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What are nidoviruses? Nidoviruses are a group of related viruses known to cause a severe and sometimes fatal respiratory disease in snakes. These viruses are cousins of SARS and MERS coronaviruses that affect humans, which can also cause severe respiratory disease. What snakes are susceptible to nidovirus infection and disease? This is one of the primary questions The Stenglein Lab is trying to answer. So far, nidoviruses have been detected predominately in pythons and some boas, but it is their goal to determine all the snake species that are susceptible and how severely the disease affects them. There is no evidence...

PREFACE This is an article I found on Ball-Pythons.net(https://ball-pythons.net/forums/showthread.php?35760-What-is-crypto) The links below no longer work but I will leave them there along with the other attribution. Crypto is a serious illness in reptiles caused by a protozoan. Crypto is highly infectious and almost always fatal. Western hognose and leopard gecko collections are at high risk of contamination through improper quarantine or hygiene procedures. The original article follows: REPTILIAN CRYPTOSPORIDIOSISBy Ryan CentiniWhat is cryptosporidiosis? Cryptosporidium is a internal protozoal parasite which is a type of coccidia. Can humans or other animals get cryptosporidiosis from reptiles? There are eight different species of Cryptosporidium. C. serpentis is the one that...

It is very common to see a reptile for sale with a label that reads "50% pos het Albino" or "66% pos het Clown". These percentages cause a good bit of confusion for people who are just beginning to think about the genetics of their animals and new breeders who haven't brushed up on genetics 101. "Pos Het" is short for "Possibly Heterozygous", which is a way of saying "this animal may or may not have the following gene". Genes come in pairs, called alleles, and each pair is located in a specific position (or locus) on a chromosome. If the...

  We are eagerly awaiting the arrival of our first hatchlings of 2019. In this clutch we have several world first possibilities thanks to Sir Racha, out hot sauce (yellow belly and sauce) male. These 8 eggs have been in the incubator since November 20th of 2018. We started pairing Misty and Sir Racha in August when Misty appeared to be receptive. We witnessed her ovulation on September 18th and she had her pre-lay shed on October 12th. The whole process takes quite a long time and it is pretty exciting to follow it through every step. After we collected the eggs...

We have a lot of enchi ball pythons breeding for 2019 so here is some info about the origins of the enchi morph.  In 1998, Lars Brandell of Sweball imported some "special" ball pythons from Ghana along with a shipment of farmed ball pythons for another project. In 2002, Lars bred the two golden ball pythons he received and proved that the color was genetic. He named it 'enchi' after a town in Ghana that was known for it's gold mine. The first super enchi was produced in 2003, proving that the gene was incomplete dominant. Today, enchi is a popular morph...