Kinky coastal

[dobermanmick]

I got a coastal given to me today along with another that i purchased
it has had some kind of accident and has a bit of a kink/ flat spot about 4 inches down from its head it moves around okay but i have not fed it yet to see how it goes eating to me it looks like it has crushed or broken ribs
the snake is very healthy looking and alert so is its sibling has anyone had any expierience in this type of problem i will post pics as soon as i take some hopefully tommorow night
Thanks guys

 

[Greebo]

So it's not a birth defect?
What you descibe sounds like it has been crushed and the bones have not healed correctly (pretty hard to put a cast on a snake).
Put some photos up and people might have seen something similar.
I have seen blueys with horrible looking birth defects that lead fairly normal lives.

 

[africancichlidau]

How old/big is the coastal in question? Like Greebs said, you sure it's not a birth defect?

 

[dobermanmick]

No its not a birth defect from what i have been told its from pvc pipe hide somhow crushing him

 

[dobermanmick]

will have to get a better photo tommorow

 

[dobermanmick]

He was hatched january this year

 

[africancichlidau]

That looks nearer to the cloaca than the head? Looks like broken bones to me but he should be OK with it, may not breed though if it's too close to to his cloaca. JMO and I'm dumb so wait for advice from others

 

[Greebo]

It doesnt look as bad as I thought it would. He may survive yet.

 

[dobermanmick]

That looks nearer to the cloaca than the head? Looks like broken bones to me but he should be OK with it, may not breed though if it's too close to to his cloaca. JMO and I'm dumb so wait for advice from others

no africa his heads over my thumb i cropped and enlarged it to try to show more detail this is the original

 

[dobermanmick]

Here is the one i bought
with a young herper

 

[Greebo]

That's the way, start them young.
My girls are very confident handling snakes now.Probably a little too confident as I don't let them handle the bitey ones.The worst they have had is snake pooing all over them.

 

[dobermanmick]

this one got my wife yesterday hehe

 

[africancichlidau]

Here is the one i bought
with a young herper

You bought it with a young herper? What did the young herpers parents say ?!?!?

 

[dobermanmick]

They were happy and they even threw in a free coastal to seal the deal LOL

 

[lutzd]

We received the following email for Dobermanmick from a guest. I thought the information was useful, so have posted it here :

G'day

I was browsing on the Aussie pythons website and read an email by dobermanmick about a hatchling coastal he has that looks like it has broken ribs. I tried to find his email address somewhere on the site but couldnt so I was hoping perhaps you could pass this onto him as no one seemed to be able to help him.

The damage to his python is quite common with hatchling reptiles that have been kept in containers with a lot of height. The snakes spend all night climbing up the sides of the container and when it reaches the top it starts tilting its head and neck back as it noses the inside of the lid. Slowly it tilts back even further putting pressure on its spine. Usually the just suddenly fall backwards and land on their back but occasionally when they tilt too far back the spine just snaps. This only happens with hatchlings because they hatch with a soft skeleton and it is exposure to sunlight and calcium in their diet that hardens the bones. No one ever talks about this problem but i have seen it in a few collections including mine and have seen it in species such as Diamonds,carpets, water dragons and recently lace monitors - all as hatchlings.

I have never known the problem to heal but it is important to keep all hatchling pythons in low containers with a height about 5cm so the python cant climb up the insides of the container but rather nose the inside of the lid while the majority of its body remains flat on the substrate. Exposing it to sunlight works wonders in hardening bones as well as calcium digested from the bones of their prey.
Regards
Nick

 

[earthmother]

Look at the smile on the childs face.

Can you get different models in the child species that come with the Coastals? I'd opt for a male if they'd throw in a Bluey too. lol
Em

 

[Guest]

Top Stuff. That bloke definetly knows his stuff....enjoy the new snake mate

 

[africancichlidau]

Hey Nick if you happen to be browsing here again and see this, why not become a member, sounds like you have a lot of knowledge on the subject and you are obviously prepared to share that knowledge. Become a member and share it with us mate

 

[dobermanmick]

Hey Nick if you happen to be browsing here again and see this, why not become a member, sounds like you have a lot of knowledge on the subject and you are obviously prepared to share that knowledge. Become a member and share it with us mate

I would have to agree with you on that one africa !

 

[dobermanmick]

Well he took his first fuzzy mouse off me tonight and all seems fine so far he normally takes 2 fuzzy mice but i thought we could start off with one to see how he goes I turned the lights out and left him alone with it and came back about 1 hour later and it was gone .
I would have liked to see him eat to see if he had any problems but he was shy and didnt want to take it from me
Well thats the firsty hurdle crossed Hope he survives i love him hes got a great personality if thats what you call it
Thanks Mick