've made precautions to avoid that event from occurring." "Damn it! You ruined the fun." "I don't believe in having students be digested alive, even the most annoying ones." The rest of the class period slowly went by, without anything eventful happening for Brian. He was getting hot and so drank some of the water that he'd brought with him. Thankfully, he'd frozen it before coming to school, so it was mostly still cool, despite now being inside the belly of a snake for about an hour. Slybella, meanwhile, slithered her way over to her milk dish, drank some, which doused Brian inside her stomach, and then slithered to a large rock, resting in the sun. She planned to just chill while she digested her meal. And besides, there was nothing really for her to do inside her cage. She was, so far, all alone. No boys to play with her.
The bell rang, signaling the end of the first class period. The students all filed out. Over the next several minutes, as the second period began, Dr. Bentenson told the class about the experiment he was doing that involved Brian. "Hey Brian, how's it like in there?" one of the students called out. "Kind of smelly, though it's not that bad with these air fresheners and this breathing device." "Is it cramped in there?" "Not really that bad. I think she could fit ten of me in here." "Are you being digested?" "No, there's no acid in here." "Will you be digested?" "I hope not. Dr. Bentenson said this suit should stop me from getting digested." Brian felt Slybella move. She had awoken from her nap and noticed that meat had been placed in her cage. It was slabs of steak. She swallowed these, one at a time. They soon landed in the stomach beside Brian. Brian sighed. He was going to have to get used to this. Slybella soon drank more milk, splashing Brian in her stomach. "Are you ok in there, Brian?" a female fox asked. "Yes." "Are you getting bored?" "Yes. not much to do in here." As the second hour of class came to an end, Brian felt the urge to urinate. He'd drank some soda in the stomach, due to it being hot and making him thirsty. He quickly switched off his communication device (which had been given to him by Dr. Bentenson as a backup for his phone, when it was being charged, which it was right now. It lasted twice as long as his phone.), unzipped his pants, pulled out his penis, and let loose a torrent of piss at the stomach wall. He watched as it trickled down the stomach call, coming to rest at the floor of the stomach along with the milk, making bubbles as it mixed with it. When he had finished peeing and put his penis back inside his pants, he turned back on the communication device. "Sorry, had to take a little pee break." The rest of the day slowly went by, with little changing inside the stomach. Around noon, which he could only tell by his watch and his phone, he ate lunch. As he finished his lunch, something finally happened. He could hear gurgles around him and felt something splash against him. It wasn't milk, but something hotter. it was stomach acid. Thankfully, the suit seemed, so far, to be protecting him. "Looks like something finally is happening." Brian said into his communication device. "What, specifically?" came Dr. Bentenson's reply. "Acid is entering her stomach. Digestion is beginning, or will be for this meat she ingested, but hopefully not for me." A short time later, as the class filed into the room, Dr. Bentenson again told the class what was going on, this time pointing out that the digestion had started. "The PH level will slowly drop as time goes on, eventually reaching 1.5. This is strong enough to digest even bones. However, with this suit I made for Brian, he shouldn't be digested. However, there will be some discomfort in the stomach. As the snake doesn't have teeth that chew, its stomach will slowly process the meal by squeezing it. While the suit should prevent suffocation, there will be times when the stomach will be quite cramped." "Oh shit, I forgot about that part!" Brian groaned. "The stomach won't even be the worst part of the digestive tract, I'm afraid." said Dr. Bentenson. "At least I won't have to deal with that part for a while." "Can anyone tell my why a snake's stomach take so long to digest its food?" Dr. Bentenson asked the class. "Because they have a slow metabolism." a rabbit said. "Correct, and why do they have a slow metabolism?" "Because they are ectothermic, which means that they rely on their environment to regulate their body temperature. Since they don't have to expend as much energy to regulate their body temperature, that slows down their metabolism." said a gerbil. "Correct. And what is another reason why a snake would digest food more slowly than other animas?" "Because they eat food whole. Their stomach can even digest bones. So that also takes more time." said the rabbit again. "Correct. Thankfully, that suit I made for Brian should prevent his bones, or any other part of him, from being digested." "Let's hope so." Brian said. "Can anyone tell me the stages of digestion?" Dr. Bentenson asked. "Ingestion, propulsion, mechanical digestion, chemical digestion, absorption, and defecation." a fox said. "Correct. Ingestion involves the mouth while propulsion involves the esophagus, where food is moved by peristalsis to the stomach. Can you tell me the difference between mechanical and chemical digestion?" "Mechanical digestion does not change the chemical nature of the food. It just makes it smaller and compacts it. It involves chewing, churning in the stomach, and segmentation in the small intestine. Chemical digestion, on the other hand, does change the chemical nature. It starts with secretions in the mouth and then acid in the stomach. By breaking the food down in this way, it enables the villi in the small intestine to absorb the nutrients into the bloodstream." "Correct." As Dr. Bentenson and the class talked, Brian looked at the meat that Slybella had swallowed. It was beginning to sizzle as the acid hit it. It was first breaking into chunks and then, as time went on, starting to change chemically. Thankfully, the suit was keeping him from digestion. However, he did notice that the air was becoming stifling, due to the digestive process generating heat. He wanted to strip off the suit, but he knew he'd be toast without it. This was going to be a long four days!
