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How big are your 2008 Boas?

God knows, to be perfectly honest, I have yet to see a Boa that survived after reaching such a state... I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

a friend of mine from RedtailBoas.com (Lars) is one of the most knowledgeable Boa people I know, he lost a lot of Boas due to these issues apparently...and it was thanks to him that we understood the reason for this drastic change.

Just trying to advocate awareness.
 
"My friend from the forum believes that the high stores of fat hasten the reproduction of certain bacteria in the Boas digestive system- these bacterias exist there naturally, but balanced. When this balance is undone, the snake is harmed."

That was from the other thread - I was wondering what qualifications your friend has, or is this just a guess? I've never heard of "fat poisoning" before, in any animal, and I'd be interested to learn more. I do agree it's unhealthy though, it's something I fear and not just because it wrecks breeding possibilities.
 
v_various said:
"My friend from the forum believes that the high stores of fat hasten the reproduction of certain bacteria in the Boas digestive system- these bacterias exist there naturally, but balanced. When this balance is undone, the snake is harmed."

That was from the other thread - I was wondering what qualifications your friend has, or is this just a guess? I've never heard of "fat poisoning" before, in any animal, and I'd be interested to learn more. I do agree it's unhealthy though, it's something I fear and not just because it wrecks breeding possibilities.
Click to expand...

He has none, save his own experience(which is quite extensive) and consult with veterinarians...
Bear in mind, the whole concept of genetics in reptiles is also the product of observation and conclusion making... no genetic experiment was conducted in a lab... we also assume that "simple recessive" morphs originate from a single pair of genes rather than several on the same chromosome for example.... it's a hobby, which sadly doesn't attract too much scientific attention.

http://www.basicallyboas.com/whats_new.html

I disagree though- high deposits of fat cause a multitude of issues in all living, breathing beings- in the form of metabolism issues, heart problems and so forth...

I believe that it is quite likely for a Boa Constrictor, which leads a semi-arboreal life style, to be fat-intolerant as high amounts of fat are very uncommon in the wild- especially amounts that exist in these rats due to lab-breeding:
http://www.criver.com/en-US/ProdServ/ByType/ResModOver/ResMod/Pages/ZuckerRat.aspx

Fat does indeed provide a very fertile breeding ground for bacteria... I think it's quite sensible...

It -could- always be the result of something else... just like many things in the hobby though... we do with what we have. Vets agree that it's a possible explanation... but there's no way without testing to say it's true- just like many of the hobby's views on genetics etc...

I also wanted to add though- there's a solid base of consistency in the linked cases of feeding rats that had high desposits of fat(Zucker rats, or het, retired breeders who develop many fat reserves and so on) and the waxing of color, regurge and loss of color- you can google it around, you'll see a pattern emerging...
 
Kokopelli said:
Fat does indeed provide a very fertile breeding ground for bacteria... I think it's quite sensible...

It -could- always be the result of something else... just like many things in the hobby though... we do with what we have. Vets agree that it's a possible explanation... but there's no way without testing to say it's true- just like many of the hobby's views on genetics etc...
Click to expand...

Yes, I agreed with the fact fat is unhealthy. It was specifically the "poisoning" part I had never heard of, the other complications you mentioned (like heart failure) are the ones that have been proven and I'm aware of. I haven't heard of it being a breeding ground for bacteria either, which is another thing I'm interested in finding facts about. I like studies to back up theories, it is a shame the scientific community isn't more interested. If I had the ability you know I'd be doing tests and bacteria cultures.
 
v_various said:
Yes, I agreed with the fact fat is unhealthy. It was specifically the "poisoning" part I had never heard of, the other complications you mentioned (like heart failure) are the ones that have been proven and I'm aware of. I haven't heard of it being a breeding ground for bacteria either, which is another thing I'm interested in finding facts about. I like studies to back up theories, it is a shame the scientific community isn't more interested. If I had the ability you know I'd be doing tests and bacteria cultures.
Click to expand...

Fat is based on Glucose, depending on the type of fat of course, but we're talking about the fat reserves of the body that was maintained in order to be "liquidated" at times of need into Glucose->ATP in order to allow the body to function.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agar

"Chemically, agar is a polymer made up of subunits of the sugar galactose. Agar polysaccharides serve as the primary structural support for the algae's cell walls."

Anywhoo I admit it's a tad difficult for me to convey myself properly as I know the terminology in Hebrew... and I am not quite sure about the exact terminology in English so I doubt I will be able to really provide a whole lot of answers... you can check it out on your own though... you may end up teaching us.
 
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