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One More Reason to Test for Adenovirus

Neverland Dragons said:
I want to point out that Reptile Rooms has had information on adenovirus for years. I feel like there are some people who are trying to discredit Cheri Smith and discount what she is saying as a "witch hunt."
So, there are people that report information regarding adenovirus in their colonies or purchased dragons to Reptile Rooms and Cheri keeps track of it. She is in possession of some very helpful information and is also basing her views of this virus on that. She has always been very professional in our conversations and has never disclosed a breeder's name or that they might be dealing with this virus. That is key in tracking cases and gathering information. People need to feel confident that if they choose to keep their situation private that will be the case.

I agree totally that Cheri has spent a great deal of time and effort to better educate the public on general care, yellow fungus, and adenovirus that effects the future of bearded dragons. But she does not know what goes on behind the scenes of most breeders operations. They need to feel they can speak out and share the knowledge they have gained without feeling everything they say will be taken out of content and used against them. Her views on adenovirus are not the only views that should be taken into consideration. We need to work together with the large breeders and she seems to try to drive a wedge anytime they do speak out. Why? It should not and can no be used against them. Anyone, it seems, that does not go along with her exact views and thinking is the bad guy, the bad breeder.

But I do have to disagree that she will and has never disclosed a breeder's name or situation dealing with adenovirus. She and I do not know each other and have never talked. Should I post the PM she sent me 2-1 at 2:41 a.m. titled "why do you object so much to other seeing this". It does disclose names and situations, for which she had no business telling me, other that to sway my opinions her way. She lost much respect from me, that she would share information she has gained when she does not know me or what I would do with that information.
 
A lot of reptiles and humans for that matter carry the adeno virus and various forms of it. This is not something that is radically new nor is it the black plague. There are many such virus's that are contained in the large and small intestine which work their way to the renal functions. Yes some animals die from said virus's and so do some humans. I for one would rather see efforts made to understand and find a cure for some of the various virus's that are present in the world. However, virus's do mutate and change forms which make irradicating them difficult. Nature will take its course and some animals will develope immunity to this particular strain. When that happens we will know better how to treat it. By that time there will be other virus's that will crop up. Just enjoy your animals for what they are. If anyone would like to donate animals to Georgia Tech. I believe I can find some students who are working on genetic codes and stem cell reserach who would love to tackle this issue as their graduate papers.
 
I can only speak for my conversations with Cheri and she has kept confidentiality at all times. I just wanted to explain some of her background and involvement with adenovirus and why I think she is qualified to discuss it in detail. I did not think many people reading the thread knew her extent of involvement in tracking the virus.

Yes, we do need as many breeders on board as possible. I think there is more than we know that may be contributing to the tone of the posts between Cheri and Vicki.

The important thing is that people are discussing the virus and hopefully we will move closer to understanding it and preventing it from spreading further in the bearded dragon population.
 
I DID NOT DO ANYTHING WRONG AND I DID NOT CAUSE THE BABIES TO DIE FROM ADENOVIRUS. That is, to use Vicki's phrase, "disgustingly misleading."

Wendy, I never said that this is what you did. What I was speaking of is an experience I had when we added baby bins to a room and changed light fixtures (T12 to T8) to better the light quality. I bet it took us a few months with the help of another breeder before we knew exactly what was going on. We spent entirely too much money on what we thought was husbandry improvements - only to remove/trash shortly thereafter.

Everyone’s experiences are different. And I see no reason why we cannot stop for a minute and learn from other people’s experiences - good and bad. There are people that have had NO mortalities in groups infected with the adenovirus. And one person said something - but did anyone hear him?

We were asked a blunt question and answered honestly. If this question would have been asked prior to all of the positive test results being returned - we probably would have answered differently. Bruce was crucified for “being dishonest” - it appears that honesty receives the same response.

There may be an undertone but it is deserving. Cheri is about control. “Do as I say.” and don’t ask any questions.

As far as the information Cheri presents - we never said it was bad information - but it is incomplete information and it lacks any understanding of adenoviruses. The plan that has been proposed is to track who has it - and the information has led where in 5 years?

