I am not an expert. I was just once a medic. I was also once a clinical laboratory technician long ago. These two professions do not qualify me medically in anyway shape or form. These are just my personal random thoughts.

Everyone is scared of IBD (Inclusion Body Disease). Everyone is scared of having their snake collections infected with this deadly disease. However, I feel that our understanding of this disease is still in its infancy. My personal opinion on the matter is that IBD is much like Aids. It is basically a symptom of something else. You cannot get Aids without first acquiring the virus that causes Aids which is HIV. A person can carry the HIV virus without necessarily getting full blown Aids. In much the same way, I feel that boas can carry whatever it is that causes IBD without getting full blown “IBD”. However, I also believe that is where the misunderstanding comes from. Everyone says that boas can be carriers of IBD. I feel this is wrong. First I feel that IBD (Inclusion Body Disease) is nothing more than a protein resulting from a boa’s reactions to an organism whether it be a bacterium or a virus. Second, I also feel that boas can produce these inclusion bodies as a reaction to several different microorganisms or infections. I agree that there is some type of microorganism out there that is deadly to boas and pythons. I just don’t feel it is called IBD.

As aforementioned, in my own personal and unprofessional and uneducated opinion, IBD is just a symptom and in a boa’s case, a reaction to several different infections which are not necessarily deadly. It is our job therefore, to find whatever it is that is causing our reptiles to be afflicted with the deadly form of the disease we have decided to collectively call “IBD”.

Thoughts and opinions are welcome.

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Ritchie Luna
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