title: Pyrogens fail to produce fever in the snakes Psammophis phillipsii and Lamprophis fuliginosus.
abstract: 1. Preferred body temperature of five diurnal, Psammophis philipsii and three nocturnal, Lamprophis fuliginosus, snakes was measured in a thermal gradient chamber by indwelling colonic thermocouples, before and after injection of a variety of pyrogens. 2. The snakes achieved their preferred body temperature by moving up and down in the gradient chamber; it was about 33 degrees C for P. phillipsii and 25 degrees C for L. fuliginosus. 3. The snakes did not develop fever in response to any of the pyrogens, whether gram-negative or gram-positive in origin, either on the day of injection or on the subsequent day. 4. We believe that fever is rare amongst reptiles.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001831:Body Temperature / Q000187:drug effects*; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides / Q000494:pharmacology*; D011749:Pyrogens; D012475:Salmonella; D012485:Salmonella typhi; D012911:Snakes / Q000502:physiology*; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D008070:Lipopolysaccharides; D011749:Pyrogens