Would you breed her? (kinked lesser)

[Lolo76]

I just realized the next breeding season is nearly upon us, and my lesser girl is almost big enough! She weighs around 1140g now, but I've been feeding very lightly this year... I won't chance giving big rats due to the kink, so she's been averaging 2 adult mice every 7-10 days. If I upped that to 3+ mice (which she'd happily take), I bet her weight would be right on target by my usual "start date."

So here's the issue - she has a rather noticeable kink in her neck, and I have no idea of the cause. Her seller didn't disclose this to me before shipping (she looked fine in the pics), and all attempts to contact him have failed. She eats just fine, and doesn't appear to have any issues because of it. I know lessers aren't known for genetic kinks, like the caramel albino for example, and hope it was either incubation or injury-related. Would you take the chance, or should I just chalk her up as a very expensive & pretty pet??

Here are some photos:









P.S. She's about three years old now, and I was planning to breed her with my Mojave - BELs, baby!!

[irishanaconda]

owie! well IMO i dont think i would even tho she seems well. There is enough things that wobble, kink, are missing eyes and cant lay eggs. But thats only my opinion

[Foschi Exotic Serpents]

Well, I'm on the fence with this one..
Since butters and lessers are not known to have kinking issues, I'd attribute this one to an incubation issue. Or a random fluke of genetics. Since technically color morphs are a genetic mutation anyway, these things can happen with any morph, at any time. Wether it's a morph prone to having kinks or other issues or not..

I think because the kink is not in a place where it would interfere with eggs or ovulation, that there shouldn't be a problem breeding her. I also doubt that it's a genetic issue that can be passed on.

If she's big enough, and healthy enough, I don't see a problem with it.

[Lolo76]

Thanks for the replies so far! Hmmmm... maybe I should've added a poll to this one.

[Capray]

If the kinks are passed on does it drastically vary where/how bad the kinks are? Like the amount of white on a pied?

[John1982]

Do you have the pics you saw in which she looked fine? I personally wouldn't breed unless I knew for a fact this was caused by an injury. Pretty girl though, I'm glad she's doing well for you and shame on the seller!

[dr del]

Hi,

Given its location I'd probably at least try and breed her once.

But if any of the offspring showed signs of problems I'd have to retire her.


dr del

[Chewy]

It's pretty high up there, I don't think it'll effect the growth of the eggs but who knows...

Give it a shot this season and see how the babies are. I'm thinking this is due to incubation, not genetic... it isn't a caramel.

[Lolo76]

Do you have the pics you saw in which she looked fine? I personally wouldn't breed unless I knew for a fact this was caused by an injury. Pretty girl though, I'm glad she's doing well for you and shame on the seller!

Here are the original pics I saw of her... notice how he didn't show that side of her neck?



You can almost see it here, but her tail is conveniently masking it.


And yeah - the seller sucks big time! But this isn't the place for getting into that, and I did have a thread going when she first arrived. Thanks for the input everyone, and I am leaning towards giving her one shot (will wait for more replies, though).

[LotsaBalls]

I suggest bringing her in for X-rays to see if you can tell the reason for the kink. Without knowing that I think I would pass on breeding her. She is pretty though!