Larry is correct in that a necropsy and pathology may help identify the issue. However, bacterial cultures can be problematic concerning diagnosis of causative organisms of disease in boids. Unless it is a really uncommon or unusual species of bacterium, the culture will almost always show some species of pathogenic bacteria. More than 95% of all captive boas and pythons are already carrying the pathogenic gram negative bacteria that are the cause of the vast majority of bacterial infections in captive boids. If one of the boas in a collection has a bacterial infection, then the entire collection has already been exposed to that causative organism well before the symptoms showed. This would be primarily from previous exposure from the source it was acquired, or from simple maintenance procedures within your own collection. The reason that these organisms typically don’t cause issues is that unless the animal is physically or environmentally stressed in some manner, the organism is kept in check by the snakes immune system. The main stressors include sub-optimal temps, high or low; sub-optimal humidity, high or low; or lack of security causing nervousness and stress, etc., to name a few. A healthy, non-stressed boa will not acquire a bacterial infection from contact with an infected boa. If it does, then it is under the same, or some other stressor, that compromised the originally infected boa.

If numbers of boas in a collection are dropping from a bacterial infection, then I would be looking at some type of husbandry error that is causing a stressor to this collection. Remember that they already harbor the pathogenic bacteria, the trick is to determine what is causing the deterioration of the immune response. If the cause is from a virus however, then arresting the spread of the infection through the colony is much more difficult, and treatment options are extremely limited.

Kelly

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