She is always the one speaking for the doctors. We contacted her doctors, we asked pointed questions and posted some of those answers here. We have had contact with other professionals in the biology and virology field (both own reptiles) which have supplied information to both us and Cheri - which has never been offered or presented by her.
It seems that the information that may contradict a certain opinion is disregarded as irrelevant. And because one person feels something may be irrelevant - it is omitted.

Over the last few days we have been forwarded some very disturbing private messages sent to various people by Cheri. The information she presents in the private messages are blatant lies and insinuations about us and other breeders - in retaliation for us posting information that she deemed irrelevant.

The only information that is getting any of the spotlight here is the finger pointing and keeping tabs on others… who is a good breeder and who is a bad one.

We posted quite a bit of factual information along with our opinions and experiences on a few things. It is now up to the rest of you in the community to move forward.
 
Vicki, with emotions running high and this being so personal, yes I did think it was directed at me. I apologize for my remark and for jumping to the wrong conclusion.

The important issue here is to discuss this virus and learn as much as we can. I do not want to detract from our objective and will be mindful of that when making future posts. You are right, it is crucial to hear all experiences and learn what we can from them.

I have no idea what is going on with the pm's, so I am going to leave that to the people involved.
 
We're on post #186 and I last posted on #123 ... 63 post ago, because I know on here if threads get to long, people stop reading them and they are counter productive. 20 of us in a chat channel one night were talking about something on this thread and I said I would PM her and lets see how long it takes before someone else heard what was said in that PM. As you can see it was less than 24 hours :yesnod:

I said that night, I was tired of all the games and twisted words and the same in Email to others.... my position has always been that it should not be business as usually when people knew they were spreading a virus. It does not matter if the dragons that are positive are healthy, sick, dying or the legendary mass die offs thrown around so often that no one but Bruce and Vicki say for drama. It does not matter if they received the best of care or worst of care.......... THEYALL CAN INFECT OTHER DRAGONS, and babies seem to be especially sensitive to it and some babies have died with the necropsy stating adenovirus, nothing else, adenovirus, not corona or dependo or parasites too....how can anyone in good conscious continue to put dragons like that into other peoples home or breeders colony without having the decency to inform them they were infecting them?

I have not hidden what I think of breeders that do that, I will not support then in doing that..... that is just sick and greed. All we can do is warn people and hope some take it to heart and avoid infection their own colony but not buying from them anymore. How many people on this thread would have wanted that information in their hands before buying from someone they did buy from and now have infected dragons? No matter what, I think that is irresponsible of ANY breeder doing it knowingly and we both know how long this has been known to be in what lines and from where. THAT is were history does matter.

No Vicki, it is not your “Do as I say.” and don’t ask any question's. It's some breeders business as usually cause we need the money off them and not giving a darn about the species or that they have and continue to infect other's colonies.

The information I present is two statements by vet/researchers and their opinion which you have chosen to ignore and advise other breeders to ignore also..... for years.... its been business as usual and that has led to MANY infected colonies now. I do not speak for the doctors as you claim, read above...by Doctors who both say NOT TO BREED AND SELL THEM, I am not speaking for them, surely you can see the difference?

The last half of that paragraph I have no clue what you are talking about... what other professionals in bio and viro with reptiles who supplied info to both us and I supposedly never offered. How many times do we have to ask you WTH you are talking about as I have no idea what you are claiming here. I know no other professionals in viro or bio than the two who's info I put on my wenbsite except for the Dr from the Univ of PA who stated she never told Bruce what he claimed she did. The only things I have been given by any professional was the two on my site..... and if we both supposedly received this information, where on your site is any of it?

I tired to offer something from the professionals so we have some sort of guide, even if not complete and perfect, it is more than is out there anywhere else. We all know that is going to take a lot of time and we have to be the responsible parties until them, NOT BUSINESS AS USUAL. You also know we already have helped in raising private funds for medical reptile research, including assisting in writing grant request and letters for support to the foundations on behalf of those researchers. I have the budget that was worked up by one researcher for a 2 year study in detail. None of this is new or just the past year, its been 5 years since you first emailed me from a post on KS and you knew what was going on, yet you do not share that info do you?

