Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Furthering on my post from earlier, it seems that I may be having IBD issues. My question, is there another possible reason for the IBD symptoms? How common is this affliction in GTPs?

I have the her and 2 other GTPs in a PVC rack system. The rack is in a room with boa less than 2 feet from each other.

What are most reasonable precautions/clean up to be done?

Thanks,

IBD is very serious, highly contagious and almost always deadly - you would need to sterilize EVERYTHING. I've heard of snakes being kept in completely different areas of a house contracting it from each other, and because of this, have heard people suggest that it may be airborn, although I'm guessing they're tracking it in on their shoes, etc. Keep in mind there are several other things that could be causing this behavior, especially if your other snakes are ok and you have not have any new arrivals (either the snake in question or one that she may have contracted it from)- in which case I highly doubt that IBD is the culprit. Hopefully someone else will give you a better answer..as I don't know much about IBD, only what I've heard and read.

Thank you for the reply. I have not read anywhere of it being airborne but Im sure there was cross contamination going on. I have the afflicted animal and it's rack mates in the garage. Away from the others to be safe. I have lost 3 boas and one other GTP 3 months ago. I thought I was in the clear. The first to pass was a new yearling. One boa was treated by the vet but no mention of IBD. It later died. Another long term captive followed. Last was a GTP soon followed. I attributed it to the drop in temps and they not being able to handle the stress. I was not able to take any of the animals in for a necropsy within 24 hours. I do have a test set up for Thursday ($400) for afflicted animal in hopes of a final diagnosis. I asked if bringing in the sick animal was best or a healthy animal that mated with one of the deceased animal was better. They would not answer and said it was my choice. I ask which is better because one, I can hope to salvage the sick animal if it is not IBD. Or I can euthanize them both if the male that mated to the deceased was diagnosed positive. If I could afford to both, I would. I do plan to mate the male and think he would be my best bet for the objective. Seems like such a shame to destroy such a seemingly healthy adult specimen, should this be the case.

I am leaning to put down the GTP and take in the healthy animal. Would love to hear from someone who has an opinion on this subject.

Thanks,

I decided to look to the optimist side as the other way was killing me and read that toxins also cause the same affect. I was doing some primering of some panels in the same room. While I had it well vented, I did have the fan blowing in my direction (it gets 90 degrees in there) which was the same direction as the rack. Two days ago, I started. Two days ago it started. I removed all painted items and will keep an eye on her for changes.....one can hope.

It's entirely possible that the fumes from the paint could cause problems. Hopefully not permanent. The other thought is that if the room remains at 90 all the time, it might be warm enough to cause issues if there's no cool area for them. Most would be down on the bottom of the cage or laying in the water if necessary though. I'm crossing my fingers that it was from the paint, especially with it coinciding with the same time. The only way to really difinitively prove out IBD is from biopsy samples from liver or other organs.
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Well, it's been 2 weeks and she is still the same. I moved her and the temps are from 77 to 88 on the floor w/out assisted heating. She has been there since my original post. I'll take her in next week for testing. Im hoping that due to the fact that she is still alive, that it's another issue than IBD as she should have passed by now.
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Get a couple of cheap ball pythons. They will act like the canary in the mine shaft. If it's IBD, they will be the first to catch and die from it.