Ok so heres what you need to know.

What the T stands for in "T" albino is Tyrosinase.

The difference between T- and T+ albino is whether or not the animal has (partially) functioning tyrosinase genes (+) or not (-). Tyrosinase is a copper-containing enzyme crucial for melanin biosynthesis, catalyzing the oxidation of tyrosine to L-DOPA and subsequent reactions that lead to melanin (color) production. 

If you just said, Huh?- no worries, Heres the differences for what it means for us as snake keepers/breeders:

T- have red irises as adults, and T+ have black irises. 

But its really hard to tell them apart visually as newborn hatchlings until you have a trained eye for it. So its always best to keep track of lineage, but even more so if you're going to work with both.

I've never noticed any difference in temperament or care between the two. So if pet ownership is what you're after, just pick whichever one pulls your heart strings you know?

There are things that are good to know for breeders planning future pairings though:

They are not compatible genes, so if you cross a visual T- albino with a visual T+ albino you will get double hets instead of visuals.

T+'s are more of a caramel color than t-'s, (tyrosinase contains copper). They tend to turn more brown or warmer toned as they age, but not by much.

I find T-s to be more saturated in color and a bit cooler toned. Excellent for retaining locality colors when outcrossing.

T+'s are the go to choice for retaining warm tones and when you dont want that extra saturation though. For example the T- hypo butter would be kinda white or practically grey, whereas the t+ hypo butter is a gorgeous shade of soft pale yellow. T+ are considerably easier to work with when doing hypo morphs too. Its pretty easy to tell a T+ hypo apart from a t+, but its impossible to tell a T- hypo apart from a light colored T-, so that's something to be aware of.

So which one is right for you as a breeder is going to strongly depend on your end goal. 

​I hope that helps :)

Yep happy to share, we do appreciate photo credit of course. 

We get a kick out of knowing our animals have been published in various places so let us know what you're using it for if you'd like, it brings us joy. :) 

​We are currently working out some custom coding issues with the webhost for this page and hope to have it back up soon.

We are currently working out some custom coding issues with the webhost for this page and hope to have it back up soon.

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We are currently working out some custom coding issues with the webhost for this page and hope to have it back up soon.

Been seeing some unfortunate advice given to our babyherpers lately that could get them into some trouble. So here i'm going to go over why you really should have both gauges, and a temperature gun too!

Myth:  as long as a snake has good sheds, you don't need a humidity gauge. 

Reality: Humidity affects more than sheds. It's not going to matter if they shed perfect if they've got a respiratory infection from being kept out of range for too long. So It does matter. You do need to keep humidity in range regardless of sheds, and you need a way to tell. My approach is to use a gauge to keep the ambient humidity at the lower end of their range, and then offer a humid hide on the warm side to give them the option to choose their humidity preference- just like you'd do with temperature.

Speaking of which. It really does help to have both gauges and a temperature gun for monitoring your temperature. Here's why. 

You cant keep a temp gun reading at all times. I've yet to find a "smart" temp gun that can record temps and report changes or send alarms to your phone if anything goes out of place, and that really can be a life saver for your animals. You absolutely *need* gauges for monitoring temperature over time, and controlling heat elements etc.

Having that said. Surface temps are different than ambient temps so having a temp gun is really useful too.

Think about it, a rock under a basking light's surface temp is going to read differently than one thats kept 6 inches away from the lamp- But the ambient probe on the wall nearby will still read the same regardless. So your ambient gauge isn't going to tell you if said rock's surface temp is getting hot enough to burn your snake (unless you're placing it directly ontop of it- which wouldn't make sense to do).

Guns are also much faster to get a quick idea of the range across the entire gradient, as it would take time for gauges to acclimate to get an accurate read if placed across the enclosure to understand the gradient (assuming you were using just one of course). A temp gun can do that within seconds.

Guns can give you instant readings for places that your gauge may not fit, like inside of a hatchlings super tight hide.

So they both have their purposes, and they're both good tools to have ya know?

You've likely seen it before. That guy or gal that is into snakes and seemingly unknowingly posts something on the subject on social media that is.. well, not correct. Dangerous even. 

So you innocently offer them (unsolicited) advice, and oh boy! find out they are an "expert". They insist they know better than you, have been keeping longer than you, may even tout some credentials, and yeah.. you meant well, but it turns into a good ole social media keyboard war. Oh my!

Why does this happen?

It's called the dunning kruger effect, and It is most definitely not limited to just the reptile community- in fact it occurs in every field of expertise. Its so common to human behavior that there's been numerous scientific studies on the matter. Turns out human beings follow a fairly consistent pattern in regards to how their confidence changes as their knowledge in a field progresses. 

A popular shorthand to explain the first stage of the dunning kruger effect is, "sometimes people don't know enough to be aware that they don't know enough to speak on the matter."

this is where we lose our babyherpers folks. It is very important that we are gentle with them at this stage. It is not cool to shame a babyherper that is reaching out to the community during their despair stage- and interestingly enough, those that do so are typically in their own "peak of mt stupid" stage. 

The valley of despair is bad but its actually a good thing if they make it through it. It is very motivating. They're going to want to avoid that pain, and that's what puts them on the upward slope. They start to gain confidence again, but now its as they learn. 

