Fig. 5. Mean _O2 at 30°C of Python molurus prior to (day 0) and up to 10 days following the ingestion of (A) intact rats, (B) steak, (C), ground rat, (D) liquid diet and (E) ground rat directly infused into the proximal small intestine. All meals were equal in mass to approximately 25% of snake body mass. Note the decrease in the magnitude of the postfeeding metabolic response as the workload on the stomach is reduced from digesting intact rat to intestinally infused ground rat meals.