Quote Originally Posted by jinx667 View Post
Unless it is a gene that only expresses when paired with the Lesser/Butter genes?

I believe there is an issue with this in Lucy Rat snakes as well?

Yes, lucy rat snakes have been coming up bug-eyed for years ... I seem to recall seeing some lucy Burms for sale, too, significantly discounted, with eye issues.

I believe there is some link in snakes between eye development and leucism, but I'm not sure exactly what.

I've seen a number of homozygous lessers with bug-eyes. I bred lesser x mojo last year specifically to try and avoid the bug-eyed trait. I got 4 BELs, all of whom were healthy and had normal-sized eyes. However, one of my holdbacks has a crossed-eye, which didn't develop until she was ~200 grams. You can kind of appreciate it in this picture -- her left eye (on your right) is canted forward permanently.




I feel as though in the photos I've seen of all-white lesser pieds, their eyes appear smaller than normal.

I believe that all of these issues are likely no more than aesthetic. I did and will probably continue to avoid lesser x lesser breedings to avoid the bug-eyes, because it is an aesthetic issue and I find it aesthetically displeasing! (Read: I think they look silly!) I wasn't thrilled that my one BEL developed a crossed-eye, and I did debate whether I'll still breed her in the future or keep her purely as a pet. However, she exhibits two other traits that are crucial to me (great personality and excellent appetite -- she's the biggest of my holdbacks), so given that I do believe the problem is intrinsic to BELs, she'll likely go on to reproduce in the future. If a significant proportion of her babies have eye problems, then that'll be the end of that line.