RI question

skin78 · 08-10-03, 06:27 AM

Hi guys,

I was wondering. Is it true that albino burms get RI more then normals?? Because albino is in fact a fault of nature. I have had a very small research here in Holland and learned form that that more albino's then normals get RI..

What's your oppinion about this???

I ask this because I was thinking about getting an albino female but today I will trade a couple normal burms with a couple Boa's that I bred. I was thinking of keeping the normal female if she is beautifull

..

Cheers

burmer · 08-10-03, 12:38 PM

I've heard about albinos being more susectable to RIs. I have had mine since she was a baby. She is three years old now and has had one mild RI and no other real health problems. I know people with normals that have had more RI problems than my albino. I'm not sure if other albino owners have the same opinion but I have had good luck with mine.

bebo · 08-10-03, 02:33 PM

They seem to be, because of the years and years of breeding them back, sibs,etc. But with proper care it can be avoided of course.

skin78 · 08-10-03, 03:48 PM

hehehe yes I have one friend who also has an albino who never has been sick.. and I know one guy who lost a normal to ri but also know a few albino's who had ri ...

burmer · 08-10-03, 05:10 PM

Quote:

But with proper care it can be avoided of course.

Exactly right. Thats what it's all about. With proper husbandry you can avoid most health problems.

Doug & Deb · 08-10-03, 06:45 PM

Albinos are prone to more respitory infections. We have 7 burms and we recently lost our ALbino that had a RI. There were no warning signs just one day we heard the rattle and the next it was dead. Stupid us cleaned the tank with javex and water and put our female granite in the tank and now we are fighting the RI with her. We put her on antibiotics and it cleared but we kept the tank too humid and she got it back so we are treating it again. So as you can see anything can get RI but you have to know your animal and listen for the signs to catch it in the early stages and get it to the vet.

I would say not to be afraid to get the albino burm we have a patternless and a het for granite and they are doing fine. All burms are great animals and one of my favorites.

Doug & Deb

BWSmith · 08-11-03, 12:14 PM

Burms are incredibly inbred. RI is generally the cause of death for them. And once they get one, it willbe a fight forever until they succomb. RI will return very often.

JuliusSqueezer · 08-11-03, 12:58 PM

More specifically Burm Morphs are inbred and are not doing well at all because of early introduced disease into a weak straight as a stick family tree. Green burms are practically hopeless. I doubt any of those will ever make it to a full 20+ year life span. Same with labs and granites and pretty much any other "cool morph" that came from the herp mills (kinda like a puppy mill cept they piss ME off off and not the tree huggers) I won't mention any names but we all know who they are. Powerfeeding and inbreeding all for the big bucks they make preying on those that think that a snake has to look different to be cool no matter what that takes. I guess since snakes don't have ears to cut or ...oops I almost said "tails to lop off) *banging head* I hope noone gets an idea about that and starts that little trend...anyway..Big breeders have to screw with genetics and since they rarely are willing to wait for multiple unrelated pairs to be acquired...they insist on "line breeding" to get these mutant monster snakes that fetch them thousands of dollars for a few years till everyone and his brother is now paired up and inbreeding their own. Albinos have been outcropped enough that they aren't AS problematic with the chronic RI problems that are wiping out the other morphs in droves but now that everyone is crossing the albino flaw back into green labrynith granits and other screwed up snakes, BD (Burm's Disease aka chronic terminal RI) is rearing it's ugly head again with the albinos. As if the skin conditions, vision problems, bug eyes, missing eyes and other inbreeding associated problems aren't enough that albinos have to look forward to...now we gotta add choking to death on phlegm before they ever hit 5 yerars old. Yay Us!

The chronic RI problems that are wiping out burms (more so with morphs but not uncommon in normals since noone seems to quarantine anything anymore) rarely shows a first symptom till after the 30th month of the snake's life. Then it just seems to lower the snakes immune system kinda like aids and kill them slowly...every RI gets harder and harder to heal until they just don't and then pneumonia sets in and doesn't go away. Plenty of time to power feed and breed and pass on this lovely gene to new generations. All the proper husbandry in the world won't help them unless they live in a sterile bubble and are tube fed and watered sterile food. Not realistic huh? well...neither is a 20 year old albino green burm.

bebo · 08-11-03, 04:15 PM

Now i do agree with the part on too much line breeding etc. But can you prove the fact that no matter how a burm is cared for , it will eventually develop RI? You are entitled to your opinions and/or personal experiences, but sounds more like a dislike for certain individuals and their practices. You do make good points, but why get on here and shoot the whole burmese keeping/breeding hobby down. Not all of us are in it for the same reasons, (Money,etc) just to keep snakes that we enjoy. Just my opinion, and not trying to start a big argument; just curious.

BWSmith · 08-12-03, 07:26 AM

You will find many that do rescues are very opinionated about Burms because it constitutes the bulk of not only the rescues, but the expenses due to chronic RI. It is tough watching a snake die when you are fighting tooth and nail to save it. Can't help but get a little jaded. Most people are unaware of the health problems like BD when they purchase a Baby Burm. By no means is RI guranteed. Nothing in life is. But the odds are stacked against alot of Burm morphs.

JuliusSqueezer · 08-13-03, 10:45 AM

I never said that all burms will get an RI. It is however a futal battle to protect a genetically coded burm that has the gene for BD. This disease is much like if not exactly like aids. When the immune system eventually fails, Nothing can stop RI. The pathogsns are there. A healthy snake produces antibodies to keep them at bay. Lack of antibodies will let them take over. It is a horrible death. very slow and heartbreaking to watch a snake that you have loved and cared for for a few years eventually drown on it's own mucous. Snakes lack a diaphragm so they can't effectively expell excess mucous with their wimpy little coughs.

Now about downing burm breeding projects...yah I'm against breeding of burms. Thousands are being sold daily around the US...a handful are surviving to adulthood. There just aren't enough good homes for them to warrant breeding even a single clutch. Do you know 60 good homes for a burm that isn't already full? I've been around a really long time and I can't think of but maybe 1 or 2. Sure, everyone wants a cute little baby...but too many end up disposed of. If they were surviving at even 10% by now every household in the US should have a giant burm in it.