I am sure nothing more disturbing than what I have seen the last 7 months from people who claim you say things that are a total contridiction to what the 2 professionals who's info is on my site state. I even emailed you those and asked you outright about then, which you denied telling them that, so I guess all that say you told them this are liars too? You have one, which we all knew you would have in a matter of minutes, just like we all knew you and a few others would be all over this thread in minutes when it started talking about the where this came from or breeders still selling and spreading it. I can not ever remember stating anything you posted is irrelevant except the human/child adeno information which I think most people know reptile, other mammals and human virus are extremely different. That has been a common discussion many times in chat channel, emails and PM's, again, no big secret nor am I denying it.

Having to inbreed and make deformed and sick dragon to get trait? NO, that is not true. That is one way to do it, the bad way, it is NOT the only way and certainly not the healthiest for the current or FUTURE generations. YOUi feel so bad someone put down any animals infected with a virus that was sold into their colony, but purposely breeding to get a high $$$ worth trait and having to put down those deformed and sicky babies is acceptable? What is wrong with this picture? I will tell you, the end results that make both of them acceptibe to some breeders is that the both generate more money. It is the fasted to the money way, that is the difference and as to your question about an albino and which would someone do? Personally, I think the person caring only about the money would rush to inbreed it, the person caring about the species would take their time and do it right with the animals best interest considered and the health for the future :thumbsup: Some might even be driven to hide from those that would want to exploit them as the pressure for the $$$$ is so great.

who is a good breeder and who is a bad one
I think good ones are those being responsible and not spreading this virus, the bad ones are the ones that cost other's loss of investment, time, heartbreak. life of the animals and income by infecting them when they could have taken another path, but elected not to and for the money. There aretwo separate views here and I do not think either will ever see the other side as they both have different agendas they think are right. There are those that this is their source of $$$ and as I said in my first post, they can not let go of that or what they need to do to keep it going and there are those that care about the species. It is easy to see the two camps and only time might make one see the other side, I think that time is running out as some have purposely created what they have been telling people for 5 years was their theory.

Best of wishes to all you that are having to deal with this as I know your dragons and you were innocent victims of it and I wish them all the best possible outcome and normal long lives. I have helped place dozens of positive dragons for breeder and many of those our personal vet will be following and the Universities, zoos or colleges that accepted them will also continue to followup. Hopefully they all will report what they find to the public and each other. Thank you all for doing the right thing because you know in your hearts it is the right thing and not because I ask it for anyone
 
CheriS said:
I think good ones are those being responsible and not spreading this virus, the bad ones are the ones that cost other's loss of investment, time, heartbreak. life of the animals and income by infecting them when they could have taken another path, but elected not to and for the money. There aretwo separate views here and I do not think either will ever see the other side as they both have different agendas they think are right. There are those that this is their source of $$$ and as I said in my first post, they can not let go of that or what they need to do to keep it going and there are those that care about the species. It is easy to see the two camps and only time might make one see the other side, I think that time is running out as some have purposely created what they have been telling people for 5 years was their theory.

Best of wishes to all you that are having to deal with this as I know your dragons and you were innocent victims of it and I wish them all the best possible outcome and normal long lives. I have helped place dozens of positive dragons for breeder and many of those our personal vet will be following and the Universities, zoos or colleges that accepted them will also continue to followup. Hopefully they all will report what they find to the public and each other. Thank you all for doing the right thing because you know in your hearts it is the right thing and not because I ask it for anyone


Firstly cheri thank you for responding to dachius post. the reason I think this post has continued is because the fingerpointing had died down and people had begun to put their heads together and get to the real issues which has been fantastic.

