Fostering a Half-Dwarf Burm (or am I?) - ID Input Needed

[montepython89]

Okay so this may be absolutely stupid, but I’m paranoid and thought I’d get some feedback. I’m aware that it’s possible the answer will be that all I can do is wait and see, and if that’s the case I’ll do that!

Long story short, I work with a reptile rescue and rehoming centre, and back in May we had a dwarf burmese python brought to us who had been surrendered to the previous owner’s vet. Space has been a real struggle this year, and he’s a lovely guy, so I offered to take him on as a long term foster.

As far as I’m concerned, it’s more likely that he’s a half-dwarf of some percentage, as he’s albino. He does have some traits that I’ve seen associated with dwarfs (specifically, he’s got more of a rosetted patterning on his sides and the way his eyes are set reminds me much more of an anaconda than any burm I’ve ever met - he’s also extremely switched on, though once he’s out he’s very pleasant, but much more active than I’m used to from burms), but as far as I’m aware, there’s no pure albino dwarf burms - at least not in the UK.

Naturally, due to his circumstances, he doesn’t exactly have any pedigree, so there’s always the lurking paranoia at the back of my mind that he might be an undernourished mainland. He was a bit underweight when he came in, and has been slowly building up weight and muscle tone (I figured slow and steady was better than feeding non-stop, though he certainly would if I let him).

He’s about a tad over 6ft in length (about 6ft snout-vent, with maybe 3-4in of tail), but hasn’t changed in length since May and is about 2.7 kilos. At first I was kind of alarmed by the amount of shedding he was doing, but he did have some weird scale damage (almost like they were keeled) when he came in that seems to be going away.

TL;DR I’m fostering a dwarf burmese python (who I’m aware is likely at least a hybrid), but I’m paranoid that he’s actually an undernourished mainland.

Here are some pictures of him all from back in May/June when he came in and was taken home with me:

[randall_turner_jr]

He definitely is at best a dwarf cross. Unfortunately as you’re worried about you’ll have to wait and see.

[flrt-dennis]

I honestly didn’t think dwarf burmese was a thing. Sorry I’m of no help but it does look a bit skinny and will ultimately be a wait and see as stated above.

[montepython89]

That was my thought initially, since as far as I know, the bulk of morphs are produced through crossing. Guess I’ll wait and see what happens and go from there. He’s definitely an interesting character at least.

[montepython89]

They’re definitely not nearly as well known as the mainland species, especially over here in the UK.

He definitely was a bit skinny when he came in, but he’s slowly starting to look better and more filled-out thankfully. Fortunately, getting him to eat was NOT an issue.

[cold-heartedexotics]

Dwarf Burmese are a subspecies. Python Bivittatus Progschai is the scientific name

[cold-heartedexotics]

This a Pearl. Hypo+Albino. They usually have rosettes, even in pure Burmese

Dwarf are incredibly rare, even crosses. So if it has dwarf, it’s 50% or less due to the morph. But likely it isn’t.

[montepython89]

I’m well aware that progschai is a subspecies. The animal came in to us as a ‘dwarf,’ so as I mentioned in the post, we figured at best it was a hybrid as we are aware that they’re extremely uncommon in the UK at the moment (though I’ve seen quite a few hybrids popping up here and there for sale).

That said, thank you for that tidbit about pearls! I’ve seen a few of them in the past (mostly very large individuals) and hadn’t noticed the rosettes on them, but I guess that’s likely down to individuals having more or less distinct markings.

[cold-heartedexotics]

The comment about Progschai was not to you it was to the person who didn’t think they really existed

[montepython89]

Sorry - it’s been a long week and I can’t read properly apparently!