Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I had a clutch of balls hatch Oct 1. The first to pip was tiny. She was the first out of the egg as well. She weighed 38 grams at hatching. She does have a problem with her eye (it was a little enlarged at hatching and has since sunk in and she is blind in that eye)but no other obvious issues. She still has not shed. She has not even started a shed cycle. She is still active and looks outward healthy. She has not ate either. The eating doesn't bother me, as she is a ball. I just don't know about the lack of shedding. All the others from her clutch have shed and had a few meals. Is there a reason she hasn't shed? All I can do is sit back and wait, but wondering if anyone else has ever had a similar experience?

Sometimes the smaller ones need to get a few meals in them before they shed - try assist feeding her to get her feeding response to kick in.
-----
Tosha
JET Pythons

nihil facimus sed id bene facimus

i had pastel hatchling do that to me this year, hatched out 7-10-10 and he didnt shed until october 3rd. He is healthy, was deffinatly the smallest of the clutch. I guess from my experience i wouldnt worry too much about it, but this was the first time i have ever had this happen. Good luck!
-----
0.3 double het pied/carmel 1.3.2 normals, 1.3.1 pastels, 0.1 mojave, 0.1 pinstripe, 0.1 albino, 1.0 yellow belly, 1.1 het pied, 1.0 amelanistic corn, 0.1 normal corn, 2.1 miniture dachshunds, 0.1 beautiful fiance
*snakes are like oreos, no one can just have one!*

I'm sure a lot of people will disagree with me, but a hatchling that:
Is blind, and
Won't shed and
Won't eat!
Sounds to me like a baby that should be euthanized.
-----
www.strictlyballs.ca

everything alive in this world has a right or chance to live. although deformities occur, we can't help that....it's part of nature....part of life.

if you had a child that was born with major deformities....would be so fast to say "euthanize"? Of course not.... you would want the best care, to help your child. what's so different with a baby hatchling that you "assisted" in bringing into this world?

.....not trying to make/start an argument, just wanted to express my opinion.

Pitoon

>>I'm sure a lot of people will disagree with me, but a hatchling that:
>>Is blind, and
>>Won't shed and
>>Won't eat!
>>Sounds to me like a baby that should be euthanized.
>>-----
>>www.strictlyballs.ca
-----
Homepage
My BLOG
2010 European Shows

Sorry but I don't agree that everything alive should be kept alive at all cost.

There is no way I would prefer to suffer than to live.

There is a thing between living and doing all you can to keep it alive.

If it's not able to survive by itself (you need to assist feed it), I don't see any reason to let it live in that state.
-----
love this world, don't hate it.

1) I don't know how they know it's blind! Even if it is, it should be able to locate food!

2) I have had many hatchlings take a long time to shed! Not real critical in my book!

3) Hasn't eaten yet? It's a Ball Python! Enough said!

4) Give it a chance!

One eye is wrinkled, grey, with a "scratch" type appearance in the center. She does not respond to anything coming near her from that side, so I would guess she is blind in the one eye. I had her looked at by a friend who used to breed balls and he said she may shed out of it.

I didn't mean to cause arguing. I have no intention of putting her down just because she hasn't shed or ate yet. I know some balls take a while to start feeding, so the not feeding part doesn't bother me at this point. The eye problem doesn't bother me either. I have seen many snakes that only have 1 eye do just fine. I was just curious about the not shedding part. She will be staying with me for the rest of her life, be it a few months or several years. I take responsibility for her being here so I take responsibility for her care.

Ok, lets put it this way, rather than pulling on heart strings, do we really want a ball python born with a defect and a non-eater from the start polluting the ball python gene pool? Aren't there enough unscrupuluous big breeders doing it with their new designer kinked and wobble morphs that we can all agree it doesn't need to be done at a "beginner animal" level?
-----
www.strictlyballs.ca

I had a super mojave that was a teardrop egg. Didn't come out of his egg until 2 DAYS!! after his littermates, had a small head, small body, weighed next to nothing, had sunken eyes, didn't shed for 8 weeks after his birth, I had to assist feed him for 6 MONTHS!! He is small for his age, so i wasn't able to breed him this year, but he eats like a champ now and sheds like a champ now, and is willing to eat ME any chance he gets...lol.......DO NOT EUTHANIZE unless you have to FORCE feed. If force feeding is needed for any more than 4 weeks, than I would CONSIDER putting him/her down, but I would implore that EVERYONE give EVERY animal the BEST chance for survival before making (what I consider) the hardest choice in the world.....to decide when something deserves to live or die.

Just my 2 cents.

I also had a similar situation this year (The first for me as well) I hatched out (8) Lesser's from an 11 egg clutch. there was (1) runt in the clutch that had a hatch weight of 49 grams. All the others shed within a week and started eating shortly after. The runt did not shed untill about 6 weeks after hatching. I was more concerned about her not eating so I assist feed her three times prior till her first shed. after she finally shed, she did just fine and ate on her own. I held her back because of the initial issues and I believe she is approaching the 300 gram mark.

-Jason Weinrich

I've had a couple babies this past season ..... this one a 20 gram hatchling....

If I remember correctly I assist feed it 3 or 4 days after crawling out of the egg.... in this next picture u can see what a 1 day old pinkie mouse looks like in its little tummy...

I assist feed it probably 4 or 5 times. I can't remember how long it took for it to shed but it seems like it was quite awhile....

After a few assist feeds, she finally shed. Her eye returned to normal, as was suggested it may. She also took her first meal on her own. A little patience and she is doing better.