Athena, my eyeless girl. For Pat at Action Reptiles.

She eats like a champ and is getting big!! I had her out the other day, and she decided to practice being handcuffs. :D

Athena:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...kes/Athena.jpg

Isn't she beautiful ?

Gale

wow weird? i have a friend i guess you could say who has a red tail boa that was born without eyes just like that too? and yes she is still beautiful none the less :D shes a one of a kind girl :)

Yes she is beautiful! And she has no eyes?! Amazing!

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Wow, that is crazy! She's really beautiful, though, and it's great that she is otherwise healthy. The coolest thing about animals, is they don't even realize when they have a disability... just normal life to them, and they make up for it with their other senses. :)

From her standpoint, she doesn't even know that she's "blind". :D As long as she's eating well and is healthy, there's nothing wrong.

Beautiful girl!

Athena came from a clutch Pat had who suffered we believe from incubation stress.

The few hatchlings that survived to birth were deformed. Athena happened to be born without eyes. Other than that she appears healthy. And no, she has no clue she's "disabled", and she sure doesn't let it slow her down. We are toying with the theory she can sense/see shadows, because she reacts if your hand passes in front of her tub between the light and her tub when she is out and about.

Gale

Quote:

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Originally Posted by angllady2

Athena came from a clutch Pat had who suffered we believe from incubation stress.

The few hatchlings that survived to birth were deformed. Athena happened to be born without eyes. Other than that she appears healthy. And no, she has no clue she's "disabled", and she sure doesn't let it slow her down. We are toying with the theory she can sense/see shadows, because she reacts if your hand passes in front of her tub between the light and her tub when she is out and about.

Gale

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Not sensing shadows but seeing in Infrared. They have 2 ways of seeing the world. If one goes out they have the other as your girl is using.

Really ? Even from inside her tub with my hand 8 or 10 inches away?

I didn't know they could sense that far through plastic.

That's pretty cool.

Gale

Really amazing BP! Thanks for sharing! :gj:

w0w - Thanks for sharing!

Their ability to "See" infrared heat is pretty spectacular. I'd say they rely on that more than their vision--I don't think their vision is that good anyway, especially not since they are nocturnal predators. They rely more on seeing heat since not many animals can see well with just their eyesight in the dark. :gj:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by shelliebear

Their ability to "See" infrared heat is pretty spectacular. I'd say they rely on that more than their vision--I don't think their vision is that good anyway, especially not since they are nocturnal predators. They rely more on seeing heat since not many animals can see well with just their eyesight in the dark. :gj:

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Their vision is VERY good believe it or not.

Ive walked into snake room, turn on the light and hear a TON of hides smash the tub from them freaking out and hiding. Or if i move too fast around the cage during the day.

Look closely though the tub and watch their pupils follow you.

Hi Gale, Thanks for this update thread.. :gj: She is getting big and looks so good it makes me soo happy... :D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by angllady2

Athena came from a clutch Pat had who suffered we believe from incubation stress.

The few hatchlings that survived to birth were deformed. Athena happened to be born without eyes. Other than that she appears healthy. And no, she has no clue she's "disabled", and she sure doesn't let it slow her down. We are toying with the theory she can sense/see shadows, because she reacts if your hand passes in front of her tub between the light and her tub when she is out and about.

Gale

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Just wanted to correct this though. She was part of a 6 egg clutch 3 hatchlings were perfectly normal and the other 3 had some kind of deformity. 2 babies had shorter bottom jaws. Of these 2 one survived and is doing well with another nice family and the other unfortunately didn't make it(this was the only one to not make it :( ). Athena here was the only one born with no eyes but was eating and acting normal from the very beginning. Gail had mentioned that she was interested in her if I was going to re-home her. After talking with her realized this little angel would be in great hands and I very happy that I was right.. :D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by RichsBallPythons

Their vision is VERY good believe it or not.

Ive walked into snake room, turn on the light and hear a TON of hides smash the tub from them freaking out and hiding. Or if i move too fast around the cage during the day.

Look closely though the tub and watch their pupils follow you.

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I second what Rich said they do have pretty good eye sight but their IR vision is a little better. As I have been in my snake room at night with no light and can here hides banging around as I walk across the room. I believe like a person who has lost sight their other senses kick in to make up for it, might be what happens with this little sweet heart.


Thanks again Gail for the update.. :gj:

Lovely girl! Glad she gets along well without them and she is just beautiful the way she is! I'm glad to hear the other babies mostly turned out ok as well. Got to admire anyone, snake or human, or otherwise who lives their life to the fullest despite the things nature or genetics throws at them! Thanks for sharing and may you two have long happy lives together!

Thats awesome glad to hear she gets to enjoy her life even though she doesnt have eye sight. She is beautiful

Hey Pat!

I tried to find that thread where we first got talking about her and couldn't, so I was trying to remember how it went. I knew there were three hatchlings that had problems, but for some reason I thought they were the only three. :confused:

Anyhow, as you can see she's doing great here and we all adore her. And just as I anticipated, she's on her way to becoming an ambassador snake for fearful people. It's hard for anyone not to be in awe of how normal she is even though she cannot see. I can't thank you enough for allowing us to share the life of this wonderful little girl.

Gale

She certainly is beautiful, and Pat is great, such a great guy and a pleasure to do business with. Eyes or not, she's a looker :)

That's one good looking snake you got there ! Never seen a eyeless before. Thank you very much for sharing, I appreciate it. :)

She is beautiful, and quite unique :)

Awwww, what a unique and beautiful girl you got there :gj:

She's gorgeous! That is so wonderful that you might use her as an education animal, what a heartwarming thing for people to see!

Very cool! She looks nice and chubby!