I want to address your point on good and bad breeders refferring to the top half of your quote. I think they will have to see eye to eye because I don't think anyone will want to buy from a breeder who does not care about the species, I know I wouldn't. And I don't care what fabulous one of a kind morph it may be, people want it healthy and know that it has come from a place where is has been well treated and cared for. And I think this will be more relevant as the adeno virus and it's background spreads as common knowledge to those wanting to purchase. People will begin to ask more questions and will expect answers to be given readily. And I think they will expect them to of been tested aswell. Hopefully this will push the change.

lastly thank you for the support you have given to those you have had positive results and have gone to you for help, by the sounds of it you have done alot more than give advice and have prevented alot of positives from being euthenased... I see this as very positive.

I think it is time to put all the blame to bed and work together. what is needed to provide research? how much needs to be raised? Do they have a dedicated facility? And how can we as a community help to get this started??
One thing which we do have is alot of voices and that goes along way in producing results in this sort of area. I think we just need a target xx
 
trapieter said:
what is needed to provide research? how much needs to be raised? Do they have a dedicated facility? And how can we as a community help to get this started??
One thing which we do have is alot of voices and that goes along way in producing results in this sort of area. I think we just need a target xx

My thoughts exactly. You know, for most, this is tax season...and hopefully some of us are getting refunds. If anyone knows where we can donate before the money is spent on other things, please share that information so we can stop talking about doing it, and actually do it.
 
fstop2100a said:
If anyone would like to donate animals to Georgia Tech. I believe I can find some students who are working on genetic codes and stem cell reserach who would love to tackle this issue as their graduate papers.

I have already made the offer to Dr. Jacobson, and have not received an answer. As for Georgia Tech, as long as they study would be related to Adenovirus, I would be happy to help.
 
Saladragon said:
I have already made the offer to Dr. Jacobson, and have not received an answer. As for Georgia Tech, as long as they study would be related to Adenovirus, I would be happy to help.

Correction...

I just received an email from Dr. Jacobson asking if I would be willing to particpate in studies while keeping my animals here! You guys, this is so exciting!!! This virus really is still being studied!!!

When I replied to Dr. Jacobson, I asked him if there is a way for us to donate for research, and if so, where we could do so. Hopefully, I'll have an answer for that soon, and will post whatever I find out.

Oh, I'm just so happy I get to keep them here, but still help!!!
 
Dennis Hultman said:
Tere, I just read this thread from start this morning. My deepest sympathies to you and applaud you at the same time for your stance.

Thank you, Dennis. You have no idea how much that means to me. But you know those brick walls you and I discussed a while ago? Now, I think I finally understand why.
 
To those of you wishing to donate for Adenovirus research done at the University of Florida with Dr. Jacobson, please contact me (and I'm sure Cheri has this information as well) for donation instructions.

I asked Dr. Jacobson if I could post the information he sent, but due to recent events, he asked that I not. I will, however, share the donation instructions, individually, as requested.
 
Tere \

I had typed out a long explanation of info about trying to set up some donation things with what him and the schools position was, plus some past fundraiser that raised several thousands of dollars for IBD research and future plan with reptile shows, but then went back and deleted it all after thinking about some things that appeared on here and them still not explained by those making the accusations. I would also rather refer people to you for information on donations and ideas to impliment.

Good Luck!
 
Cheri-

Completely understood. I will do the best I can.

Just so everyone is aware, I'm not getting any post or PM notifications, so if I take a little bit to get back to you, please don't think I'm ignoring you. It's hard to get used to having to look at the top to see if you have any PMs!
 
Saladragon said:
Correction...

I just received an email from Dr. Jacobson asking if I would be willing to particpate in studies while keeping my animals here! You guys, this is so exciting!!! This virus really is still being studied!!!

When I replied to Dr. Jacobson, I asked him if there is a way for us to donate for research, and if so, where we could do so. Hopefully, I'll have an answer for that soon, and will post whatever I find out.

Oh, I'm just so happy I get to keep them here, but still help!!!


I also would like to help with this study if at all possible !!!!

