Snakes are remarkable creatures with some amazingly diverse abilities.
With no arms, no legs and only their mouth to catch food and defend themselves, snakes are still able to thrive on every continent in the world except Antarctica.
You probably know that many snakes can climb trees, dig holes, swim, sprint faster than the average human runner and even fly… or at least glide for a short distance.
But how long can a snake hold its breath?
Snakes can hold their breath for an average of 15-25 minutes. Even snakes that don’t typically hold their breath at least have the ability to do so if they desired. Obviously different species of snakes are going to have varying abilities, but there are other factors that determine how long a snake can hold its breath. These include the temperature, environment and stress level of the snake.
Here is a chart of several species of snakes to give you an idea of how long a snake can hold its breath.
| Anaconda | 1 hour |
| Burmese python | 30 minutes |
| Ball python | 20 minutes |
| Northern water snake | 90 minutes |
| Rattlesnake | 30 minutes |
| Water moccasin | 1 hour |
| Sea snakes | 8 hours |
Why Snakes Hold Their Breath
There are three main reasons why a snake might hold its breath.
The first reason is the most obvious. To submerge underwater.
Sea snakes, water snakes, anacondas and various other species all spend a lot of time in and around water. Many of them hunt and eat their food underwater, and need to develop the ability to hold their breath for long periods of time.
The second reason a snake might hold its breath is when it’s scared.
Snakes can hold their breath when they’re scared!
A snake may hold its breath and remain motionless if they feel threatened. They will stay like this until the threat passes, or until they decide it is time for fight or flight.
Finally, snakes can slow their breathing considerably either while relaxing, or as it gets cold.
Snakes have slow metabolisms, and do not always need to oxygenate their blood as much as us humans.
When a snake is relaxed and digesting a meal, it may barely breathe.
On the flip side, as temperatures drop, snakes may breathe less as their body edges closer to a state of brumation.
How Snakes Breathe
To understand how a snake breathes, you need to understand its respiratory anatomy.
Humans have two lungs side by side, and a diaphragm which constricts to take air in, and relaxes to let air out.
Snakes have two lungs too, but they aren’t side by side. These lungs aren’t equal to each other in size either, plus they are elongated to match the shape of a snakes body.
There is a short left lung, which is located near the front of the body. Then there is a long right lung which can run a length of anywhere from 30% – 80% the length of the snakes body.
The right lung is the workhorse of the snakes respiratory system. The front portion of the right lung is where the oxygen exchange takes place between the lung and the blood stream. The rear of the lung is used as a pump to circulate the air.
Since snakes don’t have diaphragms as do humans, a snake breathes by using muscles around their rib cage to force air in and out of their lungs.
How Snakes Hold Their Breath
Now that you understand how a snake breathes, you can better visualize how they hold their breath.
You and I simply have to relax our diaphragm in order to let air out. To actually hold your breath, you have to keep your diaphragm constricted.
Snakes on the other hand, have to constrict their rib muscles in order to force the air out. By simply relaxing, a snake is able to hold its breath for long periods of time.
In fact they are so adept at naturally holding their breath, that they will often times barely breathe when relaxing. This is especially true when digesting a large meal.
How Snakes Breathe While They’re Eating
If you’ve ever seen a snake eat, you know they have the incredible ability to stretch their mouth wider than their body and consume a meal whole.
This must mean they are cutting off their airway, right?
When you look into the open mouth of a snake, you will notice an air tube behind their tongue near the back of their throat. This is called a glottis, and it connects directly to the trachea (or air tube) allowing the snake to breathe.
When a snake eats, they are able to move the glottis to the side of the mouth, allowing air to flow despite their maw being gorged and stretched.
Additionally, snakes are able to move their rib muscles individually in order to strictly control how the air is distributed throughout their lungs.
Remember how I said the back side of the right lung acts more like a pump to move air around? It can also hold air, and then push that air to the front of the lung where it can supply oxygen to the blood.
How Long Can Anacondas Hold Their Breath?
I only throw this out there because I have seen an enormous amount of misinformation out there. Nearly every website says they hold their breath for 10 minutes.
How long can an anaconda hold its breath? Anacondas can hold their breath for approximately 1 hour, and there is video evidence to prove this. These snakes typically hunt in or around water, and have been known to consume their entire meal underwater without ever coming up for air.
They have been observed in the wild coming up for air every 10 minutes or so, but this is not indicative of how long they can actually hold their breath.
Summary
As I stated in the beginning, snakes are remarkable creatures.
They have adapted to nearly every environment on Earth, with extreme cold being just about their only major weakness.
In addition to digging, climbing, swimming, sprinting and gliding, you can now add holding their breath to the many abilities of snakes.