Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I recently purchased an adult pair of Mocquardi. The male is really exceptional and the only reason I coughed up the hefty sticker price. Several days later, I was watching him move across his enclosure. His movement was abnormal with wide swinging motions of his head instead of the typical fluid S-curves. I took him out and examined him closely. Much to my dismay, I discovered two sections of his spine which appear to be completely fused. The first begins about 2 inches behind his head and extends caudally about 4 inches. Here, a small (approx. 1 inch) segment of normal, flexible spine occurs. Followed by a second, approximately 3 inch, segment of fused vertebrae. The defect is not externally visible. There are no lumps or bumps and the snake looks completely normal when still. The defect is only given away by the lack of normal movement. The fused sections will not bend in any direction. I will be radiographing the snake tomorrow. In the meantime, has anyone had any experience with this type of thing? Can this be an aging change? If the defect is benign, nonprogressive, and unlikely to be genetic, I'd be inclined to hang on to him. Of course, if the radiographs show any evidence of active inflammation, I'll have to send him back. I just thought maybe someone had seen this type of thing before. I can't find much info on the topic. Thanks for any input.
Heather

Heather,

I think if you find the fused vertebrae are caused by some kind of active bone disease I'd hang on to the snake. However I would caution against breeding it just in case there is a genetic basis to the defect. I have two snakes that have spinal kinks and both are great eaters but simply hatched out with the deformity. In both cases the other snakes hatched out of the clutch were completely normal. It could have been caused by a lower level of calcium in the egg initially sometime early in development or perhaps some aberration during incubation. I'd be interested in knowing what your radiographs show.
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Matt Campbell
Animal Keeper, Small Mammal/Reptile House
Lincoln Park Zoo Chicago, Illinois

Assistant Curator
Wildlife Discovery Center at Elawa Farm
Lake Forest, Illinois

That's the kind of information that should have been disclosed to you when you were considering the purchase. No way to miss it or not know about it. If that snake is a WC, I would suspect that the fused vertebrae are due to the capture technique and not some sort of disease. Either way, B grade, and I would definitely investigate the issue before using the snake as a breeder.
This is probably not what you wanted to hear. Sorry, just giving an honest opinion.