I have an emergency i think!?

Hey guys im new to this site i just bought my first ball python. Iv owned corns and kings so i know a few things about snake and when i was looking my new snake over by his butt for lack of better words he has like two claw type things like they look like two cats nails. Its really getting me worried is it infected or something or is this just normal please help guys.

It is normal for pythons. They are called spurs.

That is normal. Those are the spurs that are remnants of limbs that they had when they were lizards. No worries it is a good thing ok.

Yeah, they are vestigial organs, no longer in use but they are still there. No worries :)

they use these for mateing its fine

this made me lol.

thanks guys whoohoo now im not worried ill post some pics of him for you guys to see its a pastel male 2.5yrs old.

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Originally Posted by mainbutter

this made me lol.

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x2

i hope this workshttp://i401.photobucket.com/albums/p.../moto_0204.jpg

http://i401.photobucket.com/albums/p.../moto_0203.jpg

does he have a pastel on his hands!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Originally Posted by dc1

does he have a pastel on his hands!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Possibly but from the pictures a very underfed snake

thats what i was told it was and it didnt look the same as the normals at the show so id belive that i have a pastel indeed.

oh yea and it cost more but thats obvious lol and yea the pics r from my cell so there not real good he looks alot better in person

He's definitely very thin. Hopefully he'll eat well for you and you can get him fattened up. He's pretty, but has some missed meal cramps for sure! ;)

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Originally Posted by tattlife2001

That is normal. Those are the spurs that are remnants of limbs that they had when they were lizards. No worries it is a good thing ok.

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Originally Posted by Hock3ymonk3y

Yeah, they are vestigial organs, no longer in use but they are still there. No worries :)

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Why does it have to be an evolution thing??? Why can't it just be something they use for mating? A two legged lizard? What happend with the front legs? Sorry, I don't believe a bit in evolution.

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Originally Posted by twistedtails

Why does it have to be an evolution thing??? Why can't it just be something they use for mating? A two legged lizard? What happend with the front legs? Sorry, I don't believe a bit in evolution.

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Yeah...evolution is a lot sillier than a magic man in the clouds...:rolleyes:

Regardless of your beliefs, your post/attitude comes off very condescending...:gj:

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Originally Posted by flameethrower

Possibly but from the pictures a very underfed snake

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I agree, feed that snake...

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Originally Posted by twistedtails

Why does it have to be an evolution thing??? Why can't it just be something they use for mating? A two legged lizard? What happend with the front legs? Sorry, I don't believe a bit in evolution.

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There are zero-legged lizards... they just lost all their limbs without any vestigial remnants of their evolutionary past as some boas and pythons have ;)

I am pretty sure the spurs are just layers upon layers of skin, kind of like finger nails. They can get very big and they can fall off.

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Originally Posted by twistedtails

Why does it have to be an evolution thing??? Why can't it just be something they use for mating? A two legged lizard? What happend with the front legs? Sorry, I don't believe a bit in evolution.

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Things that actually exist do not rely on you to believe in them. They are the remnants of what were once hind limbs. Whales have hind limb remnants as well, you can see this when you look at their skeleton. I'm sorry that you do not like science, but not only is the evidence for evolution overwhelming, we have actually had the opportunity to witness it in action recently. A new finch species has just evolved in the Galapagos, and we got to see it happen from start until finish. Evolution can happen more quickly than we initially thought--less than a hundred years, rather than tens of thousands.

The spurs are situated over hind-limb remnants, making it clear that they are claws. These claws are used by the male to tickle the female into position for mating. Females have spurs as well, but they don't use them for anything we have been able to detect. In case you were going to question whether these were REALLY hind-limb remnants, the answer is "Yes, they are--we can see the legs begin to form in embryonic development just as they do in other animals that have legs".

If they were JUST claws, with no underlying bone to support the idea that they are hind limbs, you might have a point (except for the embryonic evidence, of course). Unfortunately, that is not the case. There are bone remnants of the hind limbs visible in the snake's skeleton as well. Sorry.

