You guys ever heard of CRACKING you snakes back?

[giaach]

So I have a friend that works at a local Petland. I told him about my new spider and he was stoked to see him. So today I brought him in to check out.
Lawrence has owned snakes since he was about 7 and has worked with Ball Pythons, Cobras, Diamond Backs, Anacondas, Retics, Boas the list goes on... We started taking about caring for BPs and he asked if I give him baths, or crack his back. I was like "yeah sometimes I let him soak in warm water to get a bad shed off, but cracking their back?!" He looked at me and was like "yea, just like you sometimes stand up and stretch your back out, snakes need that too." I was a little shocked but after we gave Kingsley bath to help him loosen up any blockage Lawrence proceeded to massage his sides (gently) and then once he was relaxed he slowly cracked his spine back into alignment. I put my fingers on the sides to feel it and I swear, it felt just like cracking your neck or back, I was amazed! Apparently not only is it good for overall health, but it helps them grow, and digest their food. Oh and by the way Kingsley loooved it, I have never seen a bp so calm and relaxed.

Sooo, Im just wondering if you guys do anything like that with your snakes?

[Furinax]

Ive bever heard of that at all. then again I am a noob. I wouldnt do it to mine, sounds too dangerous. Id mistake "relaxed and calm" for paralyzed.

[Beardedragon]

nope, never heard of it, or want to try it...

[bender29]

Sounds a bit dangerous...

[Monty]

it happened with my pastel one day when i was handling him. all i felt was a line of pops and since then he hasnt had a kink. i dont know if the snake enjoys it but its deffinatly crazy and no i didnt do it. it was the way he was hanging off my hand and when i want to go put him back in the tank he went though my hand and he popped all down his back. i would never crack any animals bones like that. except for mine

[bsd13]

Never heard of anything like this before, but before you take the advise of someone who works at petland, friend or not, you should really get in touch with a qualified vet and run it by them.

[Ophiuchus]

Its happened a couple times with a very boas I've dealt with just by accident. I don't think its something thats required and certainly unsure it's even safe.

Be wary of any advice from some pimple-face doofus from Petland.

[Brimstone111888]

Ah yes there we go.. right there. *POP* paralyzed snake.... Bad idea imo.

[BulldogBalls]

I've never heard of a snake needing its vertebrae realigned, I can imagine it would happen naturally or unintentionally but I would be extremely wary of anyone practicing chiropractic care/adjustments on any animal or human without a license or having studied it in a medical environment. A lot of damage can occur from people attempting to crack each others backs, necks, or various other joints of the body and people have paralyzed their pets by trying to adjust their spines. A client of the vet I used to volunteer at adopted a cat whose hind legs were paralyzed from it's previous owner attempting to crack it's back.

[Ginevive]

I do think that, with the snug tubs that we house our snakes in, it is good to get them out for a stretch every so often. But cracking their back.. sounds dangerous.