links for burm disease?

[skadiwolf]

can anyone supply me with links on burm disease...basically this would be the reoccurance of URIs in mutation burmese pythons like albinos and greens.

i've heard plenty about this discussed but am looking for hard-written information. thanks.

[JuliusSqueezer]

BD is a term that has been tossed around amongst hobbiests for quite some time. It is not a fair name really because it seems to actually have originated or at least was first recognized amongst certain species of vipers. Of all the research I have done on this topic ...mostly back when I was trying to save an infected Labrinyth burm...the closest match to an actual scientifically researched disease is "Paramyxoviridae" Do a search on that and see what you can find. The symptoms certainly match the problem running through the burm lines.

[skadiwolf]

actually, i found some great information on the VPI site. thanks anyway though.

[JuliusSqueezer]

You might also look up Paramyxovirus

could you share a link from the VPI site ?...information is still really sketchy and really is hard to find.

[skadiwolf]

sure, here it is:

http://tinyurl.com/ubs7

[JuliusSqueezer]

That's actually a very good write up...I think what should be stressed the most is the fact that it rarely becomes symptomatic untill after the 30th month. The reason this such a big issue is because 30 months is plenty of time for a burm to reach sexual maturity...so the virus is being passed on from generation to generation anyway. If it killed them quicker, the virus wouldn't be spreading quite as bad.

Another thing...I don't know of anyone who has found any evidence that inbreeding has caused any of this...but since it has proven genetic it certainly is a vehichle in which it can wipe out an entire morph line if one of the founding parents had it....since inbreeding seems to be the way most breeders mass produce these groovy animals.

	Morph A morph is a color or pattern variation that is proven to be genetic. Common morphs include albino, anerythristic, gentically striped, Hypomelanistic, and many others. Morphs also include combinations of simple traits such as "Sunglow" which is Albino and Hypomelanistic. These traits may be recessive traits, co-dominant traits, dominant traits, or created through selective breeding (ie Pastel).

[skadiwolf]

yeah, he does mention he isn't sure it's a genetic thing except for maybe that the mutations are more prone to getting it. i found the fact interesting that he talks about it being very much like AIDS; a disease that affects the immune system and doesn't create anything new, just makes very ordinary things in effect, very deadly. i think the whole thing is a horrible tragedy and since it seems to be contagious not just with pythons but with other snakes as well, that makes it even worse.

just yet another reason to quarantine. it reminds me in a way of the bubonic plague, transmitted by fleas on rats. this seems to be transmitted by reptile mites, and we already have SO many reasons to loathe them. :/ little buggers.

	Mites Mites, close relatives of fleas and ticks

[JuliusSqueezer]

Well...it seems that this virus is prone to spread by any bodily fluid transfer...blood being one of them and it seems too that a virus in a cold blooded animal doesn't die off when the blood is removed from the host as soon as those carried by warm blooded animals so surviving long enough on the mouth parts of a mite long enough to transfer it from snake to snake is a problem...something to do with evolving a much higher range of incubation limits to accomidate life in blood with inconstant temperatures...It is very tragic and quite a mess. I think the reason it is hitting the morphs so hard is because breeders are more prone to inbreed morphs to continue that specific trait...so at any time one gets exposed to "BD" then it's kinda stuck in that never ending cycle of bad genetics because everyone thinks it's ok to inbreed a couple of times but never take into account how many generations were inbred before nor how many will follow once they sell their babies...It looks as though it found it's way into at least a few of the common burm morphs very early on so that it is becoming increasingly rare to find a truely healthy specimin...One morph trait isn't good enough for some people...so trying to see what a green labrynith albino looks like early on is probably what spread this into multiple morph lines...it's ruthless, blind and ignorant and probably won't stop anytime soon or at least till Fluffy eats Bob

	Morph A morph is a color or pattern variation that is proven to be genetic. Common morphs include albino, anerythristic, gentically striped, Hypomelanistic, and many others. Morphs also include combinations of simple traits such as "Sunglow" which is Albino and Hypomelanistic. These traits may be recessive traits, co-dominant traits, dominant traits, or created through selective breeding (ie Pastel).

	Mites Mites, close relatives of fleas and ticks

[skadiwolf]

fluffy, what a sweetie eh? that is one #$%^&#$%^&#$%^&#$%^& big snake. sheesh. never a retic OR a burm for me honestly. (sigh) ah, for a dwarf burm...but then, it would probably get BD even worse with my luck. :P

	Bearded Dragon Bearded Dragon is the common name for any agamid lizard in the genus Pogona.