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For those unaware, some Jaguars display what's commonly referred to as "neuro symptoms". It's hard to describe, but these snakes seem to lack coordination and/or balance. Few Jaguar carpets actually exhibit symptoms and it's definitely not as common as the wobble with spider ball pythons. I've produced over a hundred Jaguar carpets over the years and I have had maybe four or five hatch with neuro symptoms· I believe either two or three of them came from a crumby little clutch last season that had all kinds of issues during incubation.
Aside from snakes born with the symptoms, the only ones to have developed neuro issues after hatching were snakes that were exposed to chemicals. I know of probably 12-15 animals (in my collection and collections of close friends) that didn't show any neuro symptoms for over a year, and then suddenly went "full-on neuro" after being exposed to chemicals like no-pest strips and/or permethrin based sprays.
Chemicals are almost always the culprit when you hear of Jaguars suddenly developing neuro symptoms in the hands of a new owner. A lot of dilligent breeders and hobbyists, myself included, proactively spray for mites in quarantine - meaning we spray the cage whether its new occupant has mites or not. I have too many snakes to treat them all, so I do this just in case. Unfortunately, "neuro symptoms" are what happens when you do that with a Jaguar. It's obviously understandable that nobody ever seems to talk about mites or mite spray when they're sounding off about "neuro Jaguars" on internet forums. The truth is though, a lot of people treat every cage in a quarantine room and that's a good habit to be in, just not with Jags. I screwed up about four snakes that way before I noticed a pattern, so don't feel bad if you've done it too.
Obviously you will want to avoid buying Jaguars from anyone who buys and re-sells reptiles on a regular basis. Even the best stores/vendors can't quarantine everything...after all, how do you quarantine everything that comes in, when none of the animals are permanent residents?· You can't - so with that being the case, you'd almost have to treat cages for mites proactively...or risk sending out mite infested snakes to your customers.· Needless to say, it's important to know that you're not getting a snake with mites and you're not getting a snake that has been exposed to any kind of chemical inesecticides.
If you do find yourself in a situation where you need to treat a Jaguar for mites, I recommend "Reptile Relief" brand mite spray. It's an all natural product, and more importantly for Jaguar owners, it's non-toxic and you can spray it directly on the snake.
If I have a point by writing this, I guess it's this - if you educate yourself about the issue and what can cause it, you trust the person you're buying from, and you're careful about how you quarantine new Jaguars, chances are you won't have any problems.· I worked with Jaguars for a few years before I even heard about the "neuro symptoms" that other guys were seeing. |