"Can anyone tell me what the contents of the gasses in the stomach are?" Dr. Bentenson asked. "Smelly stuff!" Brian said. The class laughed. "Could anyone be more specific?" "15 to 16 percent oxygen, 5 to 9 percent carbon dioxide, and the rest nitrogen. The air breathed in is about 21 percent oxygen, and some of it is absorbed by the blood capillaries in the stomach. The carbon dioxide is made by the reduction of the food by the stomach's gastric juices. The nitrogen is not absorbed as a gas and is just moved on." said a pig. "Very good." The rest of the day slowly went by. Brian watched as the food that Slybella had eaten was slowly broken down into watery chunks. The mess, as he learned from Dr. Bentenson's talking, was called chyme. During the last class period of the day, Brian was interrupted from his daydreams by a sudden shaking and loud noise in the stomach. Slybella had burped. Thankfully, the suit allowed him to continue breathing, despite the decrease in the air supply. "Does anyone know what is usually expelled during burping?" Dr. Bentenson asked. "Yes, nitrogen and oxygen." Brian replied. "Correct." At long last, the school day was over. Brian had been taking notes the whole time, for he would get an exam on all discussed on a snake's digestive system, instead of the final. As he was experiencing it personally, he thought that that would help with remembering the material enough to ace it. Plus, he literally had all week to study the material. After class was over, he could take it more easily. He no longer had to take notes, unless something important happened. He would still do videos often for the sake of the research (Dr. Bentenson was going for a Noble Prize for his work), but could now take many breaks, including sleeping. He doubted he could get much sleep in here, but at least he could try. "I'll see you tomorrow, well, you know what I mean." Dr. Bentenson said as he left and locked the class door forty minutes after the school day had ended and it was time for him to go home for the night. "Bye." The hours slowly went by. Around evening, Brian, who had been studying his notes, was hit by milk that Slybella drank. He groaned. This was hard to get used to. So was riding in the large soup of what had once been Slybella's breakfast. There were some chunks of meat still discernable, but a lot of it was now more chyme than a solid substance. He could fell Slybella slithering across her cage, moving to he knew not where. He was now used to her moving and was able to keep his balance, but he recalled a time earlier that day when he'd been taking a leak, only to be knocked over and land face down in his own piss.
It must be boring to be a snake in a cage all day, he thought, just about as boring as being trapped in a snake's stomach all day. He felt the snake stop and move around and around. She was curling up on a rock to sleep for the night. He could hear the steady rhythm of her breathing as she dozed. He could also hear her heart rate decrease as she went to sleep.
Brian felt nature's call. And, since he hadn't had a bowel movement since Saturday, he felt that now was as good a time as any to go Number Two as well. He turned off the camera, pulled down his pants and underwear and bent into a squat. Urine splashed down to the stomach floor as he peed, sizzling as it hit the acid. Soon, a log of shit fell out of his open anus and landed in the acid below as he defecated. He finished emptying out his wastes and then wiped himself, before quickly pulling back on his pants and underwear. He turned the camera on, recording as his excreted waste began to bubble and foam as the acid softened it. It was now more the composition of melted fudge than logs of feces. Around 1 AM, Brian nodded off, dozing as he rested against the stomach wall. He was awoken around dawn, as the stomach began to shift. Thus far, the digestive process had just consisted of acid pouring in and trying to break down the stomach contents, Now, however, peristalsis had set in.
"Damn wake up call this is!" he moaned. By the time class had started, the stomach was making regular contractions as it tried to process him. "How are things going in there?" Dr. Bentenson asked. "Very cramped. The stomach is starting to contract." "This process is called peristalsis. Can anyone here tell me what that is?" "It is an involuntary wavelike contraction of muscles in the throat, stomach, and intestines. In the esophagus and intestines, it moves food along to the exit, in this case the cloaca. In the stomach, it helps process food and break it down into chyme, which can be absorbed by the villi in the small intestine." said a fox. "Very good." "Unfortunately, you said that this process will take a few days before I leave the stomach." Brian sighed. "I did. A snake's slow metabolism requires that it take this long. I'm afraid you haven't even seen the worst of the contractions yet. Those won't be till the last day in the stomach." "Just great!" Time slowly went by. The contractions of the stomach slowly increased. Slybella ate more meat, which was slowly broken down. "Can anyone tell me how bacteria help break down food in the stomach?" Dr. Bentenson said. "There are 100 trillion bacteria inside the gut. They help break down complex sugars known as polysaccharides. The bacteria break these down into glucose molecules, which are more easily absorbed by the intestines. They produce sugar-breaking enzymes such as such as polysaccharide lyase and carbohydrate esterase. One side effect of the bacterial activity is that they produce gas." said a squirrel. "So, that's where farts come from!" said a hen. The class laughed. "More like stomach gasses. Flatulence is different from stomach gasses. We'll discuss 'farts' when we get to the large intestine. Anyway, bacteria also help to produce vitamins that we cannot produce ourselves, especially the B group. " added Dr. Bentenson. As the day went by, the growling of the stomach grew louder as the digestive process intensified. The smell of the gas also grew worse. While the mask from his suit kept out most of it, it didn't kept out all the smell. Also, the suit wasn't proving to be 100% effective against the stomach acid either. By the end of the second school day, he was starting to have an itch, as some of the acid bypassed the suit. Thankfully, this was, so far, the worst of the damage. He now was having to shield his penis whenever he peed, to keep it safe from stomach acid. His urine quickly sizzled as it hit the acid below. He was peeing quite regularly now, as the hot interior of the stomach made him very thirsty. He was very glad that he'd had the foresight to stash lots of fluids. As night fell, he knew that, with the contractions of the stomach, this night he'd be lucky if he got any sleep at all. He managed an hour and a half, due to exhaustion, but that was it before again being woken up at dawn as Slybella stirred.
