Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have heard of someone not a million miles away from me thinks they have had IBD. It isnt definate but his 2 snakes died and had signs of IBD. He had royal pythons.

I have been franticlly checking all my animals (all boas) - I have been told to look for strange tail movements.

If you look hard enough you can see anything and Im sure that I can see 3 snakes with wierd moving tails - coiling them more than usual - am I been OTT??

What else to look for (apart from lathargy / star gazing as none are doing this)

Thanks for the advise.

*sniffs the air*

I think I smell sarcasm....

and I'm in no hurry to see it again. I tried a new substrate that he couldn't ingest so I fed him in a seperate cage I have, after he killed the rat I attempted to close the doors to give him privacy. Then he started flickering his tail....well, after he struck at me I put two and two together and realized him flicking his tail meant get the hell away from my food. Glad he warned me and never made contact.

Cheers for the help.... - thats sarcasm....

This is what my Vet told me over a phone conversation about IBD when I first got into Boas. He said, "Look, 90% of the snakes I have treated have tested positive as carriers of IBD, only about 10% showed any physical form of the disease. I would not be supprised if most of the boas bought and sold online were carriers. With the exception of some breeders, everyone has used females that more than likely carry. Therefore I don't think that anyone anywhere could claim that none of their boas are carriers. As far as testing animals, you can be the one who knows his/her animals are carriers, or the one who claims they are not carriers."

Now, this is what I'm taking from him, so don't get all personal on me (like some of you love to do).
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1.0 Super Ghosts
0.1 DH Ghost
2.3 Salmon Boas
2.8 BCI
13.27 Various Corns
1.3 Albino Sinaloans

You may have your head on straight, but I have a better view!

wow - the more people I speak to the more differant things I hear about this disease.

Would a carrier of IBD in this sence not actually suffer from anything or be at any risk?? (Obviously the others in the group would be at risk)

How long would anything be quarantined to wait until showing signs??

I reckon mine are fine but would like to know a little more about the disease if it is as common as you say

Cheers for the input
Sam

If that were true I would think that knowledge would be more widespread.

What is the point of quarantining if 90% are unaffected carriers? There would be no point because all boas would be exposed to it regardless, the ones lacking the genes to counter it would die off and there would be no way to stop it.

That theory also defies instances where IBD has supposedly wiped out full/near full colonies/collections. If it affected such a small percentage that statisticly shouldnt happen.

P.S. - Some, Jeff Ronne in particular, dont "believe" in IBD. I really dont know what to think about it. I will just keep doing what I do (quarantining for 6-12 months) and hope I steer clear of it.

When I responded to your email I was under the impression that your boa might have been in contact with another snake that was suspected of having IBD.

To respond to the quote taken from a vet... either this is a mis-quote, or the vet didn't have his coffee that morning. Testing for IBD is best done on necropsy, and rarely done on live animals. A positive can be identified, but not always. I negative can never be 100% confirmed. The test isn't magic, it's a manual microscopic search of different tissues looking for inclusion bodies.
It may be his/her opinion that IBD is very common, but in truth, we do not know. I suspect it is much LESS common then feared. If as common as this vet says, then it is also very common for boas to live their entire lives as asymptomatic carriers, and never show signs of illness. If this is the case, then IBD is much less a threat then we thought, and only unlucky, predisposed animals will succumb.

My opinion however is that a higher percentage do show signs, withen a year or so of contact. Without my notes in hand, I'd say that in 2000 to 2003, about 100 positive diagnoses per year of IBD were made in the USA.

Ian

Yeah, I don't know anything about his tests, I will try to get more detail from him because more than likely it's my mistake, but hardly on purpose. I agree with the less common than feared. I don't overly concern myself with the whole thing. I respect the "not believing" thing too. However I will always quarantine animals for a few months. Does anyone know what kind of contact must be made to spread it. What do you all think about having cages side by side? This shouldn't be a risk but I'm wondering what you all think. Good Thread here.
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1.0 Super Ghosts
0.1 DH Ghost
2.3 Salmon Boas
2.8 BCI
13.27 Various Corns
1.3 Albino Sinaloans

You may have your head on straight, but I have a better view!

Is it OK for tanks to be next to each other or stacked? From my understanding the only problem with that would be is with mites - is the correct to everyones knowledge?

If there are other ways this can be passed on then how do you quarantine a fast growing collection - as was said before - whats the point in having 90% of your stock isolated when anything they have will be passed around between each other.

If I buy a new boa and 6 months later I buy another and put it in the same isolation room (obviously in differant tanks, but stacked on top of each other) would I have to extend the quarantine for the initial snake until the last snake to enter the room is classed as 'clear' (I am using that term loosly).

Ian I never got your email mate...

cheers

sam