UTILIZING ADHESIVES FOR BIO-TAG ATTACHMENT ON BURMESE PYTHONS

Abstract

There is a growing need for an adhesive attachment method that can secure biologging tags to animals for days/weeks. Our project objective is to design an adhesive tag attachment mechanism for Burmese Pythons. To do this, we decomposed an attachment device into the interaction between three components: Python, Interface, and Tracker. We will emulate these interfaces using a variety of substrates that mimic their material properties. Lab based testing will then be used to characterize the efficacy (adhesive strength, response to environmental conditions) of biocompatible adhesives on substrates with different properties (surface chemistry, compliance, etc) and surface conditions (curvature, wetness). New knowledge from these experiments will be used to inform the design of a prototype attachment system for pythons.