Tail kink and breeding.....
 

One of my buyers accepted delivery today of the animals he purchased from me. They arrived safely but one of the animals, according to the buyer, has a tail kink at the very end of his tail (no where near the vent). I had checked my animals out very thoroughly and never noticed any kinks etc. Obviously, this has to be very small if I did not notice it.

Anyways, he is going to take some pictures and email them to me as the one pic I have here at my office does not show any kinks etc. So, my questions are this:

1) Is it possible for a tail kink to occur in transit?
2) Would a tail kink interfer with a males ability to breed if it is at the very tip of the tail?

Obviously, I want my buyers to be completely satisfied with the animals and will most certainly refund him the money should he request this. I encouraged him to do some research and then let me know his decision. So, I thought I would do some of my own to better educate myself on this.

Any thoughts? Thanks!

Griz

Griz,
It's likely that the tail kink is actually where the last two vertebrae are fused together. I have seen this on a few occasions. Oddly enough, I see it on Argentines more then any others.

Most of the cases that I have seen are usually not noticeable in photos, but only when you run your fingers all the way down to the end of the tail. The tail simply bends to one side at the very tip.

To answer your question, if this is the case here, it would not have happened in transit and it will not interfere with breeding.

Of course one questions does remain - could this be a genetic defect that could be passed on by breeding the animal? I have often thought about this in the animals that I have see so afflicted, but have yet to come to any concrete conclusions.

Well, here are the pics. I will let you guys decide.

Here is the pic of the male while in my possession:

http://www.fototime.com/%7B2730CBFA-...7D/picture.JPG

And this is a picture of the animal that he says arrived with a tail kink:

http://www.fototime.com/%7BE0F36331-...7D/picture.JPG

What do you guys think?

Griz

One other thing to make note of, Tim Frazier (Illiana Reptiles and Willard on this board), did my sexing and personally saw these animals. None of them had tail kinks. Could a kink like this happen in shipping? They were in soft cotton, surrounded by 1.5 inch hard insulation, covered with biodegradable peanuts and then sealed. There was no way for them to move around in the box should the UPS driver be less than safe with them.

So, the question is, how could this have happened AND is this the same snake as what I sent? The saddles are not matching up for me.

Griz

You're right, the saddles don't match.
That's a different snake.

the snake in the top pic and the tail in the bottom pic definately dont match . i counted and recounted saddles several times and they just dont jive . even so , i would think that the kink is far enough from the vent as not to be a problem with breeding . btw thats a real pretty critter in the pic .

They don't look the same to me, either. That kink looks like it was made (closing a sterilite lid on it). Is that snake even alive...it's awfully straight for not being held in position

Thank god I'm not a crazy person
 

Because before reading the other post's, I kept looking back and fourth at those pictures, scratched my head and went "hey, those are 2 different snakes" I know that respecting our customer's is one thing, however, those are 2 different animals....have you heard back from him yet Bob??

First off Harald is right that snake is too straight to even be alive :rofl: and notice the tail tip Griz white and the other is colored.

Griz, even tho they do look similar they are not the same, ask the person for a full body shot with today's date (ie Newspaper)