"How are things in there?" Dr. Benenson asked. "Cramped. And the acid level is slowly rising." "Yes, well, it shouldn't hurt you thanks to that suit." "It has gotten to me a little bit, but not much, thankfully." "I guess I'll have to work on the kinks in it when this is all over. At least it's mostly doing it's job." "Yes, this is some suit." Dr. Bentenson turned to his class. "Can anyone here tell me what stomach acid is and where it comes from?" "It comes from the stomach, duh! That's why they call it stomach acid." snorted a smart-aleck ferret. The class laughed. "Stomach acid, or gastric acid, is secreted by the lining of the stomach. It is made of hydrochloric acid, potassium chloride, and sodium chloride. The stomach walls secrete mucus, which protect the stomach from the stomach acid." said a rat. "Correct." The rest of the day went on, and so did the next. The acid level continued to rise, eventually filling the stomach. The contractions were constant and the food had been so reduced that it was now impossible to tell what it had once been. The acid had burned off some of his fur, but it would easily grow back before he was excreted. As the fourth day inside Slybella dawned, and as class began, something finally happened. The stomach began to drain. Slowly, he approached the bottom. "Looks like the stomach is draining." "Good, your first stage of the trip is done now." said Dr. Bentenson. Brian reached the bottom, and was slowly squeezed through the sphincter. Finally, with a large push, he was squeezed fully out of the stomach and in to the small intestine.
Snake Biology lesson (continued)
Posted by DinoVore5 on November 16, 2023, 3:06 pm, in reply to "Snake Biology Lesson"
Chapter 6: Small Intestine
Brian found that the space inside the small intestine was much more cramped than it had been inside the stomach. "Brain has officially entered the small intestine. Can anyone tell me the parts of the small intestine?" Dr. Bentenson asked. "The duodenum, the jejunum, and the ileum." said a badger. "Correct. And what part is Brian in right now?"
Small intestine "The duodenum." "Correct. And what is the function of the duodenum?" "I'm not sure." "Can anyone else tell me?" "The duodenum receives digestive juices from the liver, gallbladder, and pancreas. Hormones in the duodenum signal to these organs to release the juices when food is present. It is comprised of four segments. The first segment is called the superior segment. It contains the duodenal bulb or cap. The duodenal bulb connects to the liver via the hepatoduodenal ligament. This connection allows nutrients to move from the small intestine to the liver. It also allows the duodenum to receive bile from the liver. The descending duodenum is located above the right kidney and extends down. It connects to the pancreas via a small tube called the pancreatic duct, which feeds enzymes into the duodenum to help break down food. The common bile duct carrying bile from the liver also enters this second part of the duodenum. The transverse duodenum, commonly called the inferior or horizontal part, extends horizontally across the abdomen. It is located in front of the aorta and travels from right to left, behind a network of blood vessels. The ascending part of the duodenum extends up, passing atop or slightly to the left of the aorta. This final segment leads to the jejunum, the middle portion of the small intestine. The walls of the duodenum are composed of four layers. The mucosa layer is the innermost layer made up of mucus glands and microvilli, the fingerlike projections that work to absorb nutrients. The submucosa layer is primarily composed of connective tissue. It has a rich network of blood vessels and nerves traveling the length of the duodenum. This submucosal layer also contains Brunner’s glands, which secrete mucus to help enable food to move through, and bicarbonate. Bicarbonate is a chemical that neutralizes acid in the chyme ahead of further digestion. The muscularis externa layer is made up of smooth muscle tissue that's responsible for contractions in the GI tract. The muscles churn the chyme, mix it with digestive enzymes, and cause the food to move into the jejunum. This muscle movement is called peristalsis. The serosal layer, which is the outermost layer of the duodenum. It is composed of squamous epithelium, a single layer of flat cells that provides a barrier to other organs. " said a cat, who was one of the top students in the class. "Correct, Caleb. And we should get a sight of these juices soon as Brian moves further into the superior segment."
