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Stargazing? IBD or just a fluke?
So....I picked up a beautiful girl almost a week ago...from Petsmart...
I told myself I would never ever buy from a bad chain petstore, but I couldn't help it. She was sweet, beautiful, cheap and I felt like if I didn't get her she would end up like most pet store snakes, seeing as they had gotten her in just three weeks prior to my visit, she was new and seemed extremely healthy.
Now, before purchasing her I gave her the full rundown, checked for all the common illnesses like RI, IBD and mites. I know there's always a chance she could still be sick but I decided to take the chance. I've been observing her the last 5 or so days and she has been exhibiting normal behavior, a bit active but she's quite stressed from the transition. She has an ideal weight, fresh perfect shed, I have not fed her yet but her papers say she has been eating well.
I WAS informed, however, -sighs-, that apparently when they first got her in her neck got stuck on something sticky in her tank and they had to "rip her off" and she has lost some skin and was bleeding. God, don't even get me started on how frustrated and upset I am and was, I could not believe- well, I could, it was Petsmart -they let something so bad happen that could and should have been so easily avoided. I checked the area before purchasing and it looked very nicely healed, I was impressed, and learned that the lady there responsible mainly for the reptiles was called in and was there everyday to treat it with ointment and disinfectant and whatnot. I was hesitant to purchase after hearing this but she really looked so healthy and I felt like if I left her there something else could happen to her and she clearly had already been through enough unnecessary pain.
Anyways, I've had her for around 5 days. I just noticed her tonight, however, sticking her neck out of her hide and staring up like stargazing. Not periscoping and not moving just sitting like that. I watched for a good 40 or so seconds and she moved her head down and back into her hide with no issues or odd movements. Now, I don't know how long she had been holding it up for as I noticed only as I walked by. She has not exhibited any other signs of illness. I believe I may have seen her doing this for a moment before but I can't confirm that, so I think this was just a one time thing so far....do ball pythons ever stargaze for normal reasons? What does this sound like? Should I do something?
I'm sincerely hoping she is okay as I have already grown quite attached to her.
Lastly, I do have other ball pythons that she is quarantined from, but I'm worried that if it was IBD it could spread? I don't cross contaminate ANYTHING at ALL but I'm worried if IBD is airborne it could travel since the rooms are so close together, I have a small apartment....
Here is a picture of a ball python (not mine) that resembles what she was doing kinda.

Protective snek mom
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You should definitely quarantine her and use disposable gloves if possible, but I say this in general, not because I think she may have IBD. Any boid snake could have IBD or a variety of other ailments, which is the rationale for my suggestion. I would be more inclined to think an animal from Petco or the like could have an infection, sub-clinical or otherwise, simply due to their poor levels of care and prevalence of mites within their stock.
IBD is an extremely difficult disease to diagnose sans a positive blood test or very obvious corkscrewing behavior. In my experience, snakes "star gaze" or look up in their enclosures fairly often, especially in translucent tubs. I think it is likely due to the fact that rodents typically come from above in captive settings. IBD can spread, but based on most research, suggests it isn't that easy if you exercise reasonable precautions. It requires blood, urine, fecies, or some kind of other direct contact. It does not appear to survive well outside a host body.
One thing I do recommend is doing a screening if you have the cash. RAL testing labs has a "boid panel" that looks for Arenavirus (IBD), Nidovirus, Ophidian Paramyxovirus. I believe it is worth getting for new snakes, particularly from "sketchy" sources. The University of Florida and some other labs with also do IBD / arenavirus testing, but RAL is probably the best deal.
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Re: Stargazing? IBD or just a fluke?
 Originally Posted by Regius_049
RAL testing labs has a " boid panel" that looks for Arenavirus (IBD), Nidovirus, Ophidian Paramyxovirus. I believe it is worth getting for new snakes, particularly from "sketchy" sources. The University of Florida and some other labs with also do IBD / arenavirus testing, but RAL is probably the best deal.
This is really excellent info, thank you!
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Re: Stargazing? IBD or just a fluke?
As strict as possible quarantine is always important regardless. I wouldn't particularly worry about her looking up like that though unless you start seeing it abnormally frequently or coupled with loss of control or other neurological symptoms or for overly long periods of time (for a snake - they do things longer than we'd think is normal). As is, she's probably just looking up to see what's up there. Mine did it a lot more often when he was in a tub because interesting things would come from above. He would even be sitting there staring up after he pooped sometimes because he was waiting for me to come clean up and stopped as soon as I showed up. Now he only does it occasionally to look at the light because all the interesting things (i.e. food) come from the front. It would be a bit weird for them as a species to never look up because one of their major categories of predators is birds of prey.
1.0 Pastel yellowbelly ball python -Pipsy
2.0 Checkered garter snakes - Hazama & Relius
1.0 Dumeril's boa - Bazil
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