Snake's Back Popping

[Imp]

I am not encouraging anyone to do this and in fact no one should. This, obviously, is VERY DANGEROUS and could result in serious injury to your friend. Who knows what the long term effects are as well.

My snake. Dante. Who is around 3 1/2 feet enjoys climbing around sometimes when I hold him. The other day I had him on my left arm and held out my right to encourage him to stretch out to reach it. When he made it I close my hand around him and began to pull him off my left arm gently to set him back down on the floor. His back crackled over a few inches of his back. Immediately I stopped and just held him. Fearing I broke his back or something. He immediately relaxed and held still. Very content. A few minutes passed and he began moving again. A few days latter I tried this. Holding him in the same fashion and not really squeezing with my hands, just supporting, I began to draw my hands (slide them) down him in opposite directions starting relatively from the middle. With about as much pressure as it takes to lift five sheets of paper his back started to crackle and I popped the majority of his back. Again this did not bother him at all and in fact he seemed very much to enjoy himself and was very lively and happy after it was done and he had relaxed for a bit.

What does anyone think? Is this healthy? Dante seemed very pleased with the whole thing. Obviously after that initial experiment I haven't tried it again.

[Darkice]

You really should stop yanking on your snake.

[grim reaper in NY]

I sure wouldn't try anything like that with any of my snakes. If you suspect an injury, a reputable Herp vet is the ONLY way to go.

[stevenkeogh]

If I am understanding your actions, I would suspect that it has nothing to do with the snake's back.
The action you described sounds more like you are simply stretching the snake's skin.
I haven't paid enough attention to when in their cycle this typically happens, but as you run your hands down the snake's body and apply the right amount of pressure there can be many small "cracking" or "popping" sounds as the top layer of skin stretches and slides over the next layer.
-Steven

[Kaorte]

"What does anyone think? Is this healthy? Dante seemed very pleased with the whole thing. Obviously after that initial experiment I haven't tried it again."

I think that it probably didn't hurt him but I also don't think it would be considered healthy.

Just curious, how can you tell when your snake is pleased?

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

I doubt he's hurt.. but don't do it anymore. a snake's back is not meant to be cracked! And actually, you can tell when a snake is "pleased" so to speak, as opposed to scared, angry, lethargic, hurt, annoyed, etc. At least, I can. If the snake remained complacent during this ordeal, obviously, it wasn't upsetting or unerving him, and it definitely wasn't hurting him. Sure, he didn't feel "happy" so to speak, like the smiling kind of happy, but you can tell a snake's general mood and feeling about something just by how it is acting. When a snake is hurt and you touch the spot where you know it's hurting, what do they do?! they cringe in pain. I just wouldn't do whatever you were doing anymore. You risk accidentally seriously hurting your snake.

[gp_dragsandballs]

I think I know what your talking about. Sometimes when I stretch out my red tail from a balled up position to put her around my neck or whatever I hear a slight pop but she never reacted to it. I'm not sure what it is but maybe someone more experienced could shed some light on this?

[justind]

Just curious, how can you tell when your snake is pleased?

I was wondering the same thing..