Reptile & Amphibian Forums

first visit to this treeboa forum so...hello, and a question:

among other reptiles I currently own a group of 2.3 C caninus from surinam and guyana. 2 days ago I bought a new adult (read 'monster')patternless caninus female, wich had just arrived at the dealer. she is breathtakingly beautifull and 'seems' to be very healthy for a newly imported animal (very active, alert en has a full body). Yesterday I first noticed she was contracting her muscles from time to time. I it looked to me like she had some sort of 'cold rush', not like a neurological problem as in virusses. some times only in the front body area some times in the back, only for short periods. does anyone experienced simular behavior. could it be a calcium deficiency or something...
greetings mark

Hey Mark,
Does she coil normally? How was she positioned when you noticed the contractions? Does she get into "hunting " position at night?Can you post a pic of her?
CraigC

hi craig, thanks for the reply,

she does coil OK. have not seen her in the typical hunting position yet and haven't tried to feed her. contractions occur when she's in resting position, I've not yet noticed it while she is active. yesterday I gave her a calcium solution orally. it seems like she doing a little better now, but I doubt that a calcium deficiency is the real problem. if they were egg layers it would make a little more sense...maybe she just gave birth or something...anyone heard of ca deficiency in live bearing snake's??? I'll try to post a pic asap. I do not have a digital cam myself
greetings.....mark

Hey Mark,
Don't know about calcium deficency, but I have seen females do some really strange things prior to giving birth. I have one female that is just "odd" and gets into some of the strangest positions but have never noticed any muscular contractions. Here is a pic of one of her "odd" positions.
CraigC