Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hello...i have a new baby sunglow that is 2 months old. i have had the animal 1 month and it has eaten 3 times (small hopper mouse...F/K) and also gone through a shed cycle.

there is a small place on one side of the boa's mouth, near it's nose, that doesn't look like it closes all the way. the other side of her mouth looks fine. i am not sure if i am being paronoid, but if someone could look at the pics on the site below and let me know what you think it may be and if it's something i need to worry about?
Sunglow Baby Pics

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www.myinfoservice.com

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signature file edited; contact an admin. phw 7/19/05

That doesn't look normal to me - looks like the jaw doesn't align correctly.

But, I wouldn't imagine it would be detrimental to the snake's health (unless there's something else going on) - since boas don't "chew" their food, their teeth don't need to align like other critters who chew.

I've seen albinos and other morphs that have had underbites or overbites, probably not something you want to breed if it's genetic in origin, but I don't think it's a health concern.

Of course, if you're worried, a trip to a good exotic vet wouldn't hurt.
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Lauren Madar - OphidiaGems.com | CageMakers | lauren at liquidleaf dot com |
2.2 BP, 1.0 Hog Is., 1.1 Hypo BCI, 1.1 Surinam BCC, 1.1 Saharan Sand Boas

I don't know if you use aspen shavings or newspaper...but the aspen can get lodged in the rows of teeth in boas during feedings and if there long enough it can fester and cause a problem...Your animals mouth looks only out in the front...check the teeth and make sure everything is ok. Maybe an open mouth picture would help....Other than that it may just be a defective jaw alignment.

Andy
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thanks andy. she is always on paper. no aspen. i know this sounds like a stupid question, how do you get a boa to open their mouth?
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www.myinfoservice.com

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signature file edited; contact an admin. phw 7/19/05

You can use a popsicle stick or the back end of a pen, or even possibly a Q-tip, and insert it into the space their tongue comes out. The snake will likely open their mouth to try and get away from you. Once the snake opens up a little, put the stick/pen/whatever in sideways to hold the mouth open a bit (so the stick would be perpendicular to their tongue). You might want some help, the snake won't like it (I had to give antibiotics via syringe for a month... not fun). Hold the snake immediately behind the head so they don't have room to back away.

There are special speculums for doing this and holding the mouth open for inspection but most hobbyists don't have them.

There have got to be photos out there somewhere demonstrating how to do this... I just can't recall where.
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Lauren Madar - OphidiaGems.com | CageMakers | lauren at liquidleaf dot com |
2.2 BP, 1.0 Hog Is., 1.1 Hypo BCI, 1.1 Surinam BCC, 1.1 Saharan Sand Boas

You can gently hold around head and neck and use a pencil unless you have a small pocket snake hook...which is what I use....and roll the side of the pencil wood in front of mounth pressing gently inward. Once the snake opens mouth it will bite the pencil a bit but will calm quickly. Use 2 people for this and it is better...one to look around in mouth and one to hold open. I use a tooth brush with soft bristles and use a diluted Peroxide and water mixture or I use the Gold regular strength listerine and water mix.
It does not hurt to give them all a tooth check from time to time and the mild disinfectant will only help....just use a seperate tooth brush for each animal.

Hope this helps, Andy Federico
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I'm no "expert" but I've seen deformalities like that following weak gene pools. With recessive animals, breeding siblings are the easiest way to a Homozygous animal which isn't neccessarily the best way to get there. Outcrossing the animal would give the best chance of producing physically normal appearing babies but I tend to stay away from animals with genetic abnormalities such as that for my breeding projects.. Just my opinion.