slight spine kink on hatchling...

Hi all.

I recieved a female hatchling in a trade not so long ago. She is a right cochon and has an absolutely voracious appetite.

Nice high gold girl and is getting prettier everyday.

I had her out the other day and was running my finger down her spine, and found out she has a bump. It is slight, and I cannot really see it, but when I feel it, it is definitely there.

It is not depressed and is halfway down her spine.

I have heard various things... such as...

- if it is not depressed, then she should be able to breed
- it may be so slight as to not be an issue once she gains weights.

Any thoughts on this, or links to check out.

Thanks in advance,
Bruce

Here she is... bad lighting... I always say that, but she is a pretty little snake. :)

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p...lbum/naomi.jpg

My Spider female had a palpable kink in her spine behind her head when she was smaller. Now that she has filled out more(300g+ and just a sausage) it's difficult for me to find it and she seems to be growing out of her deformities. I saw the other day that she is able to fully extend her tongue, but that her tongue has a kink in the middle of it. It's interesting. So her little tongue goes off to the left, LOL!

If you can only feel it by palpating her vertebra, then I wouldn't think it severe enough to do harm to her. My Spider seems to be growing out of hers, so it's probable that yours will too :)

Thanks Becky... now I have to check her tongue for kinks. :)

She is a fatty so I think that it'll be unnoticeable soon enough. She went from 56g to 156 in no time (full weight mind you).

Can you still feel the spider kink if you feel for it on your's?

Bruce

My only advice Bruce is what was given to use regarding our female with the kink (a much more obvious one than yours seems to have). Make sure she's of very good size and fully matured before you think about breeding her and also consider having the area ultrasounded and a good look over by a vet or very experienced bp breeder before you make the final call.

The only other concern would be if you believe the kink to be genetic or just a small birth defect. For me, if I thought our female's kink was genetic then I would automatically disregard any thought of breeding her, but because Mike and I both feel it was a product of her developing in the cramped confines of a boob egg, we aren't as concerned in that regard.

Hey Jo... that is the problem. I got her from someone that got her from a pet store that got her in a shipment of CB babies.

So at this point I am not able to find out her history. So I am in a bit of flux about that.

One thing I do wonder about, and this is from reading discussions regarding breeding kinked babes, is if the genetic kinks are recessive?

For example, if I breed her, and it is genetic will I see it as a dom trait, in that her babes will display it the first generation, or do I risk it being recessive, and possibly being passed to future generations?

But I can see she is an amazingly robust babe. Alert, excellent feed response, and just a really sharp little snake.

Bruce

I wish I could be of any real help with genetic kinks, Bruce. Since you don't know her background and she does have that kink then the best I'd do if she were mine and was fit for breeding otherwise, is to make sure she's bred to a morph that generally doesn't tend to have any kinking issues.