XtinaBeardieMom
Juvie Member
chickcasa":27f7raqm said:I suspect most dragons who become very ill, it is due to secondary infections during active periods of adeno infection.
I also would like to point out that I don't believe anyone said that ALL dragons have the virus. Daichu's statement says they believe that *many/most* have it, and it sounds as though further testing is going to be required to see whether or not this is true. Given that I agree with this belief, and current research does not disprove it, I have no problem with Daichu's policy in not testing their dragons. They simply make this known for people who are more concerned about adeno than they are. That is their right, and should not be vilified, particularly given the continued lack of convincing evidence that there is anything inherently unhealthy about most adeno positive dragons.
~Katy
Hi Katy, thanks for your input on the matter - it's great to be able to discuss this with others in a mature manner May I ask what you mean when you say that current research does not disprove that most bearded dragons have Adenovirus? I'd be very interested in checking out the reference article/study demonstrating that. Also, if you believe that related illnesses/deaths are actually being caused by secondary infections taking place while the Adenovirus is active, then wouldn't that lead you to believe that Adenovirus has immunosuppressant characteristics? I mean, that's kind of similar to HIV... the virus itself won't kill you but it will make it to where you can't fight off the simplest common illness. I would say that's pretty inherently unhealthy, in my personal opinion. Although I respect Dachiu's openness in informing their customers outright that they do NOT test for Adenovirus, the claims they make about Adenovirus seem contradictory when they then say that they'll refund the purchase price of any dragon purchased from them who tests positive for Adeno within 6 weeks. An actual purchase price refund versus replacement for a reptile is almost unheard of in this industry... why would they be willing to refund a reptile purchase if they stood behind the belief that there's not significant health risks associated with Adenovirus? Also, don't quote me on this for fact - but I believe that notice only even went up on their site a few years back after some of their customers complained on Fauna about ill dragons coming from them & some positive Adeno results were posted.
Anyway, I agree with you that Adenovirus isn't necessarily a death sentence... but neither are a lot of other potential illnesses. That doesn't make it ok to sell dragons who have it, just like it's not ok to sell a dragon with a URI (again, just my opinion). At the very least I feel that someone should KNOW that they're purchasing an Adeno-positive beardie so that they can make the choice for themselves as to whether or not they want to deal with that. I know that I, as a dragon owner myself, would definitely care for an Adeno positive beardie differently - especially since I have a negative beardie already.