Those that truly arrive at expert level, understand that learning is not a destination you arrive at, but a process that never ends. You start to look back and realize Its messy, its complicated, and there's a lot more paths to get there than the one you took.

Eventually, when you've consumed all of the commonly available knowledge, you realize that the only way to go any further is through collaboration with others, so you share and receive in return. You start to see yourself in those who are just beginning their journey, and can you sympathize instead of being offended. 

A common expression for this stage is, "Competition happens at the bottom, collaboration happens at the top".

So your social media warrior just hasn't reached that point where collaboration becomes necessary in order to grow any further, so they don't value it- yet. Check back in a while and they'll likely be far less combative.

-and you likely will stop being offended by it as you grow too.

After all it's really not their fault. In our culture, we say things like "do your research" (but rarely provide it). That is important so that people can properly understand the responsibilities required to enter the hobby, but people take that to mean that the expectation is anyone who enters into the hobby is to already be an expert by the time they take their first snake home. They feel like they must portray themselves as experts in order to be part of the community, right from the very beginning. None of us were. None. 

If we are going to grow as a hobby, we need to start being honest with ourselves about that. We need to see more mentors acknowledge that they weren't always experts. That they still don't always know. That its ok to not know, and to give others a safe space to ask. Sometimes people who have been keeping less time than us really do have perspectives and methods we may not have thought of.  Babyherpers are people whom have value that even experts can benefit from. They might even surpass our accomplishments some day. We just need to take the pressure off so they have the space to learn. 

It benefits us all. 

So next time you get into it with an insta-expert online, understand that they are not doing this to you, you're just in a different stage. Show them some compassion and you might not only be the push that takes them off Mt. Stupid, but you might just create a better future for you both in the process.

Something to think about :) 

First of all, allow me to make clear I am not advocating for the laymen to treat their snakes by themselves outside of veterinary supervision. That is not my intention here.

Given the shortage of experienced exotic veterinarians available to everyone, its not uncommon for the layman to have a little anxiety when their snake is being treated for an infection though, and they may appreciate a little insight into how these choices are made.

Hopefully, it will instill confidence in those receiving care for their snakes, and may help some understand why baytril isn't some super safe wonder drug that any layman should shotgun treat their animals with.

So lets tuck into it.

Most veterinarians are not going to prescribe you baytril these days. Theres a few reasons. One is antibiotic resistance. The overuse of baytril has lead it to become less effective. Of course, best practice would be to culture, but the truth is we don't always have time to do so. Another reason is that baytril isn't without its risks. 

​Baytril is typically injected and is notorious for damaging the tissues surrounding the injection site. Sometimes it can cause a permanent discoloration of the scales, and sometimes that damage is so severe that the scales will even die.

The more severe reactions happen when the injection is done too shallow- under the skin as opposed to into the muscle. That's because there isn't as much circulation just under the skin as opposed inside the muscle. Makes a lot of sense for snakes to be built that way if you think about it. If they get a cut or something they don't bleed out, buuuuut the lower circulation makes things complicated for injections.

Since the baytril takes longer to metabolize there, it has more time to damage the tissues before being absorbed and filtered out of the bloodstream, hence why shallow injections create more tissue damage..
​

What about giving it orally then?

Well, that will prevent the tissue damage but there's trades there too. The issue with using it orally is that it becomes difficult to dose accurately. The absorption rate will vary with the metabolism of the animal even if gavage (tube) fed. That's challenge number one.

When gavage fed, it will become available very quickly but you run the risk of the it upsetting the gut microbiome, or even wiping it out entirely. If it stays that way long term it can be fatal, but it's easily treatable (benebac).

One way some have tried to pad that risk is to inject it into prey first.... but It's especially difficult to dose if injected into prey, because it may be several days before the body metabolizes the mouse to the point the baytril enters the snakes body, and the baytril degrades over time inside the mouse' body.

Sometimes people will up the dose to compensate for the rate of decay, so that the required dose is still available by the time its digested, but it's impossible to determine exactly how much would be needed. There's also a some risk of overdose in doing that, especially a concern if doing this when treating a small animal.

So, baytril has considerations no matter what route your taking.

So if you must use baytril, how to determine which route to take is by balancing the factors.

If you really need these meds in now (like an advanced RI that sort of thing) *and* the animal is in rough shape (thin, dehydrated, recently regurgitating anything where you can't risk damaging the biome) then you'll need to inject. It's better to lose the tissue and get a scar than risk further complications in a snake already in a more critical condition.

If you have a healthy body condition, and a severe infection to treat (you cant afford to wait) then gavage feed it, and keep an eye out for digestive distress (Inappetence, diarrhea, regurgitation) and if that shows up, replace the biome later with some benebac for reptiles.

If you have time, and good body condition, then you can inject into prey and feed and adjust course as needed.

You don't have to make these balancing act calls with ceft, so that's why if you do have the option ceft is the obvious 1st line choice. 

For those situations that need a heavy hitter, Amikacin is also sometimes used, but that is a seriously strong medication that shouldn't be used lightly. A proper culture would be necessary for that. 

Anyway baytril has been a staple of the reptile industry for decades, and it still has its place, but its not a wonder drug. It does have risks. So there are things people should know about it if they want to make educated decisions for the care of their snakes.

Hope that helps :)