Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm new to the forum and need some feedback from anyone who has bred bloods for a considerable time. I had a clutch that I did not catch in time and was two days late getting them in the incubator. After all was said and done I was left with 5 eggs. I had 2 albinos and 3 hets hatch. The albinos appear fine but the hets are doing wierd head movements and appear dissorientated when you hold them up. I have also had one eat at thirteen days old with no problems. I'm assuming it's neurological? I was wondering if anyone has had similar problems and what was the outcome? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for your time.

Regards,
Marc Kirkpatrick

Marc,

It is possible their is some sort of neuro problem going on. It's hard to say for sure though there are many ways development can get interrupted.

Though I can say that sometimes babies take a little time figuring out which way is down when they first hatch out, and can wiggle a little weird for a while. I would just keep an eye on them and see if the problem doesn't correct itself after a few meals.

Hope that helps.

Jordan
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"It's my snake, I trained it, so I'm going to eat it!" - Mad Max, The Road Warrior

Thanks for the info Jordan! I figured if I could get them eating I'd wait to see what happens. Thanks again and have a great weekend!

Marc

Marc,
There are several possible causes for the neuro issues you are seeing with these neonates. You stated the eggs were with the female the first two days, do you know the temp that these eggs would have been during that period? Unless substantially different from the incubation temp, it should not have been an issue. It sounds like other eggs were lost. Were these lost initially, or later in the incubation period, and if so, were they fertile? And finally, at what temp were the eggs incubated, and how many days was the incubation period when the first neo pipped? Sorry for all the questions, but I am interested to know the cause of this unusual occurrence, as I am sure you are as well. Thanks,

Kelly

Kelly,

Thank you for your response! Unfortunately the eggs were cold to the touch and the mother never bothered to coil around them. All 12 eggs did appear to be fertile. I lost eggs sporadically between the 3-6 week period. My incubator temp was 89.6 degrees. I had no other problems with the other two clutches that hatched out as those eggs were put in the incubator shortly after being laid.

I figured if anything it was probably that the eggs had cooled for to long before being placed in the incubator. Three out of the five animals are having the neuro issues. I'm a bit suprised the two neonates that aren't having trouble are albinos. I'm going to see if their condition improves with time and I'll make my decision then on what to do with them. Like I mentioned one of the neuro affected neonates fed aggressively at under two weeks old. I'll have to wait and see about the other two.

Thanks again for your time! Have a great day!

Regards,
Marc

Just a little anecdotal experience: I currently own a little borneo that was born with neuro issues. She has a head twitch and does not move her body appropriately. Overall she's not as stable as my other snakes if she's holding onto something and she does not seem quite a strong. Despite this, she's very healthy, eats great, and is growing like a weed. I treat her just like my other animals but have decided that she should definitely not reproduce in case the cause is genetic. The breeder I got her from reported that none of her clutchmates appear to have this condition. You can contact me if you want to - I can get you some videos of her movement. Also, I am in no way saying that this is what is going on in your situation, as was mentioned your babies may just simply crawling awkwardly due to being very young.