Here is a great article that describes not only that snakes have lost their legs, but why they lost them, and how they lost them:
http://www.hoxfulmonsters.com/2008/0...ne-expression/

You see, our understanding of genetics has enabled us to learn how evolution works on a very fine level. We now understand in many cases which genes have to change to make an animal's body plan change. Those who do not believe in evolution are probably going to like THIS fact even less--we are exceptionally close to being able to create animals that look however we want them to look, and behave how we want them to behave.
Here are some examples of the interesting variations we've created:
http://www.exploratorium.edu/exhibit...ant_flies.html
My personal favorite is the fly without any eyes, and the one with legs where its antennae should be.

Lack of belief in evolution in anyone working with animals and doing selective breeding is frankly ridiculous. In this day and age, it's like believing people didn't really land on the moon, or that diseases are caused by 'miasma'. I don't have a problem with peoples' faiths, but when they place them over science, it causes problems for them and for society. Evolution isn't an opinion, it's actually happening right now, before our eyes.

Life still has secrets, but fewer and fewer as time passes. We have delved into its most intimate places, and we have seen things once entirely private. Genetic and evolutionary science may save or doom us, but ignoring it is preposterous.
Or, to put it more simply--you can believe whatever you like. You can believe that invisible pink unicorns are dancing in your living room, but expecting other people to not only respect and accommodate your belief, but also change their beliefs to match yours, is going to get you absolutely no where. The world is what it is, not what you want it to be, or believe it to be.

There are many examples of evolution that we can see happen in real time. Grow bacteria in a petri dish, now add an antibiotic. Now start a new colony of bacteria in a new petri dish with the survivors. Add the same antibiotic and you will see more survivors the second time around. This is a repeatable experiment that shows you evolution in action.

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Originally Posted by twistedtails

A two legged lizard? What happend with the front legs? Sorry, I don't believe a bit in evolution.

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You see the Ajolote and the Pythons flipped a coin. The Pythons got the back legs and the Ajolote got the front. Look it up.

I know you just got the snake. She is big and needs to be brought back up to wt. Do you have an age. She's a beauty!

It's really hard to tell from the pic, exactly how big she is but I'm guessing around 3 foot. I'd personally be feeding her adult mice or hopper rats. (does she take f/t's?) I'd feed her 2-4 every 7 days. Some people will tell you to feed her more than that and it's a personal decision but I don't think trying to give her huge amounts of food to bulk her up more quickly is the best for her. She will slowly fill out. You don't want to feed her so much she regurgitates it all back.

She does look like she her sides are concave so I'd also be soaking her in luke warm pedialyte daily for 3-4 days and make very sure she has nice fresh water, every single day. If she is dehydrated she will not tolerate the food as well and can get constipated. Especially since she already looks dehydrated to me.

There are so many great resources on this forum. Any questions you have, someone should be able to help you with.

I would say she should be eating a small rat at the least. That snake looks to be pretty big.

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Originally Posted by Egapal

You see the Ajolote and the Pythons flipped a coin. The Pythons got the back legs and the Ajolote got the front. Look it up.

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That is the most logical answer I have heard yet!:taz:

Get some heat on that girl and start pounding the rats into her. She looks like she hasn't eaten for a year.

Good Luck!
Jim Smith

she is a very pretty snake...a little skinny but you can fix that no problem! :D

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Originally Posted by twistedtails

Why does it have to be an evolution thing??? Why can't it just be something they use for mating? A two legged lizard? What happend with the front legs? Sorry, I don't believe a bit in evolution.

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Not to start a religious thing, but I am a Christian and I believe in evolution, whats not to believe? It has been scientifically proven and you can even see for yourself in the experiment provided earlier. I think God put animals on this planet and they just evolved to be better suited if they like move or something to a new area, God gave them that "ability" so they could survive as a species.

