Notices |
Hello!
Either you have not registered on this site yet, or you are registered but have not logged in. In either case, you will not be able to use the full functionality of this site until you have registered, and then logged in after your registration has been approved.
Registration is FREE, so please register so you can participate instead of remaining a lurker....
Please note that the information requested during registration will be used to determine your legitimacy as a participant of this site. As such, any information you provide that is determined to be false, inaccurate, misleading, or highly suspicious will result in your registration being rejected. This is designed to try to discourage as much as possible those spammers and scammers that tend to plague sites of this nature, to the detriment of all the legitimate members trying to enjoy the features this site provides for them.
Of particular importance is the REQUIREMENT that you provide your REAL full name upon registering. Sorry, but this is not like other sites where anonymity is more the rule.
Also your TRUE location is important. If the location you enter in your profile field does not match the location of your registration IP address, then your registration will be rejected. As such, I strongly urge registrants to avoid using a VPN service to register, as they are often used by spammers and scammers, and as such will be blocked when discovered when auditing new registrations.
Sorry about all these hoops to jump through, but I am quite serious about blocking spammers and scammers at the gate on this site and am doing the very best that I can to that effect. Trust me, I would rather be doing more interesting things with my time, and wouldn't be making this effort if I didn't think it was worthwhile.
|
Genetics, Taxonomy, Hybridization General discussions about the science of genetics as well as the ever changing face of taxonomy. Issues concerning hybridization are welcome here as well. |
05-19-2005, 01:04 PM
|
#11
|
|
The problem is that the eye abnormalities in BCI have shown 99% in albinos. I
have yet to see one ad showing any other boa showing eye problems.
And yes, you are right. Vitamin A deficiency will lead to eye defects, including
blindness. That's why livestock require vitamin A to be added to their diet to
avoid such problems. Boas on the other hand obtain their vitamin A from the
liver deposits contained in their prey items. You lost me with your rationale
behind the need for a low fat diet. Fat is required for normal absorption of
vitamin A (fat soluble vitamin) and it's metabolites.
|
|
|
05-19-2005, 03:11 PM
|
#12
|
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by paulh
I wish someone would raise a pair of albino boa constrictors with one or both eyes missing on a low fat, vitamin fortified diet and then breed them. The result might help give us a handle as to whether the problem is genetic or environmental.
|
As was mentioned in the previous post. Why is it almost exclusive to Albinos? I believe if it was something as simple as a vitamin deficiency, that there would be an even greater occurance of one eyed/no eyed normals, since more of them are produced.
|
|
|
05-19-2005, 06:35 PM
|
#13
|
|
Ambient light, even at low intensities, can cause irreversible degeneration of
the retina in albino rats. They apparently need 12-h cycles of light and
darkness to decrease the incidence of the problem. A 24-hour period of
continuous light will cause some damage, and after several weeks of continuous
exposure, there is complete degeneration of the retina leading to blindness.
Maybe we should learn from this, and maintain albino boas under lower intensity
light, and by no means use incandescent lamps for heating purposes. Of course
this does not address the problem of the inherited condition whereas animals
are born blind or even with the absence of one or both eyes. One other thing,
please don't fall for the traumatism story; albino boas are not that "dumb" to
suffer ocular accidents so frequently.
|
|
|
05-19-2005, 07:29 PM
|
#14
|
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by The BoidSmith
The problem is that the eye abnormalities in BCI have shown 99% in albinos. I
have yet to see one ad showing any other boa showing eye problems.
|
Perhaps albinos need more than a normal does to develop properly.
One thing that I have wondered was whether both Kahl and Sharp albinos show eye abnormalities or whether it was restricted to the Kahl strain.