A few minutes later, a thick greenish-brown substance began to coat Brian. it was dripping out of some duct and into the duodenum. "Yuck! Where is this stuff coming from?" Brian grumbled. "Can anyone answer that for Brian?" said Dr. Bentenson. "It's bile. It is made from water, bile acids, cholesterol, phospholipids, bile pigments (such as bilirubin), and electrolytes. It is important in enabling the body to digest and absorb fats and fat-soluble vitamins like vitamins D and K. It comes from the biliary system. Bile is made in the liver cells and flows from the liver into a system of ducts located inside and outside of the liver. These ducts function to collect the bile. Once collected, the bile travels to the right and left hepatic ducts. It then flows from the right and left hepatic ducts into the common hepatic duct, then into the cystic duct, which is connected to the gallbladder. From the cystic duct, the bile flows into the common bile duct. The common bile duct is located where the common hepatic duct and the cystic duct join. It runs from the liver through the pancreas and into the duodenum. The lower portion of the common bile duct joins the pancreatic duct before entering the duodenum. This is where pancreatic juices containing digestive enzymes enter the biliary system. Bile is excreted into the duodenum through a muscular opening called the sphincter of Oddi. The sphincter of Oddi relaxes to allow bile to enter the duodenum. Once the bile enters the duodenum, it begins to break down ingested fats. Only half of the bile ends up in the duodenum, while the other half travels into the gallbladder through the common bile duct. The bile received by the gallbladder is stored in the gallbladder for future use. Once bile is stored in the gallbladder, it isn’t released until a large meal is eaten and a hormone called cholecystokinin is secreted. This hormone stimulates the release of bile to begin the process of breaking down fats." answered a chicken "Very good. Can anyone tell me about the function of the liver, gallbladder, and pancreas?" "A snake's liver is elongated and is divided into several separate lobes. The liver is located in the upper right-hand portion of the abdominal cavity, beneath the diaphragm, and on top of the stomach, right kidney, and intestines. The liver contains about 13% of the body's blood at any given time. The liver regulates most chemical levels in the blood and excretes a product called bile. This helps carry away waste products from the liver. All the blood leaving the stomach and intestines passes through the liver. The liver processes this blood and breaks down, balances, and creates the nutrients. The liver produces bile, produces certain proteins for blood plasma, and also produces cholesterol and special proteins to help carry fats through the body. It converts excess glucose into glycogen, it regulates the blood levels of amino acids, processes hemoglobin, and coverts ammonia to uric acid. In a snake, there is a considerable distance between the caudal tip of the liver and the gallbladder. "The gallbladder has three parts, the fundus, the large end that stores bile, the body, and the neck. The gallbladder has multiple layers, such as the ephithelium, the lamina propia, the muscularis, the perimuscular tissue, and the serosa. The gallbladder is located below the liver. It stores and produces bile. If you eat food that contains fat, then the stomach and small intestine will release cholecystokinin, a hormone that causes your gallbladder to contract. This contraction caused half to three-fourths of the bile stored to go into the small intestine. The bile helps break down the fat so that the body can use it for energy. Gallbladder Pancreas "The pancreas serves as part of the digestive system and the endocrine system. It produces insulin when the glucose level gets too high and glucagon when the glucose level gets too low. It produces lipase to digest fats, amylase to digest carbohydrates, chymotrypsin and trypsin for digesting proteins. The pancreas produces enzymes as soon as food reaches the stomach. These enzymes travel through a series of ducts until they reach themain pancreatic duct. The main pancreatic duct meets the common bile duct, which carries bile from the gallbladder and liver towards the duodenum. This meeting point is called the ampulla of Vater. Bile from the gallbladder and enzymes from the pancreas are released into the duodenum to help digest fats, carbohydrates, and proteins so they can be absorbed by the digestive system." answered the chicken, who was a straight-A student, even smarter than Caleb and ever more of an insufferable know-it-all, again. "Excellent, Henrietta, as always." said Dr. Bentenson. Liver, Gallbladder, and Pancreas. In some snakes, the pancreas and the spleen are fused together. However, it does not appear that this is the case for pythons. "Now that we've reached the small intestine, it's time to talk about the next stage of digestion after mechanical and chemical digestion: absorption. Can anyone define that?" "During the process of absorption in the digestive system, the nutrients from the food are absorbed into the bloodstream and transported to the cells throughout the body. The following are the different events that take place during absorption: Transport of nutrients: The nutrients are transported across the intestinal wall and into the bloodstream. This process is facilitated by the presence of transporters that help move the nutrients across the cell membrane. Diffusion: Some nutrients, such as water and small lipids, can diffuse across the cell membrane without the need for transporters. Active transport: Some nutrients, such as glucose and amino acids, require energy to be transported across the cell membrane. This process is called active transport. Endocytosis: Large molecules, such as proteins, are absorbed by the cell through a process called endocytosis. In this process, the cell membrane engulfs the molecule and forms a vesicle around it." answered Henrietta. "Correct."