How could HB Henry and I also help? Yes I believe it would be exciting :iagree:
 
I think its great that you are taking steps forward with this and your beardies are being a great help in the progress of research in to the fight of controlling adeno. I thought this would be inportant to you all because it also brings hope, and it is nice to see that coming to light now. hold on to it becasue more will step up and join in and then more info will be found. I admire you all. Its nice to see you too karen I saw your photos only the other day and I'm sure you could be of use too with your hansome boy henry ;)
tere I'll send you a pm in a couple of days to ask info when it's died down and when you have got used to looking lol.

take care till then

jojo xx
 
Jean

You asked some things:
We need to work together with the large breeders and she seems to try to drive a wedge anytime they do speak out. Why? It should not and can no be used against them. Anyone, it seems, that does not go along with her exact views and thinking is the bad guy, the bad breeder.
Why? the fact they continue to sell positive dragons and infecting more breeders every day maybe explain this to you. As long as that is going on it will be very hard to have anyone work together or medical contacts to help

But I do have to disagree that she will and has never disclosed a breeder's name or situation dealing with adenovirus.
I do not disclose anyone's name to people I respect and work with to try and contain this, why would I tell confidential information to you? That never happened, it will never happen. People that have positive animals and work to contain it, NOT SPREAD it, have never had their confidence betrayed.

Others have a right to know that expensive morph they might buy has come from badly inbreed stock and may produce some sad situation with offspring they will have to put down and think about if they can do that AFTER they created it. Most people pride themselves on NOT inbreeding. No one had to breed that way to create a morph that naturally occurred and not in just one clutch somewhere..... they occurred in several breeders colonies, there are other ways to set it.

Others have a right to know what lines this is primarily in, if it might make one more person test that thought like so many others, that they bought from those breeders who were suppose to be good breeders. In many cases some of those breeders are innocent victims too, Many of them have all clear tested dragons from last season, but this past season got them as they are breeding dragons bought in 2004 .....but some knew what was going on for years and elected to make it business as usual.


COST TO TEST:
One or two males and several females can easily produce 1000 babies in a few months time to sell....take a guess at how little that cost to test before you breed them and sell the offspring, then take a guess spreading that over 5 years how little it would have cost from 2002 to now for the ones someone wanted to breed?. Do the math, it is not that great, it could have saved many people, some of those decent size breeders, the financial loss and heatbreak they are having to deal with now.


HISTORY:
Why is the history important? The most common thing I hear was that they carefully bought diverse and what were thought to be good lines yet what they really bought were dragons with a high likelyhood of being positive and spreading it to their other dragons. A look of any breeder that has disclosed positive results and their lines it is in, tells you who it is coming from, that is not secret anymore either... it is right in front of people now. Reading online post from 2002 forward tells you where it is strongly and even now post by others than me tell you.

Some may not think that is important, IMO, it is when they still continue selling them. How can you expect a medical source to seriously consider taking on a project that they see the people within that industry are still spreading it for profit? How can we expect a medical source to want to be involved when they are attacked for the little that they did try to give us? How can we expect them to be there for us and our dragons when what they have said to others in the past is twisted, incorrect and the "quotes" were distorted and taken out of context, misinterpreted and are being misrepresented? Even Dr Wentz's dragons have been attacked on here now!!And people ask and wonder why the medical community does not respond to pleas for help with this? :shrug01:

DOING THE RIGHT THING:
There are many ways someone may choose to deal with this once they know they have a problem and not spread it to others, each should be supported in the choice they made EXCEPT the choice to spread it :NoNo:

A few days ago after this thread started, I looked at ObsessionDragon's site for the first time as I did not know her before, I can not tell you how impacting that is....... please anyone that has not seen it, go look at it. She has her beautiful big healthy looking dragons pictures and their individual lines listed along with if they are positive or not and this is someone else like Wendy, Susanne and Robert who had babies being affected and dying. They choose to make it public -to help others and the people they also sold dragons too. That is more than what is expected of anyone, that is being responsible to the species or more than what anyone has asked. Kudo to them!! :thumbsup:
 
trapieter

I just noticed that you are in the UK, I know that this has started showing up a lot in dragons that were imported to the UK from the US the past two years, have you seen the post about that on the UK sites?
 
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