To Breed or Not to Breed?

[katach]

As many of you know, my Maria has a nasty scar on her belly and I've been wrestling with the idea of breeding her or not. Here are some pics I took of the area. I would love some specific input on the topic. Pros/cons, possible risks and such. Thanks guys!

[thamneil]

Personally, I would be unsure.

In the wild, snakes would breed with injuries far worse than that. But there is no one in the wild to care for the snakes. So if the snakes die, the snakes die. That being said, snakes are very resilient creatures and can bear young with massive deformities. Whether or not I would breed her, I wouldnt be able to tell you. The injury doesnt look very bad at all, to me anyways. Again, I am only going off of what I see in the pictures. I would need to have some history and a thorough understanding of the injury. I wouldnt doubt the fact that she would be able to have a litter though. Perhaps someone with more experience could offer better advice.

[katach]

I'm not sure how the injury occurred. She is a WC. When we found her it was as it looks now. Completely healed. She is very active and eats like a champ.

[thamneil]

Does it just look superficial? My only worry is that something is damaged inside. Can the skin in that area stretch properly?

[katach]

That's what I'm unsure about. It's pretty deep looking to me. The area looks .... puckered I guess is the only way I can describe it. It doesn't move and stretch like the rest of her skin does, although she gets around like any of the other snakes.

[guidofatherof5]

Hard to really say how it would play out.
I don't think it should cause a problem in carrying and delivering, I think it's your call.

[thamneil]

Hmmm... not sure what to tell you. Im sure someone else will chime in. I've seen egglaying snakes breed in the past with broken ribs so im sure it is possible. I just dont know if I would risk it.

[katach]

I just don't want to make the wrong choice and have her health suffer because of it. I wouldn't want to breed her until next year though, I think she is still too young.

[thamneil]

I think im going to concur with Dr. Steve. As long as you are aware of the possible risks, I think she should be alright to breed.

[kibakiba]

I think she would be fine, but I would wait until she looks similar to Mama or Willow in terms of size, she looks so small. Just think about the pros and cons to it and weight it out.