Quote:
Originally Posted by The BoidSmith
And yes, you are right. Vitamin A deficiency will lead to eye defects, including
blindness. That's why livestock require vitamin A to be added to their diet to
avoid such problems. Boas on the other hand obtain their vitamin A from the
liver deposits contained in their prey items. You lost me with your rationale
behind the need for a low fat diet. Fat is required for normal absorption of
vitamin A (fat soluble vitamin) and it's metabolites.
|
It might not be vitamin A deficiency but some other deficiency. The vitamin A deficiency was simply an example. Or boas' normal diet in the wild might include more vitamin A than they get from the diet of rodents that we usually feed them.
As for the fat, I'm not aware of any good studies on the proportion of different prey in boa constrictor diets in the wild. At least some prey, like iguanas, would tend to be considerably leaner than the rodents we feed the snakes.
Unfortunately, I have a lot more questions than answers.
|
|
|
05-19-2005, 08:03 PM
|
#15
|
|
Paul,
I have yet to see advertised one Sharp albino with eye deformities. But we also have to remember that the Kahl strain has been in the market for quite longer and thus there has been more line-breeding taking place.
As far as having more questions than answers, welcome to the club!
|
|
|
05-22-2005, 03:55 PM
|
#16
|
|
Quote:
The problem is that the eye abnormalities in BCI have shown 99% in albinos. I have yet to see one ad showing any other boa showing eye problems.
|
I just looked at a CB jungle BCI on Friday. One of the jungles in the litter had one eye larger than the other. It was very noticeable. The guy is not selling that one but it was the first time I had seen a BCI with one eye larger than the other eye on anything other than an albino.
|
|
|
05-22-2005, 05:12 PM
|
#17
|
|
An anomaly every now and then is possible, as with any other species. The problem is when it shows-up consistently in one particular strain of that species. The lack of melanin in albinos does not protect the retina. That’s probably why they may be more susceptible to turn blind even when born with normal eyesight. A different issue altogether is congenital eye deformities or even animals born without one or both eyes. A similar problem using rats as an animal model is called inherited retinal degeneration. It’s also an hereditary trait that affects humans as well. The only solution we seem to have with albino boas is to avoid inbreeding as much as possible and never use animals with notorious eye defects in our breeding projects. But how do we convince someone who has produced such animals not to sell them at a discounted price? How do we convince the brokers not to sell in turn? We all have seen ads where the animal is advertised as having had a trauma in the eye early in life..."a rat bit him in the eye". We always ask ourselves why so many nigerian scams keep showing up. The answer is because there is people that still fall for them. Why do albinos with eye deformities show-up in the ads? Simply because there is a market for them.
|
|
|
06-04-2005, 06:10 AM
|
#18
|
|
This is a much larger problem then most people want to admit or believe.
As time goes on, the results of breeding these animals multiplies exponentially.
However, the larger problem here is the passing on of the genetics through siblings that probably carry this defective gene, but do not display it.
They are even more likely to contaminate breeding projects, then their one-eyed siblings. Conscientious breeders who would never allow a one-eyed animal to reproduce, may be unknowingly passing on this same genetic material through the breeding of their siblings.
With all of the morphs being produced, the eye deformity issue can (and most likely already has) spread well beyond the albino boa.
A little disturbing, isn't it!
|
|
|
07-26-2005, 09:11 PM
|
#19
|
|
Has anyone seen or heard of this deformity in other morphs the use the albino gene (snow, sunglow, etc.)?
|
|
|
07-24-2006, 03:59 AM
|
#20
|
|
I can't comment on other morphs, but yes albino are now off my wishlist. After hearing some of these practices I'll now opt out of the albino thing. I was familiar with the eye deformities in albinos but somehow thought breeders of the past had learn't from their mistakes--Breeding a deformity over won't make it go away, deforms should be culled!
|
|
|
Join
now to reply to this thread or open new ones
for your questions & comments! FaunaClassifieds.com
is the largest online community about Reptile
& Amphibians, Snakes, Lizards and number one
classifieds service with thousands of ads to look
for. Registration is open to everyone and FREE.
Click Here to Register!
|
Posting Rules
|
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
HTML code is Off
|
|
|
All times are GMT -4. The time now is 12:47 AM.
|
|