Interspecies diseases between other snakes and Balls

[Oxylepy]

May end up deciding to get a BCC/BCI and I was wondering what diseases can be transmitted between snakes of different species and balls, or heck we could expand this more to general interspecies diseases between any snakes and try and cover a wider selection of answers

[2kdime]

Any bacteria that can affect a Boa can affect a Python I believe.

Id be more worried about IBD though with mixed species collections.

[CritterVet]

IBD is a major concern. Boas can carry this virus for a long time without showing any signs of illness. However, python species in general are more susceptible to getting sick from IBD, and generally show signs within a month. IBD is a excellent reason to quarantine new boas for at least six months.

Other infections to worry about are mites, ticks, Cryptosporidium (a GI parasite -- get a fecal done on all new snakes!), orthoreoviruses, and herpesviruses.

[cinderbird]

IBD is definately a concern, but, if a person you're thinking about getting a boa from has been keeping balls for at least over a few months you should be ok (from a risk of IBD ). BPs can't survive long after exposure to IBD, from what i understand its almost a 30 day period but i may be wrong on that.

The other posters are correct as well -- mites, ticks (if wild caught animals are in the mix), any other bacterias or protozoa (especially if your quarantine practices aren't tip top).

[CoolioTiffany]

Well, of course you know that RI can be spread to any snake, reptile, amphibian in the room.

IBD is something you should really focus on learning about, though. When a boa has IBD, the boa can take a very long time to show symptoms until finally one day you notice a symptom of IBD. Pythons show this disease quicker than the boas, and sometimes the boas could have it and show no symptoms at all. IBD can only be spread between boas and pythons though, so you don't have to worry about any colubrids or venomous species getting IBD.

[CritterVet]

IBD is definately a concern, but, if a person you're thinking about getting a boa from has been keeping balls for at least over a few months you should be ok (from a risk of IBD ). BPs can't survive long after exposure to IBD, from what i understand its almost a 30 day period but i may be wrong on that.

The other posters are correct as well -- mites, ticks (if wild caught animals are in the mix), any other bacterias or protozoa (especially if your quarantine practices aren't tip top).

The stress of moving to a new home can weaken an animal's immune system allowing a latent virus (or parasite) to become active, and thus infectious. Because of this, I would still quarantine boas (and any reptile) no matter where it came from. In my opinion, there really is nothing to gain from not quarantining.

[Skiploder]

Well, of course you know that RI can be spread to any snake, reptile, amphibian in the room.

IBD is something you should really focus on learning about, though. When a boa has IBD, the boa can take a very long time to show symptoms until finally one day you notice a symptom of IBD. Pythons show this disease quicker than the boas, and sometimes the boas could have it and show no symptoms at all. IBD can only be spread between boas and pythons though, so you don't have to worry about any colubrids or venomous species getting IBD.

IBD has been reported in both colubrids and vipers.

No one knows just how long pythons can remain asymptomatic - so a 30 day, 60 day 180 day, 240 day, 360 day quarantine is worth a hill of beans when it comes to IBD.