Too late David LOL
The problem with BD (probably actually Ophidian Paramyxovirus) is that in the case of Burmese pythons, it usually takes at least 30 months to break down and destroy the snake's immuno system to the point that it can no longer be resistant to RI, Pneumonia and other illnesses and so at that point they become chronic and untreatable. As we all know a burm can get quite huge and can breed well within this time frame. The ones you have seen that aren't having problems may not be out of the woods yet. I had a Lab. burm come in on rescue with chronic RI a couple of years ago before I had ever even heard of BD. I fought the RIs with everything I had and finally had to put him down after a year. Unfortunatly...people are constantly crossing the morphs to make new morphs and are doing way too much inbreeding to propegate them and have effectively spread this disease into every burm line including normals. There is no guarantee that any burm hatchling will live a full life nor is there any that it won't eventually wipe out your entire collection. Personally, I would quarantine any baby burm for a minimum of 5 years well away from any of my collection. Burm breeders will hopefully all die off together someday and then the hobby can resume it's pleasantness
Please don't purchase a burm...there are plenty in rescues needing homes and the breeders are just throwing gas on this fire by selling them.
Matt....you haven't seen any in rescue...It doesn't mean that they are all living great lives. Most people that would pay that for a burm consider themselves to be capable keepers and would do what they can to keep them alive themselves. Don't look for them in rescues to gauge success...Look for people who still have adults after 5-6 years.