As the class and Dr. Bentenson talked, Brian took notes. He moved through the rest of the duodenum over the next 30 minutes. There wasn't much in there, except for bile, and there was lots of that. "Filthy stuff! Good thing I'm wearing this suit!" he said. He noticed that the food was being broken down even further by the bile. He knew that, in a later part of Slybella's small intestine, a bunch of this would be absorbed. Unfortunately, he would be left with what was not absorbed, the waste products. Finally, he could tell that things were changing. "I think I'm moving into the jejunum." he said. "Yes, you would be. You'll be in this segment much longer than in the duodenum. Probably for about five hours." said Dr. Bentenson. "Can anyone tell me the function of the jejunum?" "The jejunum is the middle portion of the small intestine, connecting the first portion of the small intestine (the duodenum) with the last section (the ileum).The cells lining the jejunum are responsible for absorbing the nutrients that are released from food during the process of digestion. To help facilitate this process, the surface area of the small intestine is increased many-fold due to the presence of villi, or finger-like projections. The cells lining these villi absorb dietary nutrients including sugars, amino acids, and fatty acids. These nutrients are absorbed from the intestinal cavity (or lumen), travel across the jejunal cells, and then are passed into the bloodstream, where they can be carried to distant parts of the body and used to support cell metabolism and growth." Caleb recited. "Correct." "These villi are annoying. They're poking me everywhere!" Brian grumbled. "They line most of the small intestine, so you're just going to have to get used to them." Dr. Bentenson replied. "Of course!" Brian sighed. "Can anyone tell me how villi absorb nutrients?" Dr. Bentenson asked. "Villi are great at absorbing nutrients because they increase the surface area of the inside of small intestine. Each villus is composed of a meshwork of capillaries and lymphatic vessels (called lacteals) underneath an ultra-thin layer of tissue. This special structure makes it possible to pull macro- and micronutrients out of your meals and send them to the bloodstream. Water also helps with this process. The small intestine uses a chemical process called diffusion to extract nutrients. Diffusion moves water and water-soluble compounds across barriers, like the villi in the small intestine. Some nutrients can go directly into the bloodstream with no problem. Others like fatty acids, need a bit of extra help. Bile from the liver mixes with fats to break the fats down into fatty acids. Then the villi absorb them and sent them into lacteals. These lymphatic vessels transport the fat-soluble compounds to the liver. That’s where they are stored and released in the body as needed. The fatty acids help to build cell membranes." said a dog. "Very good."
As this was Friday,. there was, officially, no school the next two days. However, at the end of each class, Dr. Bentenson offered extra credit to any and all students who would come in on the weekend to further observe Brian's progress. Most students in all the classes eagerly took advantage of this opportunity. As the day drag on, Brian watched as the villi absorbed some of the chyme, leaving the leftover non-useful bits behind. The villi were a hassle for Brian. Not only did they poke at him, which, even with the suit, was extremely uncomfortable and was still felt, much like contractions inside a climaxing vagina would still affect a penis inside a condom. And speaking of penises, Brian's was tickled to ejaculation when he had it pulled out for just two minutes so that he could empty his bladder. He made a mental note to urinate in his pants and underwear (which he knew he'd be discarding when this was all over anyway)) from now on until he was outside of Slybella's body. (for he knew that snake waste would be almost as bad as villi on his member.)) And speaking of feces, when he went number two, he got it splattered all over him as the villi, failing to absorb it, rubbed it all over him. He wasn't going to have a bowel movement again till in the colon, where he knew more poop wouldn't really hurt anything. Eventually, with only thirty minutes to go before the end of the final class period of the week, he finally was reaching the end of the jejunum. "Looks like I'm heading to the ileum." Brian said. "Good. Since this is the largest section of the small intestine, you should be in here till sometime tomorrow morning." Dr. Bentenson said. "All fine with me. After the ileum, I end up in the colon with her poop, so I'm in no hurry." "Could someone tell me about the ileum?" Dr. Bentenson asked. "The ileum's, like the jejunum's, primary function is to absorb nutrients into the bloodstream. It absorbs Vitamin B bile salts and whatever else can be absorbed that wasn't by the jejunum. Its endpoint is the ileocecal valve, which leads into the large intestine." answered a gerbil. "Correct."
Time seemed to slowly go by for Brian. The small intestine seemed an endless tunnel filled with little tentacle-like structures that pulled at him and absorbed the nutrients. The deeper he went, the more noticeable the smell of the intestinal gas became, even with his suit. Despite the annoyance of the villi, he was very tired by this point, having gotten so little sleep, and slept a lot of the night. He was woken around 6 in the morning on Saturday. He could still see villi around him. He took notes on what he saw as well as reviewed all the notes that he had taken so far. There were indeed a lot of them, but, with all this time to study while inside Slybella, he was confident that he could pass this test with ease. A few hours later, he could hear people moving around outside the snake. It seemed that most of the classes had showed up for the extra credit. "Brian, where are you?" someone asked. "Still in her small intestine." Several minutes later, he suddenly noticed something up ahead. It had to be the ileoceca valve. A few minutes later, he was pushed through it, leaving the small intestine and entering the large intestine.
Mostly accurate for a snake. However, a snake, of course, does not have an anal canal, but instead the rectum empties into the cloaca. Also, some species of snake have a cecum and some do not. Boas and pythons have one, and Slybella is a python. Chapter 7: Large intestine
Contrary to what Brian had expected, there wasn't a bunch of poop waiting for him as he entered the cecum. Instead, it was just the leftover food that followed him out of the small intestine. "I'm in the large intestine. I thought there'd be poop here." Brian said. "First, let's discuss the sections of the large intestine, and then we can get to Brian's question about poop." said Dr. Bentenson. "The large intestine is divided into three sections, the cecum, the colon, and the rectum. The colon is broken down into four segments, the ascending colon, the transverse colon, the descending colon, and the sigmoid colon: The cecum acts as a receptacle for the liquid products passed into the large intestine. More than just a reservoir for liquids, the cecum is responsible for the absorption of salts and electrolytes into the body from liquids. The muscle tissue of the cecum contracts, causing the liquid products to churn. This churning extracts salts and electrolytes, such as sodium and potassium. These salts are then absorbed into the mucus membrane of the cecum. Another important function of the cecum is to lubricate the solid waste that passes into the large intestine, mixing this waste with mucus. A thick mucus membrane lines the cecum, and produces the mucus necessary to lubricate the solid waste. The large intestine extracts liquid from the waste products, making it necessary for the mucus to lubricate the solid waste and allow it to pass through the rest of the large intestine. Bacteria aid in the breakdown of the food to help remove nutrients from the leftover food, to help cut down on the amount of waste that goes to the cloaca. Near the end of the cecum is the appendix." said a rabbit. "And what about the poop? This doesn't look like the stuff that comes out my anus, except when I have diarrhea. Is Slybella sick?" Brain asked. "We'll get to that now." said Dr. Bentenson. "Could you tell Brian, Franklin?" "No, Slybella isn't sick. The reason the waste is like this is that the water hasn't been removed from it yet. That will happen as it goes through the large intestine." the rabbit answered. "Correct."
