Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I brought in a 7 1/2 foot red tail boa on a trade. I have always quarrentined snakes, but, due to the size of this one, I had no other place to put her besides a large cage in my snake room.

I had her for about 2 1/2 weeks. She refused food twice, but I wasn't concerned about it. She was very active and alert. Yesterday she seemed fine.

This morning she was dead. I have no idea why.

I am kicking myself hard now.

I really do not have a decent herp vet around. I'd love to have a necropsy done, but I don't know if I can. I have a variety of other herps in that room. No other boas, but a couple of pythons. (Also some colubrids, and some chelonians and whatnot.)

What can I do now? Is there a test for IBD that can be done on the body? I am really concerned........

Thanks. I don't know anybody else to ask.

FInd the best herp vet you can, but really your just looking for one that is familiar enough with boas to get your animal to the proper exotic pathologist. I believe there is one in the states called Zoopath? They'd be highly recommended if I have the spelling right.

There is no definitive test for IBD. If found positive by finding inclusions withen the tissues, then it's positive. If found "negative" because inclusions were not found, then it's status is still up in the air.

Keep the animal refridgerated until the vet recieves it (withen 12hrs post mortem if you can)

If you kept strict quarantine procedures with the exception of sharing a room, then with the exception of a few (mites for example) things, your collection should be safe.

Watch everything closely, and consider closing your collection for a year to get a handle on if this was a dead end, or the beginning of somthing horrible.

Ian

Thank you for your response.

I ended up packing her up and shipping her to the folks at Washington State University. They will do a necropsy for me, and can perform any lab work needed at their facility. It's costing a pretty penny, but I really feel like I can't afford not to. I am a worry wart.

Well, there goes my new snake rack..............(sigh)

Can you post the complete results here, or email them to me? I might learn something

Ian

Gladly.