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Scaleless belly shots
- Thread starter Chip
- Start date
Chip
ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒ&
She's never bitten, but she's one of those snakes that NEVER wants to come out. I take her out to weigh her and clean her cage and that's about it. I have never seen her not huddled all the way at the back of the rack. She's a big reason I bought a belly heat RBI in Columbia, I wanted to see if that was caused by temperature. It wasn't. She's the shyest snake I have, probably. I wish she was more outgoing, but I don't think it will ever be.
She does feel really neat, and I like her eyes too!
She does feel really neat, and I like her eyes too!
MindsEyeExotics
New member
Beautiful scaleless are my favorite snakes I've ever seen. My scaleless ratsnakes are quite feisty and I wish I could hold them without getting musked or trying to be consumed..it takes away from the theraputic effect of caressing the silkiness haha. I am saving up for a scaleless corn for sure
TwinBlades
New member
....scaleless? could you tell me, in exacting detail, what scaleless means?
Chip
ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒ&
Don't know what you might mean by "exacting details," but it simply is a recessive trait that is lacking dorsal scales. Ventral scales exist, at least in mine, but there are very, very few scales on the "top" of the animal.
When she's blue, the few scales are evident:
When she's blue, the few scales are evident:
TwinBlades
New member
okay.... now my BIG question. WHY?!?!?!
no offense, but is there a a beneficial reason for not having scales?
no offense, but is there a a beneficial reason for not having scales?
Chip
ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒ&
There is also no beneficial reason for not having melanin, like your new pick up (congrats on him, by the way!). We breed them for their beauty and I find scaleless breathtaking. I must admit I had the same reaction to the first scaleless reptile I ever saw, but as long as they are pets and fed thawed mice, they can lead perfectly normal caged life without scales.
LMS68
New member
So does this mean the scales are somewhat clear & you see the pigmentation from the skin itself or does the pigmentation go into the scale (can't think of the proper english word to describe sorry). I've noticed in the shed that the dark pattern is transferred/stays in it.
I was just wondering because for example, with us & our hair, the skin is the same throughout & is not the colour of the hair. So I was just wondering if scales were the same concept or if you happened to take off the scales, would the skin have the colour & pattern of the scales.
Sorry if this is all muddled up... hope you get what I'm trying to convey.
Chip
ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒ&
LMS, the "shed" part of the skin is the very top layer of the epidermis. It isn't 100% free of pigment, but certainly is mostly. It covers the entire body, including the eye, which is why you will see "eye caps" on sheds, too. Here is a scaleless skin beside a normal snake's skin of the same size, dorsal first, then ventral:
Nanci
Alien Lover
But think of a horse or dog or whatever- the skin color determines the coat color. You can clearly see on a horse that there is pink skin under white hair and black skin under colored hair. And if the horse is gray, but so gray that the hair is white, the skin underneath is still black.
LMS68
New member
Cool! No I've never seen this. So the scales are translucent as in comparison with stained glass (where it has colour)?
One of the reasons that got me curious about it is when the snake's skin is stretched, the skin you see (from what I can tell) is without pigment. That's why I was wondering.
Cool stuff!
Chip
ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒ&
I keep interrupting you guys, but a lot of (especially non-mutant) corns leave a perfect imprint of their whole body's pattern in each slough. I would consider the external layer of chitin that is shed off with growth as like a really, really pale stained glass. The shed skin isn't colored by the skin between the scales, either.
Looking at a scaleless puts that to me more plainly than any explanation I could hear. Here is a motley sunglow, from Reptilis in France:
I look at that snake and it makes perfect sense. I feel like I see exactly what scales hide! I just look forward to seeing some of these beautiful scaleless growing up! I hope we get some progression pics.
Looking at a scaleless puts that to me more plainly than any explanation I could hear. Here is a motley sunglow, from Reptilis in France:
I look at that snake and it makes perfect sense. I feel like I see exactly what scales hide! I just look forward to seeing some of these beautiful scaleless growing up! I hope we get some progression pics.