Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Feisty, healthy looking....but obviously deformed.

Underneath shot.

That is a bad deformity. I would say euthanize the little guy. However, I would not be able to do it my self. What quality of life would he actually be able to live out. Is it eating/ defecating normally? It is a tough call.

On a side note, I had 7 Woma eggs laid about 2 weeks ago. Lost 1 right off the bat. 2 look perfect and the other 4 are questionable. 3 are sunken in and have some light yellow coloring to them and 1 has some dark spot starting to develop. "When in doubt, wait it out." Why are Woma eggs so difficult to deal with. This is my 3rd clutch and I have yet to produce any offspring. Followed BoaMorph's incubation techniques. I did notice that the 4 that look questionable have the embryos in a non polar position. I am thinking this might have something to do with it. Dang.

Jay, are you really asking us? It never should and probably would not have made it out of the egg!

Tom, it made it out of the egg to the lump, which is almost halfway. I didn't realise it was deformed until I opened it the rest of the way.I have a feeling it could be surgically corrected, but cost prohibitive. There was a second that was dead, as I posted elsewhere. It just seems so normal acting, but has trouble crawling. If someone can get it surgically corrected, they can have it. Otherwise, I'll put it down.

I can guarantee that a deformity of that magnitude could not be corrected surgically to a satisfactory degree, and I believe it is highly unlikely that the digestive system of this python will ever function properly. I believe this snake should be put down immediately. On a general note, while it is debatable whether these types of congenital abnormalities are of environmental or genetic origin, it is imperative that snakes with even very minor physical deformities never be allowed to pass on their genes to future generations.

Kelly

Jay, I agree with Kelly on this one, of course the final decision is yours to make.

I'm just not a fan of the practice some people partake in where they give away animals with some sort of congenital deformity. There is simply no way of guaranteeing that the animal will never be involved in some sort of breeding program and since we can't be completely sure whether the deformity was caused by genetics or some unknown environmental factor - such a breeding could prove disastrous.

In this case, I think it would be highly unlikely that the hatchling would survive one way or another. Even if it does, the quality and longevity of it's life would be highly questionable. Plus, like you noted, even if the deformity could be surgically corrected the costs involved would most likely be fairly prohibitive.

To me, it doesn't matter if the deformity is as extensive as the animal you have on your hands or if it is something as "simple" as a missing eye, heat pits, or tongue (yes, I've seen all of these - not in my collection, though, thankfully). No matter the severity of the deformity, the animal should be humanely culled (or euthanized/put to sleep, if you prefer those terms).

Of course, this is all just my opinion and the final decision is ultimately yours to make, but since you asked what should be done... these are my feelings on the matter.

Either way, I'm sorry to hear about the little guy. If he is feisty and lively as you say, it's really a shame that an animal that could have potentially such positive behavioral traits is in such a situation.
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Stay United!

I'm still not sure if it's weird that my best friend is a two year old boa named Ronin. He's quiet, non-judgemental and listens... what more could you want?

Well, the deed has been done. A shame, but looking closer at the underside there was, as Kelly said, no chance of surgery.

Like I said it never would have made it out of the egg. You did the right thing!

np