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Underfed/Pigment/Lighting ?

V

viper69

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I was talking to a friend of mine about her boa. She rescued this boa from what it sounds like was just underfed or perhaps had a problem eating, and lost weight. It's doing well now, beginning to gain weight, very alert, strong feeding response she told me.

Here's what we didn't know. It's a red tail boa, I believe though it's a boa constrictor imperator, not a true red tail (B.c.c.). With that said, she told me the saddles really aren't all that red, they are mostly brownish/grey. They should be red however. This isn't some designer morph or anything that is supposed to lack color.

So we wondered, would the snake get its normal pigmentation back ever again? If so, would full spectrum light be needed? Should she cover the mice in some sort of vitamin powder before feeding? If so what vitamin powder would people recommend. I have only vitamin powder with lizards.

I never heard of this before..so it made me go "hmmm"
 
1) Snakes followed a different evolutionary path then lizards did. They no longer require UV synthesization the way lizards do. They use an enzymatic process for digestion that relies more on heat then UV radiation.

2) No, there is no vitamin that I know of that will turn a boas colors more vibrant. It's a function controlled by chromataphores within the dermis and epidermis. Not sure there is a vitamin to help this function or not. Good health is your best bet.

3) Not all red tails have vibrant red tails. Depending on genes passed on from parents, there is a wide range of color possibilities in the tail saddles, from really red, to brownish, to almost no reds at all. This is especially true of BC imperitor, the single most wide ranging ssp of Boa.

Got a picture? Sure it's not a morph? Anerythristic boa cannot produce reds at all, due to lack of tyrosine. They are considered morphs, and I've seen a few in pet shops as they become more common.

Hope that helps
Rick
 
It's definitely not a morph, not anerythristic etc. According to her, the saddles were fairly red. But due to the underfed/eating problem, pigmentation had become much more drab, with the reds changing into a brown/grey as described.

I'm aware of the diversity of phenotype for B.c.i. Some have beautiful browns, some are striking reds.

So I would assume that like any animal which didn't have a proper diet, in this case enough food. That pigments would be one of the first things that the body wouldn't/couldn't bother to maintain anymore.

I don't have a picture, and she doesn't have a digital.

SO back to my original queston, it makes me wonder if her snake will ever get its pigmentation back.
 
By the way, that's a very nice Hog you have. Where did you get that one from? Looks like it has nice rose hues on its sides?

What color is it's belly? I've seen such a diversity from white, to bursting salmon pinks that go from belly up to the sides. Gorgeous Hog for sure. Glad to see there are still some people that refuse to cross breed them. Don't get me wrong, I have seen some beautiful Hog crosses, BUT, I know people are going to get taken advantage knowingly or unknowingly with hybrids

I hope your Hog projects works out..could always have more good Hogs out there.
 
Cochina was a rescue victim. Some idiot cooled her wrong for breeding, made her sick, then pawned her off on Las Cruces Reptile Rescue when the whole permit system scare thing was happening. They weren't successful in fixing her up, so I took her on.

Took some doing, and had a relapse later, but she's been doing great for well over a year now.

She's a good girl, and she has that pink all over her belly and laterls. :yesnod: Some cool peachy color in spots too, when she's in the mood.

Thanks for the comps. :thumbsup:
 
Sounds really beautiful. You'd never know she was in trouble by looking at that photo. That's the type of Hog I like. I saw Vin Russo's Hypo Sonoran's. I can't even tell the difference between them and a Hog from his picture. I love how the Hog changes color at night. I should see if I have any digital images of mine. She's very pretty too.
 
I don't think it's unusual at all for any animal to appear duller and less vibrant when it is ill (or still recovering). I also have lizards, and this is certainly true for them. Don't see why it wouldn't be true for a snake. Esp. one which goes through color changes anyway. :shrug01:
 
Well, that's what I was thinking, in my experience with lizards I have seen that happen and then when they return to full health were back to normal with regard to color. But a previous poster thinks or knows that this isn't the case for snakes...I wouldn't know either.
 
Well, common sense, in my way of thinking anyway, would say that if improper diet was to cause a physiological problem, then correcting that diet should fix it. But that's assuming the improper diet was the cause.

Sorta like diabetes. Eat wrong, you can die. Eat properly, and you may not ever need insulin injections.

That's how my mind sees it anyway. :shrug01:



Don't take it too personal if someone has a different opinion though. These differences in opinions is how we come to know what we know today. Even to a trained vet, a lot about herps is unknown to date, and much of it is still under study.
 
ok.. I am assuming this has already been covered.. so.. probably a dumb question..

but


how old is it?

I know I have seen babies/yearlings that have a lot of red in their saddles, which fade into brown as they age..

maybe just an age changing coincidence?
 
usually, a physiologically sick animal, is able to be corrected if the underlying problematic issues are corrected. however, if damage has been done do long and to strong, then it is quite difficult to correct. for example, if an animal, any animal (human, dog, cat, snake, iguana, etc) has kidney disease, 95% of the time, by the time its diagnosed via bloodwork the kidneys are 75% destroyed and failed (this usually applies more to non-humans, due to the fact the humans can tell each other something isnt right, and theres insurance that covers blood panels, etc. animals are unable to convey to us, at least early on in most circumstances, that they are not feeling well and declining, as most animals are very stoic and rarely show change, phsically, until they are unable to "bounce back" so to say). so it really depends on alot of factors, what damage has been done, how long its been being done for, how well the animals own body can recover, if at all, etc, etc.
 
That's good information. I will relay this to her. It is true..with herps and amphibs, by the time something is visibly wrong to the owner, it is often too late to repair the damage. That's why when I grow up my little guys, be it arachnid, reptile or amphib, I watch them a lot and learn each one's individual behavior. It may be the difference between a long life and a short life for the animals we care for.
 
Yeah, I'm with Brandi on this one. It sounds like it just browned out as it aged. It happens. How do you know it's underfed/malnourished? Can you see it's ribs? Did you say you were feeding mice? Will it not take rats? How do you know what color it was before, if she just rescued it? Maybe it was always that color? :shrug01: I've never seen a normal BCI which I would call it's saddles red. In my experience, they usually are sorta brownish colored. Anyway, good luck.
 
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