Hi,
As some of you have realized, I have a extensive collection of balls. Most I have had close to a year, and I recently had my first successful clutch of eggs hatch out. I was intending to breed this fall/winter also.
Currantly all that is in jeopardy. I have a spider female that was sold to me as 100% healthy but is actually a spinner. Now I bought her in january, tried to work out something with the seller, who basically refused, then disappeared and refused to answer emails.
Early on, I took her to the university of Florida, and they said well it could be IBD, but after blood tests etc, they said well, we don't see signs of it. Gave me antibiotics, and wanted to get more information on the "spinning" stuff, as they had never heard of it.
Yesterday I took her in for what I THOUGHT was a respitory infection. Her mouth was wet, and in fact it turned out to be my first ever case of stomatitus. Mouth rot. They debrided it, did blood tests, fecal samples, xrays etc. They then informed me they found "suspect inclusions" in the blood. It is not definate yet. The spider ball will be euthanized monday to be necropsied. It was a hard decision, as I really adore this particular little snake. I've always called her my most expensive pet, as she obviously would never be breedable. She was quarentined from the collection for 3 months, but as most of the collection was bought at the same time, she pretty much has been in the same room with everyone. In other words MOST of them were in "quarentine" at the same time. She has never shared a cage with any of the other snakes.
BUT, if she has IBD, which I get to find out on monday, then with all likehood, ALL my collection is lost. It might take a bit of time, but they would all probaly already have it, with it being so contagious.
So right now I am asking that you keep my little Hepurn in your thoughts, and hope for me that I won't find that my entire collection is gone. I would never be able to replace them, and would lose not only a sizable investment, but the main focus of my life.
Thanks
WOlfy