Albino burm size?

[matt w]

I havent seen many albino burms much over 15ft.
Do they stay smaller than regular burms or can they reach the 20ft mark aswell?

[Ian]

They have the potential to reach the same size as normal burms.

[B]

the size of a snake doesent depent on on the color as far as i know :)

B

[JERICO]

LLo Matt, dont i know you from another forum lol.

I think what he is asking is,

Why do you not see as many 20ft albino burms as your do normal, do you think it could be something to do with the gene's :?

Is that right Matt ?

[matt w]

Hi dan, if its the dan im thinking of (reticulatus) then its good to hear from you mate!
Thats what i was trying to get across!
I dont know anything about the genetics of morphs but i do know that iv never seen a 20ft + albino burm which makes me wounder if there smaller size is genetic!
If any body has a pic of a 20ft albino burm could they please post it as id love to see one!
Cheers.

[JERICO]

Retic Dan, erm............NO, and tbh i take that as an insult, wish i had'nt helped you now :twisted:


I'm Dan aka DJMCJERICO, or herpsonline.co.uk 8)

I suppose You hav'nt seen many big albino's as they are a newish species, compared to how long people have owned normals for, hence there are more older normals around.
And 20ft burms arnt really the norm, so it would be an exception

ie: get to adult-hood (16ft'ish) after 4 years, and then grow only a few inch a year, so to have a 20ft albino, it would need to be about 20 years old.

Or am i waffling, it is 5am lol

[matt w]

Now i know who you are! Sorry, i know too many dan's!

[daveb]

i rescued a 15ft female burm that was an albino

[Ian]

I believe Mike Wilbanks has a ~20 foot albino burm. An albino burm will grow as large as any burm if it gets all the right care.

[KLG]

Here's Rosie - who's now around 15 years old. Last year she was measured at 18.5'.

http://newenglandreptile.com/webpics/rosie.jpg

K~

[Ian]

Lookin` great!
And the snake aint bad either :P :shock: 8) :D

[Kitt]

Hmm... I guess Rosie disproves something that I had read, which is that albino snakes don't appear to live as long as normal snakes.

Now what I have never seen is a green Burm measuring more than maybe ten feet or so... Since my own Burm is an albino green, I'm wondering if there may be some sort of medical reason for that? I heard a someone on another forum make a brief reference to green Burms not living past four years! I certainly hope that's not true...

[Ian]

People like to make things up claiming that Burm morphs die before 4 years of age. Greens, albino greens, labs, etc have not been around as long as the albino gene, and so they are not HUGE yet. One of my good friends had a 13 foot albino green, but sold her a few years ago. I may have a pic somewhere....

[LdyDrgn]

Over on Bob Clark's forums a few months ago were pics of a green about the size of that albino. ;)

[rcrowley]

My experiences have indicated that more "rookie" herpers bought albino burms and they usually take a beating as far as care goes. I have a male that is over 13ft and I received him about 2yrs ago at 8.5ft. Another herp relocator friend of mine has a female that tops out at 185-200 lbs and is just as big as his biggest normal burm. Color does seem to matter; however after relocating some 80 or so burmese pythons over the last five years I noticed the albinos were always in far worse condition.

I did only place a confirmed 19ft albino female that was in awesome shape. That was about 4yrs ago.

[rcrowley]

Please excuse my bad writing in the previous post. I did not proof it. I meant to say color does NOT make a difference.

sorry, my bad.

[Ian]

Hi Rich,
No need to apologize for a typo, we all do it.
I agree, rookies usually buy normal or albino burms (since they are cheapest) and so they usually take a beating to be sure. I think a lot of burms die, but not because they are burms, just because they aren't being taken care of.

[JERICO]

Yup, i think people buy them expecting to get used to it as it grows, and quickly end up with a 6ft burm they are scared of.

[Kitt]

Good to know that there's isn't really a lethal gene or anything associated with the patternless morph! I got a bit worried there, when I read that for the first time.

[Outback Bill]

In the Burm world there is some truth to that gene thing just like in the boa world. Out of all the Burm morphs Green may be the weakest that is not to say that all greens are weak but they do tend to stay smaller if 12 to 14 feet is small and they seem to be more delicate when it comes to respitory and skin conditions. In the Boa world albinos seem to be a weaker strain when compared to others.

[Kitt]

Out of all the Burm morphs Green may be the weakest that is not to say that all greens are weak but they do tend to stay smaller if 12 to 14 feet is small and they seem to be more delicate when it comes to respitory and skin conditions.

Do you think that is directly linked to the patternless gene, or do you suppose it is due to inbreeding?

That's what I always wonder, when I hear about morphs with associated health problems.

[Outback Bill]

I think it is a little of both. I think that the genes of the green burms are weaker but the inbreeding hasn't helped either.