I will make one thing clear before argument; " I am not a scientist and have no Medical Degree of anykind. " I have however, been keeping B.C.C. and Corallus for 17 " actuall " years and here is my " own personall belief " on I.B.D. I believe through my own studies and experiance that; " the presence of inclusion bodies in an autopsy does not mean I.B.D. is the killer. " Inclusion bodies can be found in all animals for the most part. What I do believe in is " retro virus and central nervous system problems. " O.K. lets hope that my Wellbutrin has kicked in, so I can make my point as simple as I can. When it comes to AIDS in humans, it is "usually" not the virus that kills the person. It is usually a cold or infection or something that a normal person could get over, that usually kills the AIDS victim with their weakening Immune System.I believe that alot of the retro viruses in snakes are kind of the same way. The reptile may also carry the virus for a long period of time without any signs of a problem and then when put into a stressful situation or a Husbandry straw that breaks the camels back happens and suddenly they go down hill. So, what causes retro virus and most problems with reptiles? There are a number of things and some of those things, " I truly do not know, " BUT let me tell you some things that I do know that causes it; " IMPROPER HUSBANDRY. " Water goes stale after 48 hours when it is not flowing, therefore if you are changing your water bowls once or twice a week, 'IT IS NOT ENOUGH' and you are opening your animals up to bacteria and all out problems. Urates and feces are LOADED with bacteria and other undesirebles, so if you are letting your Reptiles lay around in it " EVEN FOR A DAY OR TWO " you are opening your animals up for problems.If you are feeding your animals to much and all they do is sit around " BLOATED WITH FOOD AND DIGESTIVE ACIDS " you are opening them up for problems. If your temperatures are not right and " THEY CANNOT GO FROM A COOL SPOT TO A HOT SPOT AND PROPERLY THERMOREGULATE " you are opening them up for problems. If you are slinging reptiles in and out and "constantly bringing mites in " you are opening them up for problems. Improper Husbandry IS IS IS IS " THE NUMBER ONE CAUSE " of Viruses and premature death in reptiles and it really is that simple. Sometimes, in our quest to sound like scientist, we forget that; " the answer to most questions are as plain and common sense as the nose on our faces. " As far as nervous system problems, " I believe that most of that is caused by the animals being subjected to some kind of chemical or passed down at the genetic level. " .......GOD BLESS and Good Luck.......Johnson Herp

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