Rattle snakes are born without their rattle.

Rattlesnakes are best known for, and most easily recognized by, their rattle. The rattlesnake babies are born with what is called a pre-button. The baby snake loses this piece when it sheds its skin for the first time. With the shedding a new button appears. With every shedding after that another button, or rattle, will be added. These buttons are made up of a material called Keratin, which is what the scales and your fingernails are made of! The rattles are empty, so what makes the noise? The noise comes from each segment knocking together, so until a rattlesnake has two or more pieces it isn’t going to make a sound!

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64 Comments

Christine Gardner

Uhmmmmmmmm the "button" is the beginning of the rattle - it DOES rattle !!!! Really the answer needs to be FALSE.

Russell Ipson

I knew they had a button it still rattles! Grew up in Utah and Arizona seen my share of rattlers.

Jamie

Subjective answer. They are born with their button, which is their rattler. Vague answer and incorrect wording.

Maia

If I'm not mistaken, the younger the rattlesnake, the more potent the poison.

GONavarini

Baby rattlesnakes are born with a single rattle segment. That's cute, but it won't make a sound until its second shed skin, several weeks after it is born.

homeducater

bk, the question doesn't say anything about making noise. It says they are born without their rattle. But the answer states they are born with 1 button or rattle. Therefore the correct answer is "false". They are born with 1 rattle.

Robert Goddard

Maia, they are not more potent, rather they have yet to understand how much venom they need to release. Therefore they release more venom than the older ones do.

Linda Grimaldo

If there is a pre button that means rattles are there ! I disagree !!!

lparlier

Jim Adams, correct

lparlier

jgsjgs, so true

lparlier

Christine Gardner, it is i have seen them

Wyla Reedy

I remember my first encounter with a young rattlesnake. You can hear a "whir". I heard the sound and followed it to find the young rattler.

Nikki Proctor

from what I have learnt, is that the shedding of the skin ends at the tail point and stays there which causes the sound when the rattle snake shakes its tail as a warning. I haven't heard of the button making a sound when it rattles. I'm not from USA so I have learnt from watching National Geographic :D

Mark Therrien

SHAKE RATTLE ANDVROLL LOL

Christine Gardner, please read the answer again....the *buttons* are hollow, two or more *buttons* are required to make the rattle sound as they knock against each other.