That is my opinion and I hope I didn't start a religious debate, be respectful if you must say something about others' religion!

:hijackd: Please people! There is already a thread going in the Quarantine section where you can discuss and argue your ideas and beliefs on religion, evolution vs creationism, until you are blue in the face or your fingers fall off. Please take it there...

well guys i just weighed him he weights 780grams he is two and a half years old and yes i was told to heed him f/t small rats thats what the breeder was feeding him

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Originally Posted by dirtbiker250

well guys i just weighed him he weights 780grams he is two and a half years old and yes i was told to heed him f/t small rats thats what the breeder was feeding him

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I can't really tell from the pic exactly how thin he is but I would say start him off on a rat somewhere around 35-40g or so and see how he does and gradually work him up to about a 60-70g size. Make sure you keep a record of when you feed, what size prey you offered, whether or not he ate it and so forth. It's also a good idea to document when he poops and sheds. That way you can kind of anticipate what kind of behavior to expect from your snake and so forth...

he is easily over 4 inches in diameter he is pretty big i think and im not sure why everyone is calling him skinny 800grams is breeding size isnt it.

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Originally Posted by dirtbiker250

he is easily over 4 inches in diameter he is pretty big i think and im not sure why everyone is calling him skinny 800grams is breeding size isnt it.

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800 grams is breeding weight for a healthy snake.

Goes same for females. If a female was 3000grams before being gravid and loses weight after laying eggs, then she is not a healthy weight to breed unless weight is gained back. Even a 2500gram female can look under weight after giving eggs, but she is still considered breedable by weight, but wont look like it.

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Originally Posted by dirtbiker250

he is easily over 4 inches in diameter he is pretty big i think and im not sure why everyone is calling him skinny 800grams is breeding size isnt it.

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If you look at the full length picture, the snake appears to be somewhat triangulated along the body. Usually that means the snake is too thin. Take a few additional pictures and we'll see if our opinion changes.

Also, if you take additional pictures, put something in the shot that we can use for a scale. Maybe a dollar bill, a ruler or something we can relate to.

Just going by your picture, I'll stand by my remarks.
Jim Smith

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Originally Posted by dirtbiker250

he is easily over 4 inches in diameter he is pretty big i think and im not sure why everyone is calling him skinny 800grams is breeding size isnt it.

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Eight hundred grams on a long snake isn't the same as 800 grams on a short snake. His body has a triangular shape to it in your pictures, not a rounded look, which indicates that he is under-weight.

For comparison - you can see the spine on yours, vs a male at about the same age the picture was taken at about 1000 grams:

http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e9...ton/Winny2.jpg

and then yours:

http://i401.photobucket.com/albums/p.../moto_0203.jpg

Can you see how much more filled out the first picture is? This male is now 1500 grams.

thanks because i mean im new to the python world so honestly every bp looks big to me and its hard for me to imagine mine being underweight cause he is soo heavy lol but yes i will work to fatin him up.

Wow -- 800 grams at 2 1/2 years old? Does that mean I am overfeading my BP? He is just a little over a year old, and has just recently topped 1000g. I feed him a small rat once a week. The last rat he ate weighed 84g.

Does his weight seem right? I was thinking about adjusting his feeding frequency to once every 10 days.

-- George

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Originally Posted by chapskis1

Does that mean I am overfeading my BP? He is just a little over a year old, and has just recently topped 1000g. I feed him a small rat once a week. The last rat he ate weighed 84g.

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Sounds about right to me. Congrats on having a good eater! :gj:

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Originally Posted by chapskis1

Wow -- 800 grams at 2 1/2 years old? Does that mean I am overfeading my BP? He is just a little over a year old, and has just recently topped 1000g. I feed him a small rat once a week. The last rat he ate weighed 84g.

Does his weight seem right? I was thinking about adjusting his feeding frequency to once every 10 days.

-- George

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i couldnt tell you but just for the record i didnt raise it i just bought it i feed all my reptiles properly.