Thats not good...

Well, this morning I had my bell out and while looking him over I noticed something... One of his Spurs is missing?! Can that effect breeding or his over all health? I cleaned up the spot( And I mean spot... theres a pinpoint hole...) So...what is anyones take on this? He was with a female at the time.

Often times when people see a spur is missing, its actually not. A few bad sheds could make a spur look non existant. make sure your snakes shedding process is going good. Hopefully the spur is actually still there.

Then again, it could have been caused from some sort of Trauma, I wouldnt be extremely worried about it, and I am sure he could still breed just fine. If it worries you bad enough, you could take him to a Vet and clear your worries up there. Good Luck to You.:banana:

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Originally Posted by XGetSome

Often times when people see a spur is missing, its actually not. A few bad sheds could make a spur look non existant. make sure your snakes shedding process is going good. Hopefully the spur is actually still there.

Then again, it could have been caused from some sort of Trauma, I wouldnt be extremely worried about it, and I am sure he could still breed just fine. If it worries you bad enough, you could take him to a Vet and clear your worries up there. Good Luck to You.:banana:

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I'M positive its not from bad sheds. Ive always noticed that that spur has always been a little "off" in it position.

i would assume (and i know what assuming means) that its not too big of a deal. snakes can shed teeth and be fine so they can probably lose spurs and be fine also.

I'm not really sure how a snake would "lose" a spur. They're actually a part of their bone structure, kind of an "evolutionary remnant" of their pelvis. It's possible that it's just retracted somehow. I'd think if you had an x-ray done it would still show up.

Heh heh.... a ball with one spur is like a man with one testicle:rofl:

Seriously, I doubt that this is an issue to worry about, if the snake is feeding and shedding nicely then I would not worry too much. If you need further reassurance then pop to your local herp vet and get the pro's evaluation.

The spur is actually built up shed. Freaked me out when Tim Bailey popped the spurs right off of one of my males to prove it to me. They've built back up.

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Originally Posted by rabernet

The spur is actually built up shed. Freaked me out when Tim Bailey popped the spurs right off of one of my males to prove it to me. They've built back up.

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Yup. I just read something about it in the Barker's book. I'll write more when I go home & re-read it...lol.

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Originally Posted by rabernet

The spur is actually built up shed. Freaked me out when Tim Bailey popped the spurs right off of one of my males to prove it to me. They've built back up.

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That would freak me out haha.

My het. ablino male lost a spur once. I flipped out. It's now growing back. ^_^

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Originally Posted by rabernet

The spur is actually built up shed. Freaked me out when Tim Bailey popped the spurs right off of one of my males to prove it to me. They've built back up.

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:O yeah that would freak me out as well, but good education nonetheless. so, if I'm reading you correctly, a spur coming off is okay as it will build back up? Now I gotta go check my Goliath, one of his spurs came off I gotta see if its back. :D

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Originally Posted by rabernet

The spur is actually built up shed. Freaked me out when Tim Bailey popped the spurs right off of one of my males to prove it to me. They've built back up.

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Funny you should bring that up Robin. I was thinking of that incident when I read this thread. The spur is still probably there. What you are used to looking at is about 3 to 5 layers of built up shed on the actual spur. The spur is actually white, and what you see id the miscolored retained shed on the spur (brownish tan color). I would be willing to bet that you will see it build back up over the next few sheds. With that said, they do not need all of that extra shed on the spur to use it, as they don't actually hang on with the spur. They only use it to tickle or stimulate the female (I think it is kind of sign to let the female know that they are in position).

p.s. after rereading a few posts, I wanted to clarify that the spur is not the retained shed. You can pop the retained shed off, and the spur is still there.

Hope that helps,