Parasites

We bought her from a vender @ a reptile show. This guy was the only guy that didn't want to know anything about anything. Everyone else who had snakes for sale wanted to know where my daughter was going to house the snake, etc.... The vet was pretty sure she was sick when we bought her, about 2 weeks ago. The cordinator of the show is also with the Humane Society, so I think she's going to check into it. We kept the snake, just in case....I live in Edmonton Alberta Canada.

What vet did you go to?
Was it a herp vet?
How could they determine this?
How long have you had the snake?
Do you have any other snakes?
Where did you get the snake from?
Will you have a necropsy done to determine cause of death?
Sorry for all the questions; it's just that IBD is a real danger and a dx of IBD sure gets me jumpy.
Mostly, from whom did you purchase this snake?

Ooops, sorry, you already posted above me!!

Oooops AGAIN-
I for got to say how sorry I am for you and your daughter. What a crummy introduction to the herp world. Really, there are great breeders out there and they have great snakes. When your house gets 100% disinfected and you guys get over this episode, I would urge you to consider another foray into the great world of herps.
Again, I am so sorry for your loss.

What is IBD?...we don't have any other snake. But a friend of my daughter also bought a snake from this guy. So we've called her, she taking all the precautions with her own snakes, she has 4.

Oh definatly....I actually over came my fear of snake because of her. My daughter has already been bugging me for another one. :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Sheri

Oh definatly....I actually over came my fear of snake because of her. My daughter has already been bugging me for another one. :)

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If your snake did die of IBD, than you need to hard-core sterilize the enclosure it was housed in (and anything else that might have come in contact with it) prior to getting another.

IBD is extremely serious, and if the vendor was selling infected/ill snakes at a reptile show, than people need to be alerted. Still, IBD can be often misdiagnosed and since it is such a scary illness, even the rumor of it will spread like wildfire. Before starting a panic, it would be good to confirm that the diagnosis was accurate. Is there a possibility of having a necropsy preformed?

Here is a crash-course in what IBD is: Inclusion Body Disease

I'm very sorry for your loss.

Wow Sheri! That is some big doo doo. Yes, IBD is the quite contagious. Sort of like the AIDS for snakes. In pythons, it kills in a matter of weeks, in Boas, it can take months to even show symptoms.

Now, I must point out that while IBD is the diagnosis from the vet while he was "pretty sure", I would hope for the best that it actually wasn't IBD and was one of the illnesses with symptoms of neurological damage (twisitng, cork screwing). From as it sounds, the vet diagnosed based on symptoms.

IBD needs to be tested for, and I'm certain a blood test does not work, but need a liver biopsy and some other things. The only way you'll truly have a positive answer now would be to ask the Vet to send it out for a necropsy to actually find the cause. That can take weeks and cost money.

If you truly wanted to find out if it were IBD, I think a necropsy is the only way to go. If you didn't want to do that, I'd understand. Having your first snake, only to pour money into it and have it die so soon. Very sad circumstances. :(

Just like Nightlad said, even a mere rumor of this will spread like wild fire, and many will want to know if the seller was actually spreading infected snakes or not, and who the seller was. People lose entire collections over something like this.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Sheri

What is IBD?...we don't have any other snake. But a friend of my daughter also bought a snake from this guy. So we've called her, she taking all the precautions with her own snakes, she has 4.

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As to her friends other snakes, if they are also pythons or boas, she needs to get them as far away from the possibly infected snake as soon as possible and make sure NOTHING gets shared between the two.

This needs very strict quarantine, no sharing of cage furniture or bowl, no holding the new snake and then going to the first ones... always scrubbing down inbetween handling of all the snakes.

Quarantine of any new snake is always necessary to ensure that nothing from the new snake gets passed on to others. While I know the general public doesn't do this when buying new snakes, I think in this case it needs to be adhered to as the upmost importance.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by NightLad

If your snake did die of IBD, than you need to hard-core sterilize the enclosure it was housed in (and anything else that might have come in contact with it) prior to getting another.

IBD is extremely serious, and if the vendor was selling infected/ill snakes at a reptile show, than people need to be alerted. Still, IBD can be often misdiagnosed and since it is such a scary illness, even the rumor of it will spread like wildfire. Before starting a panic, it would be good to confirm that the diagnosis was accurate. Is there a possibility of having a necropsy preformed?

Here is a crash-course in what IBD is: Inclusion Body Disease

I'm very sorry for your loss.

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This is great info Ted and your call for calm until IBD is confirmed is a good one.
If this had happened to me, I'd throw away EVERYTHING that the snake used and could have come in contact with (housing, water bowl, hemostats, ...) and start very fresh ;)