Prevalence of IBD?

[Skiploder]

I rescued a little Nicaraguan boa the other day. She's very tiny (at two years old) and wasn't properly cared for. Otherwise, she seems healthy. That doesn't mean anything in reference to IBD per se.

Does *anyone* know the actual prevalence of IBD in boas? I have always wanted some boas, but I'm terrified to keep them, because I have a beloved collection of balls that is irreplaceable. I've heard anywhere between rare to ALL boas (I know the latter isn't true) and anywhere in between.

Right now, the little lady is on a different floor in a different room from my BPs. I handle her and shower, and don't touch my BPs for at least 12 hours.

It's driving me *insane*. The paranoia is taking the fun out of what should be a fun pet.

Ideally, I'd like to eventually keep her in the same rack system as my BP collection. She will more than likely stay very tiny from what I understand about her, her age, locale, and her upbringing.

I contacted Dr. Jacobson, who has studied IBD at the University of Florida. He basically said I should be concerned, and have two tests done. The blood test seems inaccurate -- he said more often then not "he sees false negatives more than false positives". That's an unnerving prospect.

Has anyone had the blood test done on their boas? What is the process, your experiences, etc (please share)?

How worried should I be about this situation?

As far as prevalence goes, there are two things to keep in mind:

(1) the prevalence as a function of boas being asymptomatic carriers.
(2) the prevalence as a function of boas actually becoming symptomatic.

Last time I checked on the literature, almost a third of all boas are thought to be asymptomatic carriers - which mean they harbor the virus but do not yet suffer from the effects. Some claim that number to be even higher. Many of those snakes will remain carriers and never develop the disease.

...and there is no literature as to how many asymptomatic carriers eventually develop into symptomatic victims.

There is also no proof that it strikes pythons quicker than boas or that pythons cannot also remain asymptomatic for an undefined period of time. Many of the early stories of IBD ravaging ball python collections (some of the most famous ones) were later found to be other diseases.

As for testing...the blood test is the least intrusive method. Other methods on living animals involve biopsies and are limited by the simple fact that if the inclusion bodies are not in the biopsied organ, it cannot be detected.

Many years ago I had two tarahumara boas that were diagnosed with IBD...one was symptomatic, one was not. The symptoms were mild - lack of appetite and anorexia. I had to pay for several biopsies to diagnose the first snake. I had both euthanized. None of my pythons ever came down with the disease or tested positive for it.

As with many reptile maladies, the extent of the problem is undefined - mainly because this hobby seems rife with people who don't feel the need to take their animals to a proper vet (if they go at all) or have necropsies done on animals that pass away.

This has also led to the plethora of misinformation on IBD. Someone loses a large collection of ball pythons over a short period of time to a virulent disease. They take it to a vet that is less than informed on reptiles and the first thing that gets tossed out there is IBD. Since the symptoms of IBD cover the spectrum of just about every viral or bacterial malady that affects snakes, IBD is labeled as the culprit without any proof.