It is important for your collection's sake to find out exactly what is going on with your Bredli's python. Incoordination can be caused by many things, but the "star-gazing" symptom is caused by encephalitis and/or meningitis. So any disease or toxicity that will cause this will exterinally look like IBD.

Seek veterinary help for your sick python; but unfortunately IBD can only be reliably tested for post mortem (it involves cutting out brain tissue). Until a definitive diagnosis has been made, close your collection; nothing in, nothing out. Divide your snakes up as much as possible. If it is IBD or another contagious disease, this will hopefully save any that don't yet have it.

IBD is still largely unknown. Not much new information has been discovered in the last 10 years. We still do not know the exact virus that is the cause, which is the biggest obstacle ahead of a cure. A large part of what we don't know is how the asymptomatic carrier is defined. Boa constrictors are suspected to be able to carry the disease for years without showing symptoms. Do they shed the virus during this time? Do pythons have a similiar carrier status? What other animals can be vectors of the disease? It has been found in corn snakes and vipers; but this isn't the norm. So does this mean that getting a corn snake will jeapordize your boid collection?

I hope this helps a bit; there are still more questions than answers with Inclusion Body Disease.

Ian

[ Reply To This Message ] [ Subscribe to this Thread ] [ Show Entire Thread ]