These two animals were brought to me last night from a local pet store. They had been normal in coloration until about 2 weeks ago. (I had seen them in the store... they were COMPLETELY normal.)
A big mystery in the bp community is what causes this sudden color loss? (the color will come back in over time btw) Well I think these animals might be key to unlocking the cause....
The banded male in the first picture has been at the pet store for the past 2+ years. He's not for sale. The 2nd animal, a female was given to the store by a custumer not more than 1 month ago. They were both moved to a new cage and housed together. They both almost immediately went into a shed cycle and ended up looking as they do now. To me the situation just screams that the cause of the change was something to do with the new caging environment or having to do with being housed together (not as likely)
I went and checked out their environment... They were in a solid plasic cage with ambient between 98 and 102 degrees with humidity well over 100% (water dripping down the sides off the cage constantly).
My theory is that the high heat and humity coupled with their shed cycle caused the animals to look as they do now.
Opinions welcome.
Justin
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