Looking for 3rd snake!

[BP_okay]

Oh my goodness,

Thanks to all of you for all the good info! Ya'll are amazing! I do have 2 questions and some comments!

Kimberly, I just wanted to know if the neuro probs of the the morphs of BP's affect it's health in any way, or if it is just something that you have to deal with in handling them.

Sandy, where is this board of inquiry? I am going to start doing my research now, as I am a nerd. I just love that kind of stuff.

Good N' Plenty - I totally agree w/ you regarding the kindness factor of how breeders handle their snake. I just thought the girl I bought my Sand Boa from was really rough with him and treated like a commodity. I loved everything about him, but I also bought him because I just plain sorry for such an awesome snake in a crummy environment. He's doing great now, thankfully! I did get her to order my corn, b/c I lived in an apartment at the time, and I was being sneaky w/ the snakes, but rest assured, I was at that store when he arrived, and he's been the best snake ever.

That is all great advice, and now I feel even more prepared.

Have a great weekend everyone!
Traci

[Will0W783]

As far as I know, the neuro problems don't affect the health. There are some pretty extreme wobblers out there and even they can eat and function normally. The more strongly outcrossed an animal is, the less wobble they seem to have. For example, a pure line spider may be more likely to have a more severe case of wobble than a spider whose lineage includes crossing from several different original genetic lines. My spider only has a mild case and you don't see it at all unless you pick him up. In the cage he moves normally- he just has some tremor when he lifts his head and when I hold him he will lift his head way up and then tip it over and upside down. They can still eat and breed and function just fine- they just look rather awkward at times.

[BP_okay]

ahhh... I see...so it's just a handling thing. When you say "outcrossed", are you saying they are a less pure form of that particular morph? I bet it does look different when your guy does the head thing. It's a good thing you know alot about snakes...if that had happened to me, I would have been worried and freaked out for the little guy! Thanks for the heads up on the morphs! So if you handle one at show for a few minutes, would you say I'd get a pretty good idea of what that exact snakes neuro issues are?

[Chu'Wuti]

The Board of Inquiry is located at Board of Inquiry® - FaunaClassifieds

It is extremely useful.

Outcrossing doesn't necessarily mean that the morph is less pure. It may be pure spider but the ancestry is from several different breeders' lines of spider. If the ancestry is all from one breeder's spider (or other morph) line, then the morph may become "inbred," and previously unseen recessive defects begin to be expressed. By outcrossing to other lines, the recessive genes may be suppressed and thus not expressed (not seen). There are a few morphs that tend to display neurological problems more than other morphs due to the breeding needed to get those morphs; spider is one of them.

The New England Reptile Distributors has an excellent series of articles describing BP genetics here: New England Reptile Distributors, designer Ball Pythons, Reticulated Pythons, and much more!

Have fun educating yourself!

[BP_okay]

Thanks Sandy...I really appreciate all the resources and info. Thanks for the great explanation regarding the outcrossing. I really can't wait to learn about all this stuff, as I want to be a breeder someday. It seems there are endless things to learn in the herp world ;-)