Tree snake gravid?

[Kayla-n-Steffen]

Hi, I have recently purchased a green tree snake (not python). I had it freighted and although from our conversation the seller seemed genuine, I was told she was gravid. I asked a few questions about her history and being paired up and the responses were very vague. Although I already have two beautiful tree snakes I have never tried breeding yet so I don't know exactly what to look for. I have also heard they are prone to ringworm but, again I'm not sure what that looks like ad I can't find much relevant information about this. I have taken some pics to see if anyone can give their opinions or can help me out. Thank you

Steffen

 

[Kayla-n-Steffen]

Sorry pics didn't upload
View attachment 296455View attachment 296456

 

[PistolPython]

The pics still haven't attached

 

[Rowie]

pics still didn't load for me.

 

[Kayla-n-Steffen]

Trying again

 

[Mason333]

Hello
Yes he has skin worms, not sure what type of worm but not a ring worm.
theynget them from eating frogs in the wild.
regarding being gravid, you will be only one that will know, very hard to tell via pics

 

[TrueBlue]

It doesnt look to be gravid, a bit early for common trees.
The sub-cutainious worm, (skin worm as they are refered to), are wayward tape worm, normally only found in wild snakes.

 

[bowdnboy]

My gold girl has just laid 17 perfect little eggs for me on Sunday. She had 19 last season. When Gravid, she never actually looked gravid / fat. The only way I knew - I noticed her skin worms more - they are more prominant as the eggs are obviously pushing the worms to the outer extremeties. Also, a week or two leading up to lay, she wanders the enc all the time searching. A week before, shes digging alot. Gets the substrate all in her mouth from all the digging and looks almost distressed and panicy. Last yr laid 24days after shed. This yr 21days. I knew on Friday due to her behaviour that she was either going to lay sat or sunday morning.

Has she shed yet recently??

 

[andynic07]

My gold girl has just laid 17 perfect little eggs for me on Sunday. She had 19 last season. When Gravid, she never actually looked gravid / fat. The only way I knew - I noticed her skin worms more - they are more prominant as the eggs are obviously pushing the worms to the outer extremeties. Also, a week or two leading up to lay, she wanders the enc all the time searching. A week before, shes digging alot. Gets the substrate all in her mouth from all the digging and looks almost distressed and panicy. Last yr laid 24days after shed. This yr 21days. I knew on Friday due to her behaviour that she was either going to lay sat or sunday morning.

Has she shed yet recently??

Do all tree snakes have skin worms? I thought they were just in wild snakes due to the fact they ate frogs, is this wrong? Where do they get them from in captivity?

Cheers
Andy

 

[bowdnboy]

Andy - your right. They come from Snakes in the wild feeding on frogs.

However, a few CTS are originally wildcaught under license like my female, and they already had worm.

 

[andynic07]

Andy - your right. They come from Snakes in the wild feeding on frogs.

However, a few CTS are originally wildcaught under license like my female, and they already had worm.

Cheers, I do not know a lot about them so thought that I would ask the question.

 

[Kayla-n-Steffen]

Im unsure when she last shed as i did not get a whole lot of information from the seller. Im sure the seller would of been aware of these lumps for quite some time and knew full well she was not gravid. Im tossing up the best way to go about treatment as ive heard several different theories. Some people say to have them cut out , which im a little concerned about. Others say just to leave them as they pose no threat to the snake.

I have 3 trees in total , and although the seller told me she was female, he also told me she was gravid. So i think i will have her probed and go from there

Thank you all for you comments, any information is greatly appreciated

 

[Performa]

Hello
Yes he has skin worms, not sure what type of worm but not a ring worm.
theynget them from eating frogs in the wild.
regarding being gravid, you will be only one that will know, very hard to tell via pics

Excuse my low level of knowledge on reptiles im learning as the days go on but how can you tell it has worms from the picture. To be able to diagnose that from the pic I take my hat off !!!!

 

[andynic07]

Excuse my low level of knowledge on reptiles im learning as the days go on but how can you tell it has worms from the picture. To be able to diagnose that from the pic I take my hat off !!!!

Skin worms appear as lumps.

 

[Performa]

Thanks for that its something I had no idea about

 

[TrueBlue]

bowdnboy,-
I think that you will find that it is a bit early for common trees to lay eggs in QLD.
When i used to keep and breed common trees it was very obvious when they were gravid, in fact so much so that i found that they were one of the easiest snakes to tell if they were gravid or not.

 

[bowdnboy]

No worries Bl;ue, I'm in Vic, and mine are NT golds may explain the difference. We also keep em at more controlled temps down here due to how cold it gets over extended periods. Up north, the season would closely follow the real season I suppose more than down here.

As for gravid ID, ??? I like to think I have a fairly good eye, but i have not been able to tell by feel or sight that she was gravid over the last few yrs, and that's with double clutches (even though the second clutch Ive found are normally slugs)? She's quite a big girl anyway and this may explain that.

 

[NicG]

Im unsure when she last shed as i did not get a whole lot of information from the seller. Im sure the seller would of been aware of these lumps for quite some time and knew full well she was not gravid. Im tossing up the best way to go about treatment as ive heard several different theories. Some people say to have them cut out , which im a little concerned about. Others say just to leave them as they pose no threat to the snake.

I have 3 trees in total , and although the seller told me she was female, he also told me she was gravid. So i think i will have her probed and go from there

Thank you all for you comments, any information is greatly appreciated

Hi Kayla/Steffen,

I have had (originally wild-caught) tree snakes that have been in my possession for 3+ years that still develop skin worms. The life-cycle of these worms is quite complex and no-one seems to know the maximum amount of time they can take before appearing.

Once they do appear, I typically wait until they are reasonably pronounced before cutting them out - which is not as traumatic to the snake as you might think. Mainly because the bigger they are, the easier it is to perform the procedure.

Just to get it straight, are you saying that the seller told you that the bumps were a sign of her being gravid, or are they two separate issues?

Cheers,
Nic

- - - Updated - - -

No worries Bl;ue, I'm in Vic, and mine are NT golds may explain the difference. We also keep em at more controlled temps down here due to how cold it gets over extended periods. Up north, the season would closely follow the real season I suppose more than down here.

As for gravid ID, ??? I like to think I have a fairly good eye, but i have not been able to tell by feel or sight that she was gravid over the last few yrs, and that's with double clutches (even though the second clutch Ive found are normally slugs)? She's quite a big girl anyway and this may explain that.

I envy the Queenslanders being able to keep them in naturalistic weather conditions! The anecdotal evidence I have suggests that the NT Goldens go earlier than the Easterns. Having said that, I have had a Green lay a clutch of slugs already this season.

Obviously the smaller and skinnier the snake, the easier it is to determine if they're gravid. One thing I have noticed is that the longer-shaped slugs are more easy to conceal in the snakes body than the (typically) rounder, fertile eggs.

 

[TrueBlue]

They were just average sized common trees (blue form), a meter or more and average girth. They were raised from the egg on nothing but pink and fuzzy rodents. Viracious things, they would feed a day before laying.