Issues from NOT Breeding?

[eminart]

I recently watched a video about Twinkie, the world record retic at Prehistoric Pets. Jay believes the cause of her death (and some of the other famous large snakes) was the fact that she was never bred. He says the constant growth and reabsorbtion of her eggs caused them to enlarge, and eventually kill her through complications. I don't remember all the specifics, and I'm not an expert on snake physiology, but this is the general idea. He says she ate very poorly for about 3 years and went into a constant shed cycle. Obviously her hormones were out of whack.

Have any of you ever heard of or experienced anything similar?

[Albert Clark]

Wow, this is news to me about Twinkie! I just watched a video of her and that was actually the first time seeing her. Sad story about the death. I have not heard of not being bred as a cause of death and really don't know much about it . I always thought re absorption of the eggs or follicles was a normal occurrence if the female was not built enough or ready to become gravid but if she was never bred I wonder why ?

[Minkness]

It does nake some kind of sense I suppose. How old was she?

While it is 'normal' for reabsorbtion to happen, it could very well not be healthy. Alot of calcium and such going back into the snake perhaps. And sometimes is different than every time I guess.

[Albert Clark]

It does nake some kind of sense I suppose. How old was she?

While it is 'normal' for reabsorbtion to happen, it could very well not be healthy. Alot of calcium and such going back into the snake perhaps. And sometimes is different than every time I guess.

True. Good point! Begs the question why she was never paired with a male before? Maybe we'll find out from the prehistoric pets staff eventually. I have no idea how old she was.

[Mikoh4792]

True. Good point! Begs the question why she was never paired with a male before? Maybe we'll find out from the prehistoric pets staff eventually. I have no idea how old she was.

Because they did not want to risk complications from pregnancy. It was one of their favorite snakes. Jay explains this thoroughly here

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[Albert Clark]

Thanks for sharing that!

[Aaron_S]

Maybe it was just an unhealthy snake and had nothing to do with reabsorbtion.

[Mikoh4792]

Maybe it was just an unhealthy snake and had nothing to do with reabsorbtion.

I was thinking either this, or maybe depending on the age of Twinkie, she may just have had problems from old age.

[Albert Clark]

I was thinking either this, or maybe depending on the age of Twinkie, she may just have had problems from old age.

Thanks again! We all will be looking forward to the results of the necropsy. Hopefully Jay will make the results public.

[eminart]

Maybe it was just an unhealthy snake and had nothing to do with reabsorbtion.


Yeah, that's why I'm asking if anyone else has ever experienced this. But, according to Jay, he knows of other snakes that have had similar deaths.

If this were a thing, you'd think it would be more well-known. But, on the other hand, the vast majority of people who keep snakes for many years are breeders, so those snakes are bred. I'm wondering if it happens more often than we know with the average joe pet keeper, but it just gets chalked up to an unknown death.

[bigsnakegirl785]

Yeah, that's why I'm asking if anyone else has ever experienced this. But, according to Jay, he knows of other snakes that have had similar deaths.

If this were a thing, you'd think it would be more well-known. But, on the other hand, the vast majority of people who keep snakes for many years are breeders, so those snakes are bred. I'm wondering if it happens more often than we know with the average joe pet keeper, but it just gets chalked up to an unknown death.

Makes me think a little harder about having my bp sexed....Probably just worrying, but I don't know his/her sex and he's starting to get a bit older. Not middle-aged but old enough for things like this to probably start becoming a problem if he's actually a she.

I've actually heard of such claims before hearing about this story, too. They can even die from the very first eggbound complication, so I don't think it'd be too much of a stretch for even successful reabsorptions to become a problem over many years. Hopefully if they release an update on her death, we'll get some revealing information!

[prairiepanda]

Does anyone have any data or general experience seeing a difference in lifespan between females that have been bred vs those that were kept virgin? It's difficult to assess because most people with a lot of snakes are breeding them. If breeding does seem to increase lifespan, it would still be hard to say whether a pairing every few years would be a good idea for those of us keeping snakes strictly as pets and not for breeding...not sure how great the risk of eggbinding is compared to this potential risk of incomplete re-absorption.

[Wingbeats]

Huh....I hope I'm not doing my girl a disservice. Chaska's an integrade, so I don't plan on breeding her, and just keeping her as a pet for fun. I hope it doesn't negatively affect her health!

[eminart]

Huh....I hope I'm not doing my girl a disservice. Chaska's an integrade, so I don't plan on breeding her, and just keeping her as a pet for fun. I hope it doesn't negatively affect her health!


I have to think that if this is a thing, it's probably not especially common. The only reason I really thought of it is because my daughter's 5 year old female corn has gone off feed for a long time and I suspect some sort of breeding/hormonal cause. The video got me thinking about it.

Maybe zoos would be the best resource for gathering this info. They often don't breed, and they keep their snakes many years in most cases.

[Wingbeats]

Maybe zoos would be the best resource for gathering this info. They often don't breed, and they keep their snakes many years in most cases.

Ooooh, good idea. I'll see if I can ask someone next time I visit the Boise Zoo. They are really nice and awesome folks.