Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I don't know how well this will come out I had to shink down the size of the picture so much to get it to fit. Well if you can't see it to good, at the bottom is some waste at the end of the tail followed by a couple of partially developed babies, then a few slugs. At the top & right corner is where most of the babies can be seen. They look like a group of worms, close up you can actually see a small skull followed by a string of small vertbrae. To really appreciate I guess you would have to see the actual 2 foot x-ray.
Jason Reese

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Thats pretty sWEET man. GOod luck with that.

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And God said to Noah,"Let there be plenty of room for the serpents".
--not doctrine--

I love snake rays Great detail on the babies, it's hard to get that.

Kelly, your not an anti-radiation freek are ya?

Ian

if the x-rays were taken during the first half of the gestation. These young appear to be nearing full term, so the effects would most likely be negligible. X-rays are a form of ionizing radiation, and therefore are capable of damaging genetic material and developing tissue. There have been studies conducted that have proven mortality and birth defects in developing embryos from x-rays, although as I stated above, this is more likely to occur during the first half of the gestation period. I would probably not take the risk of x-rays with a gravid snake unless there was an existing health concern involved or the snake was near full term.

Kelly

I've learned all about such studies, because in theory, I need to know what hazards I work with. Funny thing is though, once working with it, you realize there is a large gap between what could happen and what actually goes on. The amount of radiation used is so miniscule when radiographing a set of X-rays the compound effects on the tissue just arn't present in statistically mentionable amounts. If it were, there'd be alot more deformities seen in the immense cat and dog population, and even of course the human population where Xrays are common. (unless you're already considering the human pop. as demented ) Remember that there is a significant amount of time that passes prior to knowledge of a pregnancy.

Concern is mostly diverted towards the radiologists that are present when x-rays are taken every day.

Ian

The only way you would see and problems due to X-ray exposure would be to X-ray that snake several times a day for wks! You would get more radiation from flying it across the nation than from a full X-ray series...
My professional view point...Not my opinion...LOL
DR.GH

the study I referred to was done in the 70's and was reported in the AVMA journal. I do not remember the radiation dosages used, but they could have been much higher for the effects study than standard exposure levels for a single x-ray. Thanks much for the clarification.

Kelly

The x-ray was taken 2 days before giving birth to full term babies. She had droped one out 5 days before & might have been retaining the rest of the litter. She was great, I never had to touch her once. I placed a large clear rubbermaid in her cage, she crawled in & I took her to my vet. He took the x-rays right through the rubbermaid. Everything turned out for the better. As well as I could figure there was one large half developed baby that was still partly in the egg (or slug), that she had a hard time passing. She is doing great & looking to have her second litter later this summer.
Jay.

Here is what she looks like on the outside.
Jay