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Color Change BHP
My black-headed python(Aspidites melanocephalus) underwent a major color change during her most recent shed cycle. I think it's pretty interesting stuff so figured I'd share. This phenomenon seems to be more prevalent in some of the "Swiss" line critters so there is a genetic factor involved though mode of inheritance and exact cause of the thing are still unknowns.
This first picture is what she looked like just a month or so prior. A beautiful(if I say so myself) black-headed python:https://i839.photobucket.com/albums/...pso4r36tir.jpg
Here she is after shedding. It's neat and all but I personally prefer her original look. We'll see what I think after another shed or two:https://i839.photobucket.com/albums/...psxcskqfhr.jpg
and a couple bonus pics because I'm pretty darn excited to be incubating these 8 massive eggs:https://i839.photobucket.com/albums/...ps4eedbhnb.jpg
https://i839.photobucket.com/albums/...psjhkd8jeq.jpg
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That IS a big change, but since she has recently laid all those huge eggs, I personally suspect that her color change is due to some sort of nutritional deficiency-
it takes a lot out of a snake to reproduce. Have you tried giving her a good reptile vitamin/mineral supplement (maybe added to her f/t prey)-? I would...
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Re: Color Change BHP
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bogertophis
That IS a big change, but since she has recently laid all those huge eggs, I personally suspect that her color change is due to some sort of nutritional deficiency-
it takes a lot out of a snake to reproduce. Have you tried giving her a good reptile vitamin/mineral supplement (maybe added to her f/t prey)-? I would...
That's one of the theories and I've heard of at least one person where the snake colored back up again after calcium supplements. The fact that this cropped up on my girl during egg production lends further weight to the deficiency/imbalance arguments. It could also be a coincidence and I'm hesitant to add supplements as I've always been very cautious about what I feed these critters, keeping the menu lean and diverse. I prefer to let my animals regain what they've lost through breeding at a more natural pace as opposed to pumping them back up quickly. Color changing also isn't limited to egg producing females, nonbreeding females and males alike can be affected. It seems to most often occur gradually over time with animals changing back, once started, being the less common scenario. The fellow who I bought this girl from has had multiple customers contact him about their animals changing color years later. Neither of the parents are color changers but they have been traced back to the "Swiss" line so it definitely feels like there's a genetic component involved. The fact that it can hit males too leads me away from the sudden deficiency line of thinking but doesn't altogether negate some sort of imbalance. As you probably know, a lot of captive BHP are overweight and since these color changes don't seem to occur until animals have some years of growth, it could very well be an imbalance issue. There's also the theory that it's an autoimmune related condition, something similar to vitiligo.
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Well, with 50+ days of incubation and hardly a hiccup, I was kind of ready for a bit of heartache as this is my first time incubating BHPs and was basically experimenting with the eggs. Yesterday was day 56 and I noticed I had some pippers! I also noticed the smell was slightly off in one of my tubs(I setup several egg tubs for this clutch so I could mess around with medium/humidity). Sure enough, 2 of the snakes in this tub had expired. They even made it so far as to cut some slits with their egg tooth but I guess not enough to poke out. Due to the amount of bubbles I found when manually opening these eggs, I'm assuming they drowned. It's sad but when I feed those beautiful bodies off to some other snakes, it takes a fair bit of the sting away seeing it go to a good cause. Today I had 3 that exited fully from their eggs with 3 still remaining in the eggs and looking solid - alert and tongues flicking. To say I'm excited is an understatement with one in particular blowing my mind. I can't wait to see these things after they shed out!
https://i839.photobucket.com/albums/...ps6bpvqzyq.jpg
https://i839.photobucket.com/albums/...psmijyette.jpg
Interesting chin mark on this little one. The sire has a little tan spec on his chin but not nearly to this degree.
https://i839.photobucket.com/albums/...psdnwekrre.jpg
https://i839.photobucket.com/albums/...ps6uaj6hzh.jpg
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Re: Color Change BHP
Congratulations John! Well done sir. BHPs are one of the most beautiful snakes around.
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Congrats John! I love hearing about more BHPs.
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Re: Color Change BHP
Congratulations there so cool, love the glossy heads
Sent from my CLT-L09 using Tapatalk
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They look amazing, you must be over the moon.
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Re: Color Change BHP
They look adorable. :D
Sorry you lost a couple though - is there any info on cutting BHP eggs and the results?
It's a species I know very little about but the little I have read makes them sound facinating. :)
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Wow my dream snake, wonder if my husband would notice one that big :rolleyes::rofl:
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RE: original question-- I wonder if it's hormones that are causing the color change?
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Re: Color Change BHP
Quote:
Originally Posted by dr del
They look adorable. :D
Sorry you lost a couple though - is there any info on cutting BHP eggs and the results?
It's a species I know very little about but the little I have read makes them sound facinating. :)
They're kind of notorious for failing to hatch or spontaneously dying off during incubation. So much that it feels like there might be some missing key component or parameter that isn't dialed in just right yet in a captive setting. It's hard to imagine them being this bad at hatching in the wild. I set up multiple tubs so I could mess around with stuff to hopefully see what'd work best for me. Even the ones I had set up with 0 moisture added(bone dry perlite and sphagnum) released plenty of moisture on their own to fog up the lid where I'd have to pop the top and wipe condensation before it started to drip - water contact on eggs is largely accepted to kill quickly with this species. I did end up adding water for the dry batch after they started dimpling too much for my comfort about halfway through incubation. I think that having to open the container to wipe the lid was the culprit here since there wasn't a separate source of moisture to bump humidity back up once closed again. I have a feeling I'm closer to my goal of hands off incubation with the bone dry ones if I can only figure out a way to prevent me having to open the tubs so much. Maybe a sloping sheet of plastic over the eggs so water will bead down to the side instead of risking the drip would do the trick? Then again, maybe the air exchange of daily egg box opening is a boon. I was popping tops daily from pretty much the first week. That will be something I mess around with the next go around. As for cutting, I think it's pretty much the norm for this species. I personally will continue waiting until I notice the first pips to cut the rest. I might have been able to save the the ones that drowned if I cut a day earlier but I'd rather lose one or two and be on time with the rest than cut early and fret over that the remainder of incubation. Even the ones that had pipped and poked their heads out didn't make large enough slits and were basically stuck until I widened the hole a bit.
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Re: Color Change BHP
Quote:
Originally Posted by FollowTheSun
RE: original question-- I wonder if it's hormones that are causing the color change?
Could very well be hormones. I don't think I've ever seen a color changer that revealed itself before getting into puberty/maturity size.
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