Something's Different Here

Hey everybody, I just wanted to show you all a few pictures of the latest addition to my collection. She hatched out about a week ago and is fresh out of the egg.

Do you see anything different?
http://i1262.photobucket.com/albums/...e/DSCN3559.jpg

What about here, anything different?
http://i1262.photobucket.com/albums/...e/DSCN3566.jpg

How about now?
http://i1262.photobucket.com/albums/...e/DSCN3561.jpg

Okay for anybody who didn't catch it here is the obvious picture
http://i1262.photobucket.com/albums/...Comparison.png

Odd that her head is so narrow. I wonder why ? Do you anticipate it will cause any feeding problems, or is it too early to say?

Gale

Its like the bigger jaw muscles that should be at the back of her mouth are towards the front of her mouth:confused:

Here is the story... Two years ago we rescued a very old snake. Her name is Harriet. She put on weight quick, so we bred her to our mojave. She laid 9 eggs and every one of them miscarried.

I credited the miscarriages to her age. I thought I'd give her one more chance to breed, and paired the same mojave with her this last breeding season. She laid 9 beautiful eggs. Six survived. We got two mojaves and 4 normals. This narrow headed mojave is one of the mojave's we got from her.

The reason why I tell you the mothers story is because I am pretty certain that, as with all animals, the older they get the more chance for failure during embryonic development. As such, this mojave is likely the result of non-lethal mitotic failure. I'm thinking there is a trisomy disease here such as trisomy 21 in humans (down syndrome).

She has never flicked her toungue and her behavior obviously points to mental retardation. She is a sweetheart but I still don't know if she can open and close her mouth.

Has anyone else seen this?

I'd love to hear your input!

Poor little lamb.

What will you do with her if she can eat ? Especially if you believe she might be mentally imbalanced.

My heart aches for her, such a sweet little baby.

Gale

If she cant eat i would think that culling would be the humane option here :(

Ive never seen this before. I think your theory does make ALOT of sense though Dave:gj:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by angllady2

Poor little lamb.

What will you do with her if she can eat ? Especially if you believe she might be mentally imbalanced.

My heart aches for her, such a sweet little baby.

Gale

---

She really is a sweet little baby. The clutch offspring are still together in their little tub and she is so different than the rest. She doesn't spend much time in the bunch pile with the others. She is very inquisitive but can't flick her little toungue. She has a sweet little spirit that's grabbed my heart. I will do whatever I can too keep her kicking. Even if it requires extra money and more effort.

Best of luck with her! I think you should name her Ducky.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Mike41793

If she cant eat i would think that culling would be the humane option here :(

Ive never seen this before. I think your theory does make ALOT of sense though Dave:gj:

---

I hope it doesn't come to this, but if all is tried with no success I will not let her starve to death.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Punkymom

Best of luck with her! I think you should name her Ducky.

---

Hah... that's perfect! Ducky it is! :sweeet:

Narrow heads aren't completely uncommon in ball hatchlings. I've seen it a few times...even seen them on lists for sale as well...most do just fine.

have you tried to feed her

How much does she weigh? My undersized hatchlings usually have very narrow heads, but as has been mentioned, they do just fine. She does have a very fat body for that head, though.

You said she shows signs of 'mental retardation'....just what exactly does that mean? (How would you judge an intelligence deficit in a ball python?)

If you meant that she has neurological symptoms/discoordination, that's entirely different. Does she have a visible jaw deformity? Have you looked in her mouth? (Use a soft rubber cake spatula to open it).

Jaw deformity X neuro symptoms to me says 'incubator temperature swing'. Dips or highs past a certain point can and will cause deformities and losses very quickly.

I posted up a boy that just hatched for us a couple of days ago. Has a way more major head deformity. He does not flick his tongue either. Has a noticable spin also. I doubt he will make it,? but only time will tell. Good luck with yours.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by JaGv

have you tried to feed her

---

Not yet. She still hasn't shed.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by WingedWolfPsion

How much does she weigh? My undersized hatchlings usually have very narrow heads, but as has been mentioned, they do just fine. She does have a very fat body for that head, though.

You said she shows signs of 'mental retardation'....just what exactly does that mean? (How would you judge an intelligence deficit in a ball python?)

If you meant that she has neurological symptoms/discoordination, that's entirely different. Does she have a visible jaw deformity? Have you looked in her mouth? (Use a soft rubber cake spatula to open it).

Jaw deformity X neuro symptoms to me says 'incubator temperature swing'. Dips or highs past a certain point can and will cause deformities and losses very quickly.

---

She weighed in at 80 grams out of the egg. You have to see this head in person. It is definitely a deformation. She does not flick her tongue. Her behavior is obviously different from the others. I cannot definitively say that she's less intelligent but something is off. She is definitely uncoordinated as well. No I haven't looked in her mouth. I personally like to wait till they have at least shed and become comfortable in their new world before harassing them. Re: incubator temps. Very unlikely. I keep a tight watch on this and temps never reached more than 90 or got less than 88.5. Any other ideas?

Sad! Any pics?

Response to Gloryhound

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by coolballsdave

Hah... that's perfect! Ducky it is! :sweeet:

---

Awe! Yay!