Reptile & Amphibian Forums

the boa that died what in good health when i left with good weight when i got back i fed all the snakes but this one was striking but not grabbing or constricting when i removed her to look at her she was weak and the lower half of her body was very weak i assist fed her some meat baby food because she looked very under weight the next morning i found her dead. now 2 weeks later i found mites on her previous cage mate and 3 other snakes that i have that were housed together but not with the other 2 have loose and very light stools all are baby- juvenile boa morphs. all the other snakes i have seem to be doing fine but they are all older boas and pythons. i have one adult male that exibits stargazing but i have had him housed in the same room with others for over 3 years without incident but never boa babys. please let me know what you guys think i do not want to loose any other snakes they are all expensive and i care for them very much thanks

Get the sick ones away from the healthy ones, pronto! And keep them away. Separate rooms. Then take one of the sick ones to the vet and have it tested for Inclusion Body Disease. Get rid of the mites. Strip all of the cages, and thoroughly disinfect them and spray with Provent-a-mite (or similar product) or a .1% solution of Ivomec. The mites will vector the disease to your other snakes.

i am actually in the process of doing that right now. i moved two that i know are ok to another room i have three snakes i was keeping together one of them just regurged and all 3 have light colored smelly stools. everyone else seems to be ok right now.

n/m

IBD is most frequently diagnosed post-mortem from organ tissue samples taken at necropsy but it can also be diagnosed on living animals from a liver biopsy. Although it would not be a definitive diagnosis, Klingenberg also noted a very high percentage of IBD confirmed animals demonstrating inclusions in the cytoplasm of their red blood cells on a direct smear.

T.B

However, some clue as to exposure can be gained by complete blood count. Leukocyte counts of >30,000/ul are indicative of IBD exposure and occasionally Intracytoplasmic inclusions are seen in peripheral lymphocytes.

I believe a qualified Veterinarian can take blood samples and do CBC as well as taking esophageal, gastric, and liver biopsies, prepare them using a modified H&E staining and look for Inclusion Bodies. In some cases, the bodies will only be present in CNS tissue, however. The vet may be able to prepare the samples and send them to the University of Florida School of Veterinary Medicine for testing. For further information contact:

Dr. Elliott Jacobson
Box 100126
Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences
College of Veterinary Medicine
University of Florida
Gainesville, Florida 32610
E-mail: JacobsonE@mail.vetmed.ufl.edu