worst bug eyes i've ever seen

[Serpent_Nirvana]

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.

[Caleyandanthony]

Ok but it can't be just in bells cause like I said my pastel female has the big eyes inless I guess it's possible she came from a clutch with lesser and pastel but I am not sure what her background is

[AJs Snake House]

I hatched out a pastel last year that had severely undersized eyes. She was from pastel x spider pairing...


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[Royal Hijinx]

For the undersized eyes, is the it size of the eye or the size of the scales around the eyes? I remember someone advertising a Puma that had large eye scales and made the eyes look small.

[Luke Martin]

These were taken in Daytona in 2005.
This one isn't as bad as the other that was there, but also had some pretty small eyes.


Paradox Hypo Super Mojave with tiny eyes...

[don15681]

So butter x mojo should be ok?

there isnt a known problem if you breed a lesser or a butter to a mojave. mojave to mojave isn't known to cause this problem either. go ahead and breed your butter to your mojave. had a lesser x mojave clutch last year and hit on 2 bel's. normal sizes eyes.

this came up as a topic a few years ago and don't quote me on this but I believe it was kevin who said that they will grow into their eyes.
The member on here who has a pastel with bug eyes. this might not be related to the lesser/butter problem. you don't see too many pastels with bug eyes, but seen many lucys with it.

[lovepig78]

more bug eyes

[Redneck_Crow]

I've got a plain old mojave with buggy eyes. We call her the Marty Feldman snake. She was just around 700gms when that pic was taken.

[satomi325]

I've got a plain old mojave with buggy eyes. We call her the Marty Feldman snake. She was just around 700gms when that pic was taken.

Can you get a closer picture of her eyes? They don't look like bug eyes in the picture.

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[MorphMaster]

I've seen super lessers and I have yet to see bug eyes on an adult... My guess is that they grow into them

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Good questions.

I would imagine that the bug eyes only occur when the gene is doubled, which is why butterxbutter/lesserxlesser/lesserxbutter's have such a significant turn out... I'm not sure on the percentages, but no body really hears about mojavexmojave getting bug eyes.

I wonder if there are functional issues with the bug eyes as well.
I imagine that the ones up for sale are eating alight, so maybe it's just cosmetic? Either way, ball's don't really need eyesight to survive in captivity. Ben Siegel has an eyeless ball that eats and lives perfectly fine.

That's just my 2cents and opinion.

You're absolutely correct! I have a hatchling super lesser, and he functions just fine