Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just added an adult female to my collection.
I believe she is a female
7 years old
She came to me with a partial shed, a lukewarm bath and some gentle massages took care of that.

As I was inspecting her, either side of her vent has 2 little spikes poking out at either side.
Is this normal?
I do not have a good camera so can not get one that shows them, but they are small 2-3mm
I tried gently rubbing one of them and it moves, but does not come out, I did not want to try to pull on it.

any advice is great
Thanks

What your describing sounds like cloacal spurs. in males they are usually larger, but can wear down with age. They don't come off.
Hope someone else can chime in too.

My big albino girl has pretty lage ones also.Dont pull on them.
t

what it sounds like to me too unless theres something else going on....
on a more playful note---eeewwwww, you "touched" her "down there"....lol yes im that juvenile sometimes. im just kiddin around though.
i have inspected all 3 of mine too- just to make sure they are all healthy and dont have any issues there either.

cant wait to see pics of her...good luck with her if youre putting her into the breeding pool this season
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~Snake Charmer~
0.1 russian tortoise (natasha)
3.1 dogs (church, bandit, willy and tonka)
0.2 cats (squeaky, cami)
2.1 'normal' ball pythons (zenith, butters, zahara)and i want more snakes. guess you can say im developing a "reptile addiction"- lol

They're spurs. Males use them to manuver the female into a good breeding spot. They "tickle" the females with them. Females have them and they are occasionally large. Leave them alone. nHope this helped.

Yup, anal spurs. I'm surprised you haven't seen them in your males, even the baby males where I work have noticeable ones. They're physically connected to their spines and are the remains of legs. Wiki has an article and picture http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anal_spurs

on a female BP = http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/artnov07macro/snake/images/3.jpg
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Danne
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1.0 '07 BRB "Monroe"
1.0 '08 BRB 66% het Anery "Ace"
1.0 '08 Pastel BP "Sebastian"
1.1 Leos "Bowser & Peach"
0.2 Dumbo (non-feeder) rats "Josie & Holly"

Email = dshoback@eden.rutgers.edu

what you describe are anal spurs....they are the remnants of hind legs. boas and pythons, being the most primitive of the snakes, are the ones left with vestigial legs. they consist of small bones floating inside the muscle mass and a "claw" at each side of the vent. males' spurs tend to be larger than female spurs.
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Neutiquam erro. Hostes alienigeni me abduxerunt.

THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR RESPONSES

I will inspect my male more closely tonight, hes much more active, and I doesnt like to let me hold him still very easily.
I got the guy from a reputable breeder, and did not do as thourough an investigation as I did on my girl.

She will lose her virginity next season, with hopes that my Male pastel(225g) will be ready. (as I understand, hes ready at 600-700gram)

Thanks