Quarantine Question - from a RN

I'm sorry, but please clarify what is IBD? I'm not very good with acronyms, and just got back into herps after a small hiatus.

It stands for "inclusion body disease" Also known as star gazers. It causes loss of normal motor skills such as constricting and striking. Also I believe one of the side effects is mouth rot. It is always fatal in boas and pythons but I believe boas can live with it in their system and never have it come up.
Hope this hellps a little bit

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Originally Posted by TaylorS

And do you know what a normal respiratory rate is for a ball python?

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Interestingly, it's going to vary depending on oxygen availability. Snakes and many other reptiles have the ability to switch their metabolism to anaerobic operation, and slow their oxygen use dramatically, when oxygen is not available. This is why snakes can get a respiratory infection that nearly fills their lungs with fluid, and still survive it. They elevate their head when sick (which would seem contrary to common sense at first) in order to expose more oxygen-collecting surface, as fluids pool in the lower part of the lung and cover less area. Since they don't need much, this works.

The mechanisms behind all of this aren't well understood yet, but suffice to say--they don't need a whole lot of air in order to survive.

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Originally Posted by TaylorS

4. What is the "worst" anyone has seen happen to their collection from a new acquisition. Has anyone taken chances by a short quarantine process and have things work out?

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You can likely not quarantine an animal from a reputable source and be just fine. There are risks, which is why QT is recommended.

The "worst" I've read about is an entire collection of pricey animals going down the tubes. Thousands upon thousands of dollars of dead ball pythons due to IBD.

IBD is tricky, but one thing when reading stats on IBD is to be a bit critical with them.

MOST boas that contract IBD do indeed die from it, as most will contract it as hatchlings. They can carry it, but that is very much overblown. Does not mean that precautions should not be taken. The risk is there, so it should never be ignored.

Must keep in mind that any boa that is a carrier, can pass it to other boas, who will not all contract it and have it lie dormant for years (meaning snakes will start dying). So once it is in a collection, it should tend to present itself very quickly.

The stats on IBD are very skewed, as they are dealing with necropsies, which are very expensive, and would only be performed on snakes in which IBD was suspected. So the focus is VERY narrow. One study claims 40% of boas are carriers... when it was 40% of boas tested, assumed to have IBD, tested positive for it.

As far as ticks and mites, it has already been stated, but yes, they are very easy to deal with, but I would do a 3 month QT on any snake that I got that came with mites because they can transfer ANY bloodborne pathogen.

I am afraid I do not have the links but there was a form of IBD (or a very similar pathogen) that is was suspected had indeed become airbourne. And I believe (again, I am trying to recall this) it was because there were cysts in the animal's lungs (much like when ebola became airborne)... but that being said, snakes cannot cough (no diaphragm)... so again, this may be why this one sort of dropped off the radar.

Bruce

PS: I wish I had bookmarked it, but Jimi (and he is the man to ask about boas) had an amazing thread on this site regarding IBD and boas. Probably one of the best I have ever read.

Something to keep in mind when quarantining animals is that in order to do it effectively, you must work with the animals from "clean" to "dirty." That is, don't change the water or cage paper in the quarantine snake cages and then go and work with the resident snakes. Always work with the resident snakes first and then the quarantine snakes last. Also, one should have dedicated equipment for the quarantine snakes (a separate hook, spray bottle, etc). I deal with quarantine snakes at the end of the day, wear gloves when handling them, and don't touch the resident snakes or their equipment until the next day, after I've showered and changed clothes.

When we get a new snake, the first thing we do after taking it out of the bag is treat it for mites. The bag and shipping container are then tossed in the dumpster.

The three month quarantine is not for mites, it's for other diseases. Three months gives the new snake plenty of time to develop signs due to viral and bacterial disease that may appear due to stress of shipping & being in a new environment. In my opinion, three months is a minimum, but six months is better.