Does My BP Have 'Kinks'? (pics)

[Dev_DeCoste]

Hello everyone,

I've had my Jigsaw for a few months and have noticed he keeps himself at pretty awkward angles sometimes.. I've read of BPs having 'kinks' but am not sure if this is a case of that or not. If it is, does this have any affect on breeding? Once I get him up to weight I wanted to start breeding with him.. Last I read we know very little about kinking and if it affects the snake at all ie pain, discomfort, etc... Is this still true?











Stretched Out

[alan12013]

Kink free. That is an amazing animal though! Ball pythons have some strange movements. I have one that looks like his neck is broke and I began to worry about it because he holds it like that so often. I went through all of my pictures and he was like that since he was a baby neonate so It's a pretty normal posture he does just that he does it a lot so I thought it was an issue. It looks like yours just really likes to make sure his head his protected. As far as kinking goes it can be fairly minor or it can be terminal just depends. No real kink is not an issue though as it will effect the snake even if only in the slightest. I haven't had any kinked snakes but I have looked into the issue and saw an episode of snakebytes where Brian talked about his kinked snakes and that he'll just keep them at the facility as pets and not breeders as long as they can eat and defecate which I think is the honorable thing to do for the animal.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

If there were kinks you would know.

Kinks are spinal deformations, in most cases you can see them.

Slight kinks which might go unnoticeable to the eye can be felt.

[Dev_DeCoste]

Thank you both!!

I just noticed he always keeps his head hidden under his body like that and occasionally "unwinds" akwardly if he decides to stretch out while doing so.. He pretty much stays as pictured in picture #3 all the time.. While hiding and when just hangin out.. I guess you're right Alan that he likes to just make sure his head is protected. He's definitely taken much more work to "socialize" than my other BP.. I'm just accounting that to having been shipped to me, whereas my other one was purchased from a store and driven home myself... But he is very skiddish and coils right back to that position when he is startled..