boa not flicking his tongue

[reptiletalk]

Hi guys,

I own a bcc for the last 6 months....from the time i got him i dont remember her flicking her tongue even once...
As i can see nothing is wrong because she eats like a beast and sheds properly but i am curious.....is this normal????

[Tsubaki]

Sounds a bit odd, i would check the possibilities of something being wrong in the mouth first. Maybe it has some sort of deformity, or something inside the mouth is swollen? I don't know, but that is what i would check first. The only snakes i have personally seen not flicking their tongue, were either sick or dead.

I did read about a boa on a dutch forum, that never flicked its tongue. Later it turned out to be missing half its tongue, the little stump just wasn't long enough. Also read something about a different snake (i believe it was a hog nose, but its been a few years) that just stopped flicking his tongue all of a sudden, they never figured out why. Both ate and acted normal, and continued to do so as far as i remember.

[reptiletalk]

Hi again,

Later it turned out to be missing half its tongue, the little stump just wasn't long enough. -> I believe that seems to be the case with mine also. I don't want to stress the snake and make a mouth check if this is the only thing that i am worried about. I can see movement at the bottom of the head ( same as when my ball python flicks her tongue) so i believe that her tongue is not as long as it should be.

Any other suggestions or advice?

Thanks in advance.

[millertime89]

Sometimes they're just lazy and don't care and sometimes the forks of their tongue will get stuck together and it will look like it's missing.

[reptiletalk]

Guys,

I decided to make a mouth check on my boa. Since my post she is acting as a healthy snake all along but my curiosity about the tongue not flicking pushed me to make a mouth check.

Here is the picture :

29978

I can see a black spot in the middle of the mouth. Anyone knows what is this? Is this normal?

[kiiarah]

It is hard to tell from the picture. The spot is in the same area as his glottis would be. Does the flesh around the area look damaged or discolored or is the dark area just the opening?

[kiiarah]

Just did a quick search for images under "boa glottis" and saw a few with boas with a pretty pronounced dark color around that area. Might be worth comparing. I would link some images but the computer I am on at the moment will not allow access to photo hosting sites.

Here is a link to a forum post with a good image about halfway down in the replies. Does it look anything like this?

Python's teeth (http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?58086-Python-s-teeth)