Piebald/Callico Disease?? HELP!!!!

[E. g. guttata]

This could end up being a very very sad day. I don't know how to ID the early stages of the piebald "disease" but I believe one of my females in my breeding line-up this year has this genetic anomaly. I was just (maybe 5 min. ago) handeling her, and I noticed something odd about one side of her body, about a saddle or two behind the head. I ran my finger over it and it felt like the whole 2-saddle length area was damaged. I couldn't figure out why this would be so, there isn't anything rough enough in her container to cause this. I looked closer and it appears as though the tips of EVERY SINGLE ONE of those scales is turning clear. I leaneed back a little and it loost as if her skin between only those scales is turning white. I am not sure if this is enough to back the theroy that she may have piebald/callico "disease", but it makes me think a lot, especially since I noticed another, smaller area on that same side of her body that was very similar. Someone, please tell me I'm paranoid and that this isn't piebald/callico. I hope I'm just not being paranoid, although the time-frame is about right for it to start physically manifesting, as she is 1 yr 3 mo old.....

 

[TandJ]

This almost sounds similair to lupus in humans.. I am not sure what to tell you, other than I am sorry..

Regards..

 

[CornCrazy]

Can you get a picture for us?

 

[E. g. guttata]

Can you get a picture for us?

I'll try, but it's really hard to see unless you know what exactly you're looking for. I almost missed it myself. I'll try to get a comparrison pic set up to see if anyone can give me an answer one way or the other.

 

[E. g. guttata]

Couldn't get the comparison photos, but I got a couple of pictures that I hope will help show you what I'm worried about. They're a little fuzzy, but it's impossible to see it from a photo that's further away. At least you can kinda see it in these pics. I also tried taking a video, but it was far too fuzzy to see anything that might help.

If anyone can tell me waht exactly is going on from these photos, I would really love it.

 

[E. g. guttata]

Not sure if anyone oticed, but I did get the pictures up and would really really really really like someon to give me their professional opinion. Please???

 

[CornCrazy]

Will you draw an arrow to the exact place you are talking about? I am not sure that I am looking in the right place.

 

[E. g. guttata]

Will you draw an arrow to the exact place you are talking about? I am not sure that I am looking in the right place.

It's pretty much the entire side that's closest to the camera, the stuff that's kinda blurry. I've circled the are for you, so hopefully you can see it better.

I'm hoping against hope that I'm just a paranoid little freak, but I really worry about my snakes. If this happens to be callico/piebald, it really throws a monkey wrench in all my breeding plans. I'd have to contact any and everyone that purchased a hatchling from me, I'd have to cancell 2 breeding projects of mine, I'd have to put this little girl (and possibly her sister) down, and I'd never be able to breed the parents again. This is not exactly something that I want to do, but it's neccessary, so I'd better get over it. I guess I really could breed her since it's not just a simple recessive, but I think it would be very unethical, and harmful to the snakes. I have really mixed feelings right now about all this, and I'm gaining grey hairs faster with each passing day, due to all the problems that have happened not only over the last year, but more specifically over the last month or so. This is not really a good year for me right now......

 

[wikkedkornman]

so piebald/calico is a killer disease? i did not know this. most people seem happy when their snake ends up being a calico/piebald.

 

[Billybobob]

so piebald/calico is a killer disease? i did not know this. most people seem happy when their snake ends up being a calico/piebald.

The first found piebald/calico gene in corns turned out to be a disease that caused the snake to reject its own pigment making parts of the snake turn white and get blisters on its scales. I don't know if it was fatal but it was not a desirable trait. I posted this from memory so if i made any mistakes pleas correct me.

 

[E. g. guttata]

The first found piebald/calico gene in corns turned out to be a disease that caused the snake to reject its own pigment making parts of the snake turn white and get blisters on its scales. I don't know if it was fatal but it was not a desirable trait. I posted this from memory so if i made any mistakes pleas correct me.

Not sure if this is completely correct, but the thing that stuck with me from what I read in the manual is that callico/piebald was similar to the disease in humans known as lupus. Pigment-rejection, scarring, early death, and even the prevelence in females over males have all been attributed to this phenomenon. Since it is not inhearedted as a simple genetic trait, it is possible that two snakes expressing this "mutation" can breed a line of perfectly healthy, normal hatchlings, and that even full-blooded siblings from the same exact clutch will not neccessarily contract this disorder. Though these are all possibilities, I feel that breeding such a snake would be very unethical, due to the fact that you would still, in some small part, be continuing and contributing to this problem. I am very hopeful that it is NOT callico/piebaldism, or if it is, that it is the "true" form that does not lead to health problems. This is just me reaching out for that little thread to cling to.............

 

[CornCrazy]

Alan,

I am sorry, but I can not really tell much by looking at those pictures. I was wondering, does it just look like her skin is really dry, or are there actual blisters?

Aslo, what is the humidity like in her enclosure? At work, I have seen blistering due to excessive humidity.

 

[E. g. guttata]

Alan,

I am sorry, but I can not really tell much by looking at those pictures. I was wondering, does it just look like her skin is really dry, or are there actual blisters?

Aslo, what is the humidity like in her enclosure? At work, I have seen blistering due to excessive humidity.

I can't tell if it's just dry skin, but I'm not seeing any blisters. Humidiy in the tank is fairly low. The only really moist area in the enclosure is the substrate, but it's not nearly enough to cause bacterial problems, and I'd think that they would be on her underside rather than on that one half of the body, due to the fact that she doesn't burrow. All my other snakes (including hatchlings) are on that same substrate, and no other snake has developed these same symptoms. All the snakes are in the same room and the heat in each enclosure is about the same, as well as substrate dampness and humidity. I just don't know why this little girl has these symptoms, and I'm thinking about not even brumating her this year to see if this developes into something to worry about. I'll need to make up my mind about that tonight, so that way I can feed accordingly. All my other breeding-sized snakes are going into brumation next week, so it's kinda crunch time for this decision. Should I keep her out to see if this developes and then breed her un-brumated if not?

 

[CornCrazy]

If she was mine, I would keep her out of brumation. Only healthy snakes should be brumated. If you cool her, she may not make it through.