PHHHHHHHBT! PHHHBT! Slybella broke wind. "The snake farted!" several in the class laughed. "Can anyone tell me what farts are made of?" Dr. Bentenson asked. Stu, a skink who was always making fart jokes, answered "Farts are made of gas that is swallowed or produced by bacteria in the digestive system. A fart is composed of mostly nitrogen, hydrogen, carbon dioxide, methane, and oxygen. Only a small amount of a fart contains sulfur compounds, which are responsible for the foul smell." "Correct." Brian traversed through the rest of the cecum over the next hour or so. As the rabbit had said, more nutrients were absorbed from the liquid. And he was coated by the mucus, making him gladder than ever that he had the suit, keeping him safe from the fecal slime. Eventually, he came to the colon. By this point, some water had been removed from the liquid-like waste that had left the ileum and now bore a closer resemblance to the feces that came out his anus during defecation. The smell was getting worse and worse too. "Why does this shit stink so bad?" he asked. "It's because of the bacteria in there. They help with the breaking down of the final nutrients in the large intestine and also are responsible for creating the odor of the feces. In addition, Slybella is an obligatory carnivore, which means....?" "She must eat meat as the entirety of her diet." Brian answered. "Correct. And meat tends to have a certain odor to it as it reaches the end of the digestive tract." Brian slowly moved throughout the digestive tract. Though he knew the large intestine, despite its name, was only a fraction of the size of the small intestine, he seemed to be moving slower in here than he had been in the small intestine. "Why is it taking so long?" he asked. "Because it absorbs water. If it didn't, you'd have really runny stool." "Yeah, I hate when that happens. And I'm glad it's not happening when I'm inside a snake's colon." "You probably won't reach the cloaca till tomorrow afternoon, I'm afraid." "And then Slybella will shit me out?" "Unfortunately, no. Snakes normally have one large meal a week or so and don't release stool and urates until that has passed all the way through. That can take at least a week." "At least a week? You mean I could be stuck inside her longer?" "Theoretically. However, Slybella normally voids her cloaca once a week, give or take a couple of hours. So you should be out by Monday during the last class period at the latest." Brian felt relieved about that. It wouldn't do to be stuck inside the snake longer and have his cover story to his parents and girlfriend concerning his absence be blown by being missing extra days.
After travelling for half the day in the large intestine, he began to notice, in addition to the brownish colored feces, which had begun to harden, sometimes around Brian, though he pushed it off as best he could, inside the colon, there were also yellowish and whitish substances that he couldn't identify. "Is Slybella sick? These poops don't look like the rest." Brian said. "That's because they aren't feces." said Dr. Bentenson. "Then what are they and where did they come from?" "I'll answer your first question first, and that can lead into answering your second. They are urates. Uric acid." "Urates? What is that?" "It's different from urine due to the low water intake of snakes. Snakes' bodies are designed to conserve water. Like mammals, a snake’s kidneys filter waste products from its blood. The two kidneys are elongated in snakes, one fixed closer to the head than the other. Once the kidneys have done their job, the urine matter is concentrated and transported through ureters to two cavities in the snake’s body. First, it goes to the urodeum, which collects urine and is also used for reproductive purposes. Then it goes to the coprodeum and is, to help conserve water, moved back up into the colon." "Urodeum, coprodeum, what are they?" "Parts of the cloaca. But we'll get to that later. While we're on the subject of the excretory system, can anyone tell me how the excretory system works?" "The body takes nutrients from food and converts them to energy. After the body has taken the food components that it needs, waste products are left behind in the bowel and in the blood. The kidney and urinary systems help the body to eliminate liquid waste called urea, or in the case of us birds and snakes, uric acid, and to keep chemicals, such as potassium and sodium, and water in balance. Uric acid is produced when foods containing protein, such as meat, Slybella's main diet, are broken down in the body. Uric acid is carried in the bloodstream to the kidneys, where it is removed along with water and other wastes in the form of uric acid. It then goes down the ureters to the urodeum." said Henrietta. This is of a bird's excretory system, not a snake's, and also, for some odd reason, has the vent labeled as an "anus", but is one of the most accurate kidney/cloaca diagrams that could be found. "Correct." "Henrietta, why are you here? You already are acing this class!" Brian asked in annoyance. "Because, I figure that every little bit of extra credit can't hurt me."
