Corkscrewing

[starsevol]

My girl Vidalia is a 2007 lavender. When she was sent to me, her breeder said he noticed a "dip" around the area of her neck and asked me if I could see it. I studied her and I could not see it at all. She moved normally and looked perfect.

In May she decided to go off feed. She still moved normally and seemed fine, but if I ran her through my hands I could feel a small flat spot around her neck. Nothing major, just a dip.

She started eating again last month, and I was elated. When I would put the mouse in her cage (she liked to be left alone with it), she would rear up and twist just a little. I attrubuted that to her being startled and flightly. As time went on (within the past month) her movements became alot more erratic and jerky.
I went to feed her today, and she can't crawl in a straight line. She is corkscrewing herself in knots. When she is at rest she looks fine. When she moves slowiy around her cage she looks fine. But when she moves fast, she is in knots....
She has started eating again. She had a normal shed last night. This appears to be neurological, but I have no idea what has caused it. She doesn't seem to be in pain at all. Any ideas as to what this could be?

[Nanci]

Oh no, Beth! She's my favorite snake! I can't imagine what could be happening. I hope she is okay...

[danielle]

Does sound neurological, but I don't know of anything that progresses slowly like this being she's a 2007. I hope it doesn't progress anymore and this is the worst of it. Sorry about this:(

[starsevol]

Between the time that I posted this and now..she has eaten a large adult mouse. So she doesn't seem to think a whole lot is wrong with her anyway......

I had planned on breeding her. No way is that happening now. But her brother Voldemort is doing fantastic, and I have a nice classic girl named Hatteras het for lavender and the same hets as him....so...I think she is his new mate.

If something is neurological, then it is not contagious is it? Stupid question, I know, but my mind is just a bit paniced! I have never seen a snake act like this, and everyone else is just fine.

[danielle]

No not contagious, but maybe genetic...or maybe not. I would contact the breeder again and see if any other related sibs have displayed this behavior to be safe and monitor your others offspring when they come for signs it could be genetic.

[starsevol]

I do have her brother, and 2 of her half siblings. All so far are as perfect as can be, except that Luna did go on a similar hunger strike She is also back on track.

I also noticed another flat spot half way down Viddy.....I wonder if she might have kinked later in life. She has never been dropped, and except for cleaning her cage out the only time she has been handled this year is for a very short and uneventful photo shoot this summer.

[vetusvates]

If it were human, I would think horses before zebras. So, I would think this, IMHO,....as humans grow and age, cartilage hardens to bone, bone becomes rigid; and bone, muscle, and nerves mature not precisely proportionally to each other. The fossae, foramina, and fenestrae, through which nerves and vessels pass, become more precisely 'fitted' to the nerves, blood vessels, and lymphatic vessels that follow through or along them.
Nerves exit the spinal cord throughout its length via these holes and channels. Some curved (deformed) vertebrae, even in a small region, would cause a human to give/lean, voluntarily or involuntarily relaxing muscles on the concave side of this curve even more. Making the curve appear to become extended/longer anteriorly and posteriorly. IMHO.
A full snake is a snake where bones are stretched apart, would be a good thing (albeit temporarily) for a pinched nerve.
Genetic?....as a tendency?....I would be inclined to answer in the affirmative. IMHO.

[starsevol]

Now Eric please...in english...for us simple minded folk :)

(I got the jist of it though) :)

[Nanci]

Something I wonder about. Vidalia has an extremely outstanding Aztec pattern. No one knows what causes this aberrancy to occur. Could it be possible that other things besides pigment cells are affected during neural crest migration?

[vetusvates]

Very very interesting point, Nanci.

If the large adult mouse helped, I'm wondering if they make a contraption for putting a snake in longitudinal traction. :D ;)
But then, power-feeding and snake-stretching opens up a whole other can of worms. (Pardon the pun.)

[starsevol]

Something I wonder about. Vidalia has an extremely outstanding Aztec pattern. No one knows what causes this aberrancy to occur. Could it be possible that other things besides pigment cells are affected during neural crest migration?

I had not thought of that. I throughly went over the bodies of her sib and her half sibs, and there are no flat spots or dips of any type, and they move perfectly. Lugosi did bite me though, he is not a "people-person" LOL!
Their patterns are normal....

[Vinman]

Something I wonder about. Vidalia has an extremely outstanding Aztec pattern. No one knows what causes this aberrancy to occur. Could it be possible that other things besides pigment cells are affected during neural crest migration?

Nanci I had a anery female which had a straight bar on her black instead of saddles. The straight bar went about 1/2 way down the body then went into a zigzag . I had 2 more sisters that had this pattren but were not as nice, all fertile. I bred her to a pure Okeetee that came from a line that through aberrant pattern. I got 2 real nice zigzags. The female was fertile the male was sterile