Concern About New Male Stripe Het Albino

[snakeman1313]

I recieved this male boa from Shawn Morelan at Southern Boids today and his tail has what appears to be large folds of skin (looks like the skin is really loose) that start directly behing the cloaca and continue approx. 4 inches down and then stop and the rest of the tail looks normal. I spoke with Shawn and he says its because he has not been feeding him alot. It does not look that way to me. My question is has anyone seen anything like this before and if so do you know what causes it and will it effect breeding? I am going to try to enclose a pic.

[Mike T]

Are there any other folds on the skin? Its hard to tell from the pic, but that does not look right to me.

[snakeman1313]

Any other folds that he has look normal for a snake that size when it bends. These just don't look right to me. They are there all the time even when his tail is perfectly strait.

[Gregg M]

Looks like signs of dehydration to me....... Soak it for a couple of hours and keep its enclosier very humid for a while......

[Gregg M]

Get it off the news paper and get some cyprus mulch in there.....

[snakeman1313]

I literally just recieved him like 1 hour ago. I would buy the dehydration thing if he was like that all over but it seems to be in only that one spot right by the hemipenes that is what worries me most. When you feel the raised spots they feel fleshy. It almost seems like someone tried to pop him at one point and did some kind of damage.

[Wilomn]

I have seen similar lumps on large boas that have gone off feed and lost some weight.

Are the lumps only on the top of the tail or are they on the bottom as well? Did you get a feeding history with this snake?

[snakeman1313]

The lumps are only on the top side of him. Shawn said he has only been feeding him once monthly.

[Morelans]

Well this is a problem.. I would not want to buy something I was not comfortable with, and I do not want to sell animals others are not comfortable with. I plan on being in the herp community for years to come and I do not want unhappy customers.

I had this male for a few months for a female that was supposed to be on the way, she never showed so I put him up for sale. I did notice the wrinkles but to be honest, it never really struck me as a medical condition etc, or I would have NEVER sold him. For that matter I would have been upset as well as he was the only perfect genetic match I had for the female I was supposed to be getting. I just thought he was a BIG boy and had a wrinkled tail.. Granted my other two that are that large really do not have this on their tail.

So now the question is, what to do. I have emailed the original breeder as well as who I purchased it from to see about past breedings, is this a problem tail, can he breed, has he bred, do they have pictures of him breeding etc.

I personally purchased him for a Breeder only, and that was known when I bought him. Because of this, I did not question the tail as again it did not look terribly horrible to me, just had some wrinkles.

As for my feeding schedule, I had him on once a month just because he was already a big boy. I do not associate the wrinkles soley with lack of feeding, but I did say that if they are wrinkles that I have not fed him heavy and that may have helped in not filling them out.

Here are the pictures I have of him:

[jarvisnake]

That just looks weird to me. If it doesn't go away with rehydration (assuming it is dehydrated), take it to a vet that knows herps, it looks like there is some odd muscle contraction, giving it that accordion effect. Are those wrinkles soft and pliable like it is only in the skin, or are they fairly tough, like the muscles are tensed up?
Should this be on the BOI section? If this turns out to be no big deal, it could make the seller look bad for no reason.

[JCCS]

I have seen wrinkles like that in old boas, although I am not sure how long the striped line of albinos has been around. That would have had to have been in the first generation or so of them. It does not look dehydrated to me.

Chris Canada-Smith

[snakeman1313]

I just didn't know where to post this and figured that the most people would see it on the BOI. I assumed that the powers that be would move it to the most approiate place. They feel like more than just skin folds you cannot straighten them out even if you try they are just there, but I really am not sure, if he was much bigger at one point and fed sparcely I suppose it could happen. I think it would have to be over a loooong time period. I am going to bring him to a friends to take a look at him tommrow. This is NOT posted here to make Shawn look bad, actually he has been great throughout this, and is making every effort to find out more about this animal. He has assured me that if we cannot achieve my happiness I will be refunded.

[snakeman1313]

It is possible that he is older, Peter Khal sold him in 02 as an adult breeder, (going by paper work I recieved) and he is a big boy. At that time he was sold to Damon Wyatt, he sold him to Shawn a few months ago. Shawn never recieved the female he was waiting for so he decieded to sell him. That is the story as it was told to me.

[jarvisnake]

Cool, Vincent, glad to see you and Shawn are working on this positively! I am curious about what those wrinkles turn out to be, it would be good info if something like this comes up elswhere, also if he still proves out.
Good luck, Mike

[snakeman1313]

Just as an update I had a friend and trusted breeder look at him, and his opinion is the same as mine that it appears to be a problem of some sort with his spine in that area. He does not feel it will be a problem for breeding however, and I trust his opinion. I have spoke with Shawn and let him know that I am satisfied with him as long as his genetics prove out. I would just like to state again that I know Shawn did not see this as a problem or even think it to be anything more than loose skin from reduced feeding. He has stayed in close contact with me throughout this and promised to gaurantee his health with regard to his tail, and his genetics. Not only would I not hesitate to deal with him again, but the way he has handled this situation assures me he is a good guy that cares about customer satisfaction.