Brian spent the rest of the day and the following morning in the large intestine, descending deeper and deeper. Around the afternoon, he was nearing the rectum. "The rectum is normally the endpoint of the digestive system, save the inner and outer anal sphincters and the anus. But Slybella is a snake so things should be a bit different for you." said Dr. Bentenson. "You mean the cloaca?" "Yes. After you drop to the bottom of the rectum, you should fall into the first part of it." A few minutes later, Brian reached the rectum, going down the final bend of the large intestine. As he'd been informed, he didn't rest against an anus, but instead fell into another chamber, one that was full of feces and urates. He'd reached the cloaca
Chapter 8: The Cloaca
"Is this the cloaca?" Brian asked. "Part of it. You're in the proctodeum, where you will remain until you are excreted." "Are there any other parts to the cloaca?" "Henrietta, since you have a cloaca, can you answer Brian's question?" "Sure thing. The cloaca can be divided into the coprodeum, urodeum and proctodeum by complete annular folds. Some urinary excretions arriving in the cloaca become incorporated with the ingesta and move in a retrograde fashion to the caeca, increasing the absorption of water and electrolytes from the urinary waste. The coprodeum is the most cranial division of the cloaca. It is the continuation of the colon where faeces are stored. It is bounded by the coprourodeal fold. It can be stretched by the faecal pressure so the central opening is everted through the vent.The urodeum is the middle part of the cloaca. It is caudal to the proctodeum fold. It has the ureteric opening in the dorsolateral wall above the papilla of the deferent duct/oviduct opening. Slybella's digestive system is like mine, though I have a crop and a proventriculus and a gizzard and she only has a stomach." "Correct Henrietta, as always." "So, the urates are coming from below, in the urodeum?" "That's correct, Brian." "So, I just sit here until Slybella shits me out?" "I suppose, unless you'd like to explore the other parts of the cloaca." "Probably not at this time. I've about had enough of the snake digestive tract and don't plan to explore it till I'm excreted that way." "Very well then. You'll just have to wait till nature takes it course." "You know, Slybella's life must be very dull, only eating, drinking, and pooping. Nothing else to do." "I thought as much. Which is why I've ordered her a friend. He should be here by Monday morning." "Good, she seems lonely." And so Brain languished inside the cloaca, as well as the large intestine, for true to what Henrietta had said, the cloaca sometimes sent the wastes, along with him, back into the colon, all the rest of that day and into the following day. Hopefully, he thought, as this day dawned, it would be his last inside the snake. As the class filed in, Dr. Bentenson said "Slybella's new friend has arrived." "What is it?" Brian, who was still inside Slybella's cloaca, and thus couldn't see, asked. "A male python." answered Caleb. "Now, we can see class that the excretory (for liquid, or in Slybella's case, semi-solid urates, waste) and egestion (which includes defecation, the last stage of the digestive process)) are combined in the cloaca. Slybella's cloaca is beginning to bulge out, in an eversion. This process of waste elimination is called cloacal ventilation. This brings us to the third system that ends in the cloaca: the reproductive system. Slybella is laying eggs." "But you just got the male. How could she be pregnant already?" Brian asked. "Unfertilized eggs. I lay them too." Henrietta answered. Brian, feeling curious, moved down through the waste and poked his head and his shoulders into the urodeum to get a better look. He could see an egg coming from Slybella's vagina. It was bulging out from her cloacal slit, and he could see a faint bit of light, which blinded him, as he'd only had the light from his phone and flashlight inside the snake. The egg fell out, followed by several others. Eventually, Slybella stopped laying. "Fascinating!" Brain said, snapping pictures. "Can anyone tell me how the snake lays an eggs?" Dr. Bentenson asked. To nobody's surprise, Henrietta answered again. "Oviparous or egg-laying snakes make up the majority of snake species. Eggs grow in the oviduct of the female; the yolk sac of the egg provides nutrients to the developing snake. Female snakes lay from two to over 50 leathery-shelled eggs per clutch, depending on the species. The process of laying eggs is called oviposition. Much of the egg development occurs within the female’s oviduct prior to oviposition. The ovary releases an ovulated egg via the ostium into the anterior area of the oviduct, called the infundibulum. Immediately, secretions from the oviduct coat the egg. Once the egg moves into the uterus, eggshell production begins via fibers secreted by uterine mucosal glands. The gestated egg moves out of the uterus and through the oviduct’s cloacal opening via rhythmic muscle contractions. Some pregnant snakes bask with their bellies facing up prior to laying eggs, possibly to warm their reproductive tracts. The mother snake lays eggs in succession as a cluster, and the eggs adhere to each other."
Reproductive system of male and female snakes.
