Reptile & Amphibian Forums

What is Stargazing? Is it when the snake lifts up the front part of its body and holds it there like that curious look or is it when the snake turns its head upside down? Im just curious because I saw my retic doing the first this morning and when I came to check him out he struck at me twice. The ony change that has taken place is that I just removed his humidity box where he was spending all his time. He does not show any other symptoms of IBD and is otherwise extremly healthy. My vet checked an old ball python who stargazed using the first technique I mentioned and said it was fine (i recently sold the ball)I waws wondering what you guys think. The retic is my only Boid right now.

Thanks
Nick

Hi Nick,

There's probably no reason for concern if your retic stares up occasionally. It's only if he does it all the time and can't do otherwise that you should worry. It's been a long time since I have seen an actual case of this. Mid 80's to be exact. But these sad things stick with you. My friend's burmese had this and she could not put her head down at all. Whenever she tried to her head and neck would spin in circles and her body would spiral. Her coordination was entirely gone. As was the vast majority of the strength in her head and neck. When picked up her head and first few feet of her neck would flop around like a wet noodle. It was very sad. At this stage they can no longer eat, drink, use their tongue and soon after stavation or dehydration occurs. There is no known cure for this yet and so it is pointless for one to allow their snake to live beyond or to this point. Putting them down is adviseable.

That is not to say that your guy is in any danger. Most snakes will stare up occasionally. If he begins to have great difficulty holding his prey, striking accurately, and eating and crawling in a normal, coordinated manner, then worry. But not before. If that occurs notify the breeder you got him from IMMEDIATELY as that breeder may have an IBD infection in his or her colony.

Keep us posted.
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David Beauchemin
High End Herps.Inc
http://HighEndHerps.com

Thank you very much, I have ony seen her do it once and she has no problem moving any muscle in her body, In fact she just ate a large rat today with no problem. I have a feeling she might have just been triying to find food since today is when I usually feed her. I am really sorry for your friends Burmese. I hear that IBD is becoming more common these days.

Thanks,
Nick

It isn't that IBD is more common. It's just carelessness and greed that are more common. Many breeders broker out the offspring of other small time shmoes without quarantining or scrutinizing or researching the other keepers' husbandry practices. With these breeders it is only about turning a buck. Not about providing healthy animals to good, reptile loving herpers.

There are precious few that sell only what they themselves produce. People like Al Baldogo. If you buy a retic from him you can bet your bottom dollar that HE produced it and not some shmoe from 4 states over with God-knows what kind of husbandry practices. It is this peace of mind that I myself always try to maintain when I am acquiring my animals. It is also how I run my own show. We only sell what we produce and we practice stringent quarantine practices when new animals come in, REGARDLESS of who they come from. Depending on the species or source our quarantine may last as long as a year or two. Then they are entered into our closed colonies but still no two animals are exposed to one another outside of breeding. We have zero tolerance for mites and have never had any. If everyone operated this way then reptile illnesses would eventually disappear altogether.
Our Website

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David Beauchemin
High End Herps.Inc
http://HighEndHerps.com