So just how common and how contagious IS IBD?

[meowmeowkazoo]

I would. Do you know how many people come home from a show with mites? One vendor has ONE mite, and if that mite makes its way on to someone's sweater, and that someone holds one of your snakes, or it drops off onto your display, then BAM, you have mites. Since this seems to be the most common way of getting IBD, I'd be very careful. I'm even toying with the idea of using only PAM-treated aspen chips in my displays for the next show, just in case. Something that takes minutes to do but could save a lot.

I know. It's being overly paranoid. But is there really such a thing when it comes to diseases like this, and snake collections worth so much? Not just in the sense of a dollar-value (though that is quite significant), but all of my time, effort, and heart put in to this hobby. I don't think it's being overly paranoid.

Well I doubt I will ever vend at a show, but most reputable breeders don't seem to let people hold their snakes, which is why it doesn't seem like a big risk to me. In every case of IBD I've read about, it happened after getting a new snake, not from a reptile show.