Ever had a tongueless snake?

[anthonym]

I have a little sidewinder neonate (Crotalus cerastes) that in the 2 months I've owned him, has never ever once flicked out his tongue to smell. I've had to assist with feeding him pinkie heads before, and noticed that I didn't see the black tip of a tongue in his mouth either. Makes it difficult to try different scents on his food when he never smells it! haha. I'm starting to suspect it may have been a birth defect? Was just curious if anyone else has ever had a similar situation.

[JLC]

I can't get past the image of trying to assist feed a sidewinder.

That said, I've only heard of the phenomenon once or twice in all the years I've been doing this, so I'm no help at all. I imagine it's a lot trickier process to look inside the mouth of a sidewinder than it is to look inside a ball python's. But then again...you've already assist fed.......

You're a braver man than me!!

[Sammy412]

I had a corn snake hatchling I got at the Raleigh reptile show that had the same issue, only you could just see the tip of his tongue. It was genetically too short. Unfortunately, he did not make it, but I did notify the breeder.

[iCandiBallPythons]

I can't get past the image of trying to assist feed a sidewinder.

That said, I've only heard of the phenomenon once or twice in all the years I've been doing this, so I'm no help at all. I imagine it's a lot trickier process to look inside the mouth of a sidewinder than it is to look inside a ball python's. But then again...you've already assist fed.......

You're a braver man than me!!

My thoughts exactly

[iCandiBallPythons]

I can't get past the image of trying to assist feed a sidewinder.

That said, I've only heard of the phenomenon once or twice in all the years I've been doing this, so I'm no help at all. I imagine it's a lot trickier process to look inside the mouth of a sidewinder than it is to look inside a ball python's. But then again...you've already assist fed.......

You're a braver man than me!!

Nice word choice there Queenie

[ahunt037]

i heard of this in a dumerils boa and all i heard was that the persons friend owned it for a while then sold it off idk if it had any problems but i just couldnt imagine how it could get as big as it supposedly was i think around 3 or 4 feet maybe more i cant remember

[Vypyrz]

I think I remember a while back, someone had a baby BP that they weren't sure if it had a tongue or not...

ok, found the link. It's post #6...

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...ghlight=tongue

[anthonym]

I can't get past the image of trying to assist feed a sidewinder.

That said, I've only heard of the phenomenon once or twice in all the years I've been doing this, so I'm no help at all. I imagine it's a lot trickier process to look inside the mouth of a sidewinder than it is to look inside a ball python's. But then again...you've already assist fed.......

You're a braver man than me!!

It is a very delicate process of both safety to the snake at that size, and safety to myself. Weighed in at 4 grams when I got him.

[JLC]

It is a very delicate process of both safety to the snake at that size, and safety to myself. Weighed in at 4 grams when I got him.

That's a potent little worm!! I truly hope he finds his tongue!

[Hulihzack]

I saw a Dumeril's boa that had some tissue (birth defect) blocking the tongue from being flicked at all. Our vet tried removing it surgically but it was unsuccessful. I wouldn't say the animal thrived, but it survived with the defect just fine. Just another possibilty