Posted by:
BrianSmith
at Mon Dec 8 19:01:35 2003 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by BrianSmith ]
Thanks a million Rob. This will really be more helpful than you may realize. With positive data from a good sized population of burms this will help greatly to set a precident that will help to invalidate the claims that captive burms are predisposed to die at a certain age. This rumor has always bothered me and I have never believed it entirely, though have considered that specific bloodlines MAY be tainted with this. But I have yet to see any proof of this. However, I have witnessed a high rate of deaths in the burmese. But your data will be very helpful in disproving any claims of any connection to the snakes being born with a viral time-released bomb in their systems.
As a breeder of burm morphs I feel that it is my duty and responsibility to address these rumors head on and either disprove them or find that they are true and face the consequences and try to figure out the best course of action in dealing with it. I would think that other breeders would feel the same and would rather get to the truth (regardless of the cost to business) rather than simply ignoring it, hoping it will go away and possibly selling snakes to people that are destined to die.
But with data like your own there Rob it looks like we are well on our way to having evidence that there is little merit to this worst case scenario tale. And though normally science and data should be exacting in proving or disproving theories, in this particular case it does not have to be. In this case it can be somewhat vague and "loose" as long as it demonstrates that the snakes live well beyond 4 years on average and/or that ALL burmese do not get sick. So it can certainly be ballpark in it's nature. Ergo: (Female, over 10, still alive, never sick) etc.
Again Rob, a thousand thanks. Your contribution is very important and I'm sure that it is appreciated by all herpers, keepers and breeders alike as this is beneficial to us all.
>>No problem Brian, it will just take time to get the info to you. We have data sheets of many of the burms we keep and have kept...nothing too fancy but the info should be helpful.
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"If I had 365 enemies it would only take a year out of my life to settle all scores." Mia Miselfani
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Thanks Rob [much more] - BrianSmith, Mon Dec 8 19:01:35 2003