Rescue Snake - spine anomaly?

[Aercadia]

DH keeps eyes on Craigslist and spotted a "FTGH ball python" ad posted and looked into it... sad story: [dude] acquires BP, [dude] decides BP isn't cool anymore so [roomie] starts "caring" for it, [dude] splits and leaves the snake behind so [roomie] feeds it "when he has time", [roomie] and [other roomies] are being evicted and do not have the resources to continue to care for BP or take it with them.

BP is "female" (we are calling her a girl for now, since that's what they posted - we will determine for sure at a later time) - when DH went to pick her up, she was living in a 55 gal tank with ground coconut husk substrate, a "bowl" of filthy water, a tree branch laid on the bottom of the tank, no hides, a tiny head pad stuck to the side, and at least 4 sheds and a number of poops littering the enclosure, with more bad shed stuck all over her. [roomie] said that [dude] had her for about a year before he bailed, nobody has handled her at all since her acquisition, and he said she was eating "hopper rats".

I give this guy props for at least posting the ad and trying to find her a home, instead of just tossing her in a dumpster or abandoning her when they vacate. We were the only ones who answered the ad. I'm glad we did. This poor girl was in rough shape. She currently weighs in at 336 grams, and looks skinny. DH soaked her and cleaned the bad shed off, and she's looking a little better for that small effort. She is a nervous girl, but seems like she will come around. We set her up in quarantine, and we're not sure if we will keep the 55 gal tank she came with (we don't really have anywhere to put a tank that large) or if we'll clean it up and put it back up on CL.

Before we put her to bed, I took a couple of pictures of an anomaly on her back - at one point along her spine ridge, there is a dip and then a bump that looks "off" to us. We're wondering if this is a kink or some kind of spine damage, or maybe caused by a dietary deficiency. We looked at a number of pics/videos of kinked snakes, and it doesn't look nearly as severe as a lot of the kinks represented, so we're not sure... thought we would try and get some input from the good folks here.

[Reinz]

Hats off to y'all for rescuing that poor girl. Good to know that she is in good hands now. As far as the back? It's hard to say by the photos if trauma was involved or not. That kind of information may be up to a vet. Besides good nutrition, husbandry, and TLC, there's probably not much more to be done anyhow.

Best

[anicatgirl]

Yup, pretty much what Reinz said. I would ponder if maybe she got dropped onto something... There's just really no way to know for sure though. I would have a vet check her over though, just to be safe. Good on you for taking her out of her bad situation

[Asherah]

We took a rescue in with a spot like that but much more pronounced. He had a bump and a bend of about 45 degrees. No back story on him so we didn't know if it was an injury or kink. He could move his tail and potty normally so I assume it was a kinking issue rather than a spinal injury.

[bcr229]

Looks like a minor kink. It's nothing to worry about if it doesn't interfere with the snake eating, shedding, or going potty.

[Albert Clark]

Kudos to you guys for taking responsibility! Yeah, it could be old rib fractures that still have some swelling and inflammation. Only way to really tell is probably a xray and physical exam by a herp vet though.

[Aercadia]

Thanks everyone. We're going to keep an eye on it for now, DH is going to see [roomie] has any idea what might have happened (if known trauma), and we'll watch to see if she has any problem eating or pooping... I strongly suspect that her bad shed was due to an extreme lack of humidity in her enclosure, but no telling until she sheds again whether this presents a problem for her (since we have no idea how long she's had it). It doesn't appear to actively hurt her, since she allowed us to feel around it without showing signs of greater distress or attempting to escape, and it doesn't appear to inhibit her ability to move at all. In the mean time, I'll see what DH thinks about getting her x-rayed. I sincerely appreciate the responses, it feels good to have the safety net of a friendly community to give advice <3

[JoshSloane]

Kinked spine for sure. Could have been congenital, or some trauma/husbandry and nutrition issues early in life.

[JoshSloane]

Weird. The guy in that picture has the chemical structure for the amino acid Tryptophan on his shirt.

[Reinz]

Weird. The guy in that picture has the chemical structure for the amino acid Tryptophan on his shirt.

So that's what it was!

I was trying to read it, but couldn't keep my eyes open after eating my turkey sandwich.