Boid Encephalothopy????

[Homegrownscales]

Hi Everyone,
I am trying to get a little information on Boid Encephalothopy. I'd like to know symptoms, things to look for. Also has anyone had any experience with this disease?? I recently took in a rescue from a local school in my area. She has a respiratory infection and at our vet appt. My vet was a bit concerned about her head tilt. I've had her quarentined and were getting her infection under control. But my vet suggested I look up info about this disease so I have a feeling what to look for. I can't find nething tho. Also any other suggestions about the head tilting. I understand that these are not qualified vet suggestions but any personal experiences would be welcomed. She tilt her head to the left every so often. Also sometimes when she's going around the tank she will occasionally put her first maybe fourth of her body upside down and do a big loop. Just trying to get a general idea of what may be going on so I can monitor things more carefully. Please let me know if u need any more info from me.
Thanks everyone!

[Purrrfect9]

Be extremely careful when handling the rest of your collection if the new BP is showing symptoms like this. The 'star gazing' can be an indicator of IBD, but unfortunately the only real test to see if it really is IBD is to send tissue samples off to a lab after the animal has passed. I'm sorry that I don't have any other info for you on encephalothopy. I'll rummage through my books to see if I can find anything on that specific topic for you.

[BPelizabeth]

is it a spider...could it be that famous wobble...sometimes that looks a little like IBD?????

Just a thought...I really don't know too much about this stuff

[Foschi Exotic Serpents]

I havent heard of this one yet but from what I have been able to find out so far it doesnt seem to be contagious.

Its a neurological problem. Most likely genetic.

IF the snake does have that I would not be worried about the other snakes BUT i wouldnt be so fast to put its problems on a neurological problem.

Id be more worried about the RI and keep it in a differnt room for a long time to be sure it doesnt have IBD.

[mainbutter]

so like, "mad snake disease"?

Haven't heard of encephalothopy in snakes before personally.

[mainbutter]

Other suspects are possible as well, IBD being one of them I suppose.

Luckily to find out if it has IBD, just wait a short time (a few weeks maybe? I'm no IBD expert) and see if it dies. IBD makes quick work of pythons.

Maybe you could take a few pics or even better post a video of odd behavior?

[ladywhipple02]

Boid Encephalopathy is all inclusive. It includes ALL types of brain disease that may affect boids, NOT necessarily IBD (which is actually believed to be a retrovirus that shuts down the nervous and circulatory systems).

Here is a really interesting article I found on Encephalopathy in all types of snakes, spefically a case in a kingsnake (not a boid, but the article does mention boid brain disease cases):

http://www.jwildlifedis.org/cgi/reprint/39/2/431.pdf


And here is an article I wrote specifically on IBD:

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...991#post688991


Unfortunately, not a whole lot is known about brain disease in these animals because most people do not pay to perform necropsys on their pets after they pass.

Hope this helps, and your little one gets better!

[Eventide]

I'd just like to toss in that my Woma does the same things with her head/neck/upper body, but even more severely than what you describe with yours. She was diagnosed with basically the same "wobble" as what Spiders have, so yours could have a similar neurological problem....

Hope it isn't anything too serious!

[Mike Schultz]

If its a normal ball and not a spider, quarantine it and wtach it while you treat the RI. (well quarantine anyways of course)

If it's IBD then unfortunately the snake will be dead very soon.

If the snake lives past a month or so then it may be some kind of neurological thing.

[muddoc]

I just wanted to interject my two cents. I have heard of IBD taking as long as 3 months to kill a Ball Python. Based on that knowledge, I would recommend a minimum of 3 months in quarantine.