Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ok here is the situaiton. I had a couple of litters born about 5 or 6 months ago and they have all seemed fine. But one started to show real bad neurological problems about a month or so ago and then I got a call about one I sold that also has shown the same problem. I do not want to jump to IBD because well that would be horrible. I also would figure if it was IBD the parents or the rest of the litter would show it. Has anyone ever just had boas with neurological problems that wasn't IBD? I would really really appreciate help.
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1.1 Motley het butter corns
0.1 Snow corn
0.1 Okeetee corn
1.0 Anery mutt corn
0.1 Stripe Ghost corn
0.1 Amelanistic corn het carmel
2.2 Colombian Redtails
0.1 Striped Colombian Redtail
1.0 Hypo Colombian Redtail
0.1 Hogg Island Redtail
1.3.1 Brazilian Rainbow Boa
1.0 Anery Kenyan sand boa
0.1 Normal Kenyan sand boa
1.1 Mexican Rosy Boas
2.0 Ball Pythons
0.0.1 Banded kingsnake
0.1 Jungle Carpet Python
3.0 Bearded Dragons
3.0 Leopard Geckos
0.2 Snow Leopard Geckos
0.0.5 Sulcatas
and lots of fish

I have a jungle carpet python that was given to me for free because of a neurological condition. When held, the head is not steady and he goes in all different directions including upside down and looks really twisted at times. It is a condition called stargazing. I'm not sure if this is the case with your boa but the fact that another boa from your batch has the same systems indicates something is going on. Here is a link below that describes the condition further.

http://www.anapsid.org/stargaze.html
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1.2 Chihuahua's
0.1 Cockatiel
1.1 Normal BCI Colombian Boa
1.0 Brazilian Rainbow Boa
1.0 Woma Python
1.0 Jungle Carpet Python
0.1 Leucistic Texas Rat Snake
1.1 Hypo Everglades Rat Snake
0.1 Mexican Black King snake
1.0 Sunglow Corn Snake
1.0 Sunglow Motley Corn Snake
1.0 Coral Snow Corn Snake
1.0 Bearded Dragon
1.0 Blue Tongue Skink
0.2 Leopard Gecko's
0.1 Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula
0.0.2 Emporer Scorpion
0.0.1 Ghost Knife
Assorted Tropical Fish

I'm not an expert on this by any means, but I've personally had a few isolated problems with my heating controls on a few cages that resulted in the boas becoming overheated, which resulted in neurologocal problems. I've also read on this boa forum that certain bacterial or viral infections can result in neurological symptoms.

after thinking about this again, I suppose there could also be genetic birth defects among boas that might result in neurological problems.

If the neurological condition simply occurred in one snake, you could make the connection that the neurological symptoms like stargazing were caused by previous viral or bacterial infection. The problem here is that you had similar symptoms occur in a sibling from the same litter that was in another house hold. this leads me to believe that it might be IBD. Remember IBD can lie dormant in many snakes for years until it erupts due to some form of stress. Your best bet is to take the IBD suspected snake in to your local exotic vet for a biopsy. Till then I would make sure any other snakes that were in contact with the two IBD suspect snakes were quarantined.
I lost my original collection to IBD and I would not underestimate its effects.
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Swift, Silent, Deadly

A lot of people keep their baby boas in low height tubs. When they get out to move around they want to climb but have never developed strong enough muscles to help them lift their front ends with good control. They also have not used their vision much for this type of situation. The result is a snake that has what appears to be neurological symptoms that might even mimic IBD. I have also seen adult boas kept in low height cages that do this. Given time on a branch and a larger cage they usually lose the "symptoms". That is why I prefer large vision cages for my snakes. Less stress, more room... more successful breeding!

As for IBD, I would be careful to gloom onto that bandwagon. If you are leaning that way you are probably better off quarantining the snakes for 6-12 months to see what happens. If the symptoms worsen a vet visit might help ID the problem but curing it is not possible as far as I know.

I second the heat.We have came across a few boas with weird neuro probs from prolonged exposure to high temps.Double check your hatching rack.