One eyed albino boa, should I kill him?

If all three were from the same litter, most would warn against breeding any of them. Congenital anomolies that are expressed in a litter are likely carried by other members of the litter. That doesn't mean that they would all carry it - there is really no way to be certain which ones (if any) do - but sound breeding practice would dictate not risking the further spread of the problems. Of course, lack of that is thought to be part of the reason the eye issues are as widespread as they are.

If your son or daughter was born with one eye would you put your offspring down.same thing if it is healthy let it live even if it takes special care.

Actually what is ridiculous is comparing your children to your snakes.

Cull. Cull the one with the eye problem, cull all it's siblings and seperate the parent animals, never use them as breeders ever again with one another or any other animal.

The reason that eye deformities are so common in albino boas and projects that have been linked to them is because unscrupulous individuals used deformed animals and their siblings as breeders even after it was determined to have a genetic cause linked to the Kahl line. The only ethical thing to do, for the animals in question and more importantly for the entire captive population is to take any animals known to be carriers and any animals directly related to them and remove them from the breeding population. The only way to be certain this is accomplished is the terminal one, since sterilization of a snake weighing a few ounces as a neonate just isn't practical or particularly possible. Sterilize the parent animals and keep them as pets- euthanize the neonates. ALL of them, not just the couple who are displaying the eye problem.

Originally Posted by kmurphy

Actually what is ridiculous is comparing your children to your snakes.

Culling "defective" babies from a litter is far from a new idea, though not as common as it used to be. Heck, (since so many people like to make the comparison to dogs) it wasn't too long ago that certain COLORS of dogs were culled at birth. It was due to a combination of factors, including a link between that color and congenital problems (deafness being one of them). Apply it to "investment" animals, and here is the situation as it may have played out:
A breeding produced a small number of defective animals out of an otherwise healthy appearing litter. This defect is thought to be inherited (this may or may not be known in the earliest stages). The stakes are high, so what do you do???
- Keep the babies and raise them as pets, never to be bred? (easy enough with one or two, but factor in multiple litters over several years, THEN think about it).
- Offer them out as "pets" and not for breeding, at a greatly reduced price? This carries two issues - 1) it publicizes that you have inheritable defects in your animals...not a good thing if this is how you are making your living, 2) it further increases the likelihood that somebody will see the chance at $$ and breed it anyway, spreading the weak genes and exacerbating the problem
- Cull the defective ones, and hope for the best.
- Cull all of the neonates
Remember, albino boas are just becoming affordable and "mainstream". 3-4 years ago, how many people were considering shelling out the bucks they commanded to have a cool looking pet? For the people that purchased them 8-10 (or more) years ago, the investment was not small...*as a result, too few took the most responsible step and stopped breeding the parent animals that produced the defects. Most probably just culled the defects and sold the sibs (or in some cases kept them for future breeding)

Perfect timing, Seamus.

Originally Posted by Seamus Haley

Cull. Cull the one with the eye problem, cull all it's siblings and seperate the parent animals, never use them as breeders ever again with one another or any other animal.

The reason that eye deformities are so common in albino boas and projects that have been linked to them is because unscrupulous individuals used deformed animals and their siblings as breeders even after it was determined to have a genetic cause linked to the Kahl line. The only ethical thing to do, for the animals in question and more importantly for the entire captive population is to take any animals known to be carriers and any animals directly related to them and remove them from the breeding population. The only way to be certain this is accomplished is the terminalone, since sterilization of a snake weighing a few ounces as a neonate just isn't practical or particularly possible. Sterilize the parent animals and keep them as pets- euthanize the neonates. ALL of them, not just the couple who are displaying the eye problem.

Thats the reality of life and death,straight to the point,no pussy footing around.

If my son was missing an eye, i wouldn't put him down. You should appriciate that snake all that much more.
thanks Mike

I can see a lot of logic on both sides of the issue. I also think that there is a lot of unsupported guesswork in the background.

In pigs, a vitamin deficiency in the mother can cause congenital eye problems. If I had a brother sister pair of albino boas with eye problems, I would raise them with the best nutrition I could give them and breed them to see whether the babies had eye problems and if so, what percentage. If the problem is genetic, I would expect all the babies to have eye problems. If none or only some had eye problems, I would think that environment is all or most of the cause. And any genetic involvement is far more complex than simple Mendelian genetics.

Unfortunately, Paul, genetic defects do not work that way. Just like other mutant properties, not all of a litter may have the same genetic code that triggers a defect (just like not all of the babies of a het albino x het albino litter will be albino). Also, it's common for albinos to have eye defects, which means that an unknown, undesirable eye defect may commonly pair (or be associated) with albino genes.... like deafness that sometimes occurs with all-white dogs. I have to disagree with you in the vitamin deficiency theory. If this was the case, you'd see a heck of a lot more one-eyed NORMAL boas, in my opinion. Inbreeding causes abnormal genes and symptoms to surface more often - look at the increased occurences six-fingered hands of Amish and Mennonite populations that have had inbreeding.