Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Well my Spilotes (and misc. other snakes) arrived.

I took a picture of her face. Please pardon my ignorance, but is this normal? Her "lips" are like this on both sides of her head.

-----
~Sasheena
Ground Snakes
Kit, Kaboodle, Tantilla, Tantillas, Lightning, Kinkee, Maple
JCP
Dreamer
Rosy
Castle
Kings
Licorice, Bishop, Queenie, Jester, Tigris, Euphrates
Pandora, Phantom
Lady
Corns
Aphrodite, Athena, Hermes
Tiger
Amulet

is she missing a scale there? that's what it looks like.

Animal doesn't look like a yearling to me..Looks younger...I think the gap is just there temporarily and will fill in with growth...Can't think of any reason THAT labial would be damaged in it's position...Anyone else????
-----
Carl W Gossett
Garage Door Herps
Monument,Colorado...northern territory of the Great Republic of Texas

Oh jeepers. Her mouth is like that on both sides, she's blue at the moment, and I took those pictures right out of the box. I had never seen this kind of snake before and thought it seemed very very odd, which is why I posted a picture of her here. I suppose I should email the person who sold her to me.

~Sasheena
-----
~Sasheena
Ground Snakes
Kit, Kaboodle, Tantilla, Tantillas, Lightning, Kinkee, Maple
JCP
Dreamer
Rosy
Castle
Kings
Licorice, Bishop, Queenie, Jester, Tigris, Euphrates
Pandora, Phantom
Lady
Corns
Aphrodite, Athena, Hermes
Tiger
Amulet

Funny, I produced one that had a nearly identical deformity last year...from a second clutch that the female produced without being bred again. It almost looked lke it had a strangely mutated nostril.

I gave mine to a high school kid for no charge...who I know would not breed it.

I spoke with the breeder, he didn't notice the defect in the snake and was very upset. He's giving me credit for her cost, and I'll go ahead and keep her as a pet, and nix any plans I had to breed her. So she'll just be a "pet" snake.

Will she have problems due to her deformity? Can anyone suggest something I can do to help her? I haven't looked at her up close and personal except for photos right out of the shipping container. Since she's blue I want to make sure she has a calm environment until after she sheds. Then I'll have another look and take better pictures before giving her a meal.

-----
~Sasheena
Ground Snakes
Kit, Kaboodle, Tantilla, Tantillas, Lightning, Kinkee, Maple
JCP
Dreamer
Rosy
Castle
Kings
Licorice, Bishop, Queenie, Jester, Tigris, Euphrates
Pandora, Phantom
Lady
Corns
Aphrodite, Athena, Hermes
Tiger
Amulet

Many congenital defects, especially in scalation and eye-formation, are caused by developmental problems rather than genetic problems. In other words, the snake's genes are still just as good as any others, but exposure to something or a temperature fluctuation during development prevented the formation of a few of the scales. Developmental problems are sometimes also spontaneous (hence slugs, bad eggs, etc in a normal clutch). These defects are rarely, if ever, heritable. I know several people who have bred one-eyed burmese pythons (nothing better to do I guess) together and always get perfect clutches. My bet is, as long as you incubate your eggs properly, the offspring (and all descendants) from this Spilotes will probably be just fine. I'd give it a try to see anyway.

Van

As long as she's feeding all right, then she shouldn't have any problems in life

Van

Well thanks for the reassurance. I was later reading about some serious temperature related deformities, and since she came from a clutch that was large (don't know the number) but only FIVE hatched, that to me means that it probably was incubation problems. Hubby still likes the idea of trying to breed her when she's of age, so now we'll just be on the lookout for a mate for her later this year or next year. She's a beauty, regardless of her little defect. I can't wait until she sheds, as she's fully blue and STILL quite beautiful.

~Sasheena
-----
~Sasheena
Ground Snakes
Kit, Kaboodle, Tantilla, Tantillas, Lightning, Kinkee, Maple
JCP
Dreamer
Rosy
Castle
Kings
Licorice, Bishop, Queenie, Jester, Tigris, Euphrates
Pandora, Phantom
Lady
Corns
Aphrodite, Athena, Hermes
Tiger
Amulet