Immune System Breakdown: Comparing bp morphs to purebred dogs

[mechnut450]

I was having a discussion with my buddy about RI's the other day, as he is having a huge problem right now. Hes tried everything...different racks, different humidity, different beddings, etc. He even talked with some of the big breeders and entertained their suggestions. But when he mentioned that its only affecting his morphs, and that hes never had any health issues with normals/wild types, and that he thinks that selectively breeding for morphs over all these years has really weakened their immune systems, it reallly got me thinking. We also talked about when we first got into ball pythons how we started out with a normal or two, would carry them everywhere, were still learning about husbandry as we were novices, and that those BPs NEVER got an RI. It also amazes me how many of the BPs that me and my wife have rescued were in very bad environments with NO heat among other things, and should have been sick as a dog, but were totally fine! We also talked about how mutts are usually healthy and issue free, but that almost all purebred dogs have health issues....esp todays dogs. My wife has worked in pet stores for over 12 years and has never seen so many people now that have dogs with so many allergies and illnesses. Which is a reason why the pet industry is still doing so well. Weve never had any issues with RIs among our snakes, but then again our collection is only 25 animals, whereas most big breeders have hundreds. I think Im with my buddy Joe on this. I know, like with dogs, when were trying to express certain desirable genes in our snakes, animals are inbred. And I do think that it is very possible the immune systems of our snakes in the future are possibly going to be sub-par. Currently, there is over 1700 morphs out there!! And each time new colors and patterns are unlocked, what other health issues will be unlocked with them? Has anybody else with more experience and many more animals observed this? Anybody else have any other theories and/or input? Id love to hear some agreements/disgreements and why. This kind of topic has always interested me , but Im also concerned that some our beautiful animals will be in jeopardy if some wierd crazy snake virus is discovered in the future.