"Correct. Can you describe the male and female reproductive systems of a snake?" "In males, the paired testes lie intracoloemically (within the coelom or common body cavity, as snakes, like most reptiles, have no diaphragm and so no separate thorax and abdomen; rather they have only a common coelomic cavity). They are situated cranial to each kidney, and caudal to the pancreatic tissue, with the right testis slightly cranial to the left, and are oval in shape. The testes enlarge during the breeding season, often reaching two to three times their quiescent state. Close to the testes lie the adrenal glands. Each testis has a solitary vas deferens leading down to the urodeum portion of the cloaca, where seminal fluids from the reproductive sexual segment of the kidneys are added. "The male snake also has paired penises, known as hemipenes, in its tail. At rest they are like two inverted sacs either side of the midline and lie ventral to two other small invaginations in the tail which form the anal glands. When a hemipene’s lining becomes engorged with blood, it everts, forming a finger-like protrusion through the vent. As with the domestic cat, the hemipenes are often covered in spines and barbs, and they each have a dorsal groove into which the sperm drops from the cloaca, and so is guided into the female’s cloaca. The hemipenes therefore do not play any part in urination. "The female has paired ovaries, cranial to the respective kidneys, with the right ovary cranial to the left. There are two coiled oviducts starting with the fimbriae opposite each ovary, and moving through the tubular portion of the infundibulum and on into the magnum. From here the tract merges into the isthmus and then the shell gland or uterus before opening into the muscular vagina. This organ ensures that the eggs are laid only when the timing is correct. The vagina empties into the urodeum section of the cloaca. The vascular supply is from the dorsally suspended oviduct mesentery, rather than the caudocranial route employed in mammals. "Most females are stimulated to reproduce in the spring, when the weather warms and the daylight length increases. The tropical boas (such as the boa constrictor) and the Burmese python (Python molurus), however, start breeding when the temperature drops slightly during the cooler portion of the year. "Some species of snake are oviparous (i.e., they lay eggs), others are viviparous (i.e., they bear live young). The latter are, for example, the garter snakes (Thamnophis sirtalis) and the boid family, which have a vestigial egg structure more closely resembling a placenta. Other species make nests, and some species of python, such as Slybella here, will incubate eggs by contracting and relaxing skeletal muscles, so creating warmth." "Very good. Could someone, other than Henrietta, tell us how snakes mate?" "I can." Caleb said. "Snakes find mates with a strong sense of smell. The males then court the female snake by slithering over her and trying to align their tails. Once they start mating, snakes can stay locked together for up to a day. "All snake species have a specific time of the year that they mate. Snakes that live in areas with a winter will typically spend the cold months brumating. After brumation is over in the spring, the snakes are typically ready to mate.
Some species like garter snakes den together and mate once the weather warms enough to be active. Others either don’t brumate or spend their brumation alone.
In these cases, female snakes will produce pheromones. These signal to males that she is ready to mate. "Snakes have a strong sense of smell that helps them locate other snakes. They have an organ known as the vomeronasal organ (also known as jacobson’s organ) that allows the snake to smell the pheromones. Snakes have a forked tongue that they use to pick up scent molecules. These are brought to the vomeronasal organs in the mouth.
The two tips of the tongue can catch the scent in two directions. The snake then uses any difference in the strength of the scent to locate a mate. "Females produce pheromones to attract male snakes and tend to be willing to mate multiple males, but this can vary depending on the species. Some species of snake form a plug after mating.
This prevents the female from mating with other males. This means that any young produced will likely belong to the first male.
Female snakes can frequently store sperm as well. This means that a female can reproduce even if she did not find a mate that year. "During courtship, a common strategy seen in many snakes involves the male rubbing his chin on the female. Others will use a specific type of tongue flick or vibrate to entice the female.
Pythons, like Slybella, and boas retain small vestigial limbs near the cloaca called spurs. Males typically have larger spurs than females. The male may use the spurs to try to stimulate the female and convince her to allow him to mate. He will try to align them and get his tail under hers. A female that isn’t ready to mate will normally flee or chase off any males. If she is, she will lift her tail, open her cloaca and allow the male to mate. "Males have two copulatory organs known as hemipenes. Each of these organs is connected to a separate testicle.
The male uses his tail to align his cloaca with the female’s. Once he is in position, he inserts one of the hemipenes in the female’s cloaca to begin mating. Males will only use one hemipenis to mate. Since each hemipenis is attached to one testicle, this means a male can use the other hemipenis to mate again if he comes across another female before he has produced more sperm." "Very good, Caleb." "I wish I could see snakes fuck." said a mole. "You're about to. The reason I got Stantello here is so that Slybella can make and produce snake babies." And, alas for poor Brain, he'd been leaning so much forward, getting photos of Slybella laying the eggs, that he fell fully through into the urodeum and down into the proctodeum. Thus, he had nowhere to go when what came next came. Stantello slithered over to Slybella and began to wrap himself around him. Two hemipenes poked out of Stantello's cloaca. Brian could do nothing as Stantello's hemipenis entered Slybella's cloaca and then exited, increasing speed. He took photos of the snake sex, though he knew all too well what would come at the end. And he was right. However, it was a long process of watching the hemipenis pushed in and out, as snake sex typically takes an hour, and can take an entire day. Eventually, the two reached climax. As Brian took another shot with his camera, knowing they were close, the male ejaculated, and he got a photo of semen propelling up the hemipenis. SQUIRT! SQUIRT! SPLISHH! SPLISH! SPLOSH! A lot of went to her vagina, but some hit Brian. To his annoyance, once the snake had pulled his dick out, he soon pushed it in again, starting the copulation all over again. "How long do you think this will go on?" Brian asked. "Well, if you had a pretty girl with you and nothing else to do all day, what would you do?" Dr. Bentenson asked. Brian sighed. "This is going to be a LONNNNNNNNG day!" And so it was. It wasn't until near the end of the last class when the snakes finally stopped fucking. Brian was now as coated in semen as he was urates and feces. He felt for sure that Slybella had to be pregnant from all of this copulating. He hoped that he'd be out soon. And he would get his wish.
on November 16, 2023, 2:58 pm
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