Your thoughts? Poor girl..

[grunt_11b]

I would never breed a snake so badly scarred.. She should be put up in a perfect enclosure and fed rats whenever she wants them..!! Treat her like a queen she's been through enough as it is.. Let us know what you decide..

Alan

[Morphie]

I think you guys are right. It sucks because I badly want to test her genetics (she has most of the YB markers according to HGM), but considering what ovulation could do to the wound tissue - if it opened her up again i could never forgive myself.

Her motor functions are normal, I'm happy to say: she climbs and contorts herself like any other snake i have. I had to assist shed her the day after she came home, and every muscle in her body feels normal and strong. I'm wondering how deep of a wound it was - but yeah, it does look pretty amazingly awful, and is a cause for concern.

The guy that sold her to me was talking about pairing her up with his males like it was the most sensible thing in the world to do, which is why I wanted to hear what other people thought - not because I necessarily have plans to breed her.

The poor darling hisses very softly when you first go in and touch her, but she very patiently allowed me to assist her shed (including removing spectacles). She's a very sweet girl and I already love her a great deal.

[akaangela]

I am glad you have decided not to breed her. I agree with all those that said NOT to make her go through that. I have seen how my girls blow up like balloons and it cant be comfortable for them and they dont have any scar tissue on them. I am glad she is living with you and that you know the proper way to care for her. Seems to me she has been to hadies and back again. Poor poor girl.

[Bruce Whitehead]

As far as breeding, really not sure on that... and it looks to me to be a tearing scar... you see them sometimes when a snake escapes an enclosure with a wire lid... they basically scrape their entire dorsal in so doing. But yet also looks like burns.

I know people that have bred scarred and *damaged* snakes to no ill effect. If you are seriously considering it, I would contact a vet that also breeds and get their opinion. They may have more concise information (emotive responses are good - but concrete answers are good too) regarding her physical capacity and potential damage, or just areas of concern.

As far as being a YB. I would never think that by looking at her. YBs have such specific belly patterns and even the manner of blushing does not look YB. I would say hands down no... just my two hands mind you.

Bruce

[broadude]

While I appreciate all the differing and varied opinions.

It's hard to form my own opinion without seeing the pictures (they don't show for me).

I can say that I received (free) in a batch of normals that I purchased...a girl that had extensive scaring down her dorsal. I do not see any reason not to breed her. She gains weight well, which tells me that her swelling would not present an issue.

She sheds in one piece (when I first got her her sheds were raggedy until her scales healed completely and it's been enough time to smooth them out so that she now sheds in one piece. She's able to eat large rats and that hasn't presented any problem with her "bludging."

So, if your girl is really healed up, I really do not see any reason not to breed her other than the emotional ones presented.

[SlitherinSisters]

Honestly I don't think you're missing out on much by not breeding her. Her stomach doesn't look like a YB at all. The black is much less random and heavier on a YB, it almost lines the side of the belly where it goes from color to white belly, not all over the belly. I'm sure that was confusing, but double check Jon's Hunters Guide To Morphs again and you'll understand what I'm saying. They need to have the markers like flames AND they have to have the belly markers, otherwise you've got yourself a flaming normal.

She's pretty though, poor thing


Her belly kind of reminds me of my normal female's tummy. Really random and lots of black


Now if her whole belly looked like this I would bet money she was a yellow belly. But, since it doesn't, she doesn't stand a cold day in h*** at being a YB

[Sinsation]

I just want to say something about the scar.
A few years ago I bought a female and her head was just nothing but scar from a lightbulb being in her enclosure. Now 3 years later and many sheds there is no scar at all her scales have completly healed and the color is back. Im not saying your girls will be like this but I would think there would be a noticable reduction of scarring as time and sheds go by. Id be intrested to see if that is the case with this little girl as well.

[Morphie]

I just want to say something about the scar.
A few years ago I bought a female and her head was just nothing but scar from a lightbulb being in her enclosure. Now 3 years later and many sheds there is no scar at all her scales have completly healed and the color is back. Im not saying your girls will be like this but I would think there would be a noticable reduction of scarring as time and sheds go by. Id be intrested to see if that is the case with this little girl as well.

she's not terribly small, i'm sorry to say - she's well past 1400 grams. I don't think she has a lot of growing left to help cover it up.

[Bruce Whitehead]

1400g is small... she could hit 3000g +++... keep feeding her, keep her healthy. Re-evaluate NEXT season, that gives her a year.

Bruce

[snakelover88]

I am so happy to see that you bought her in her condition. I would have done the same thing. I typically look for snakes that need to be rescued. 3 of my snakes are rescues and I bought my BP from a breeder. Congrats on her and I hope she lives a long and healthy life with you. I would still run her by a vet just to check her out because of her obvious neglect. My first rescue was a BP and he died after 2 weeks and almost a 1,000 dollars in vet care because of the severity of his neglect. RIP THOR! Congrats! (I would not breed her)