Inclusion Body Disease

[Supernova]

I found your other thread and read it.

Sorry you didn't get more replies initially, but sometimes posts get buried quickly or some members aren't online and miss it initially. If that happens in the future, just bump it up again or make a new one with the word IMPORTANT or URGENT in the head line. This is a very helpful group but every so often some threads just fall between the cracks, its nothing personal..

Your baby was very low weight for her age. But I don't think that was caused by IBD, or she would have died a long time ago. IBD in Ball Pythons usually kills them quite fast. In Boas it can linger on, for years and sometimes without symptoms. I've heard that some breeders checked their expensive Boas for IBD by putting a healthy Ball Python near it, purposely performing a sort of "anti quarantine". If the Ball Python would develop IBD symptoms and pass away within a few weeks, they would take that as a sign for the Boa to be infected by this.

So if your BP had IBD all along, it wouldn't have started eating and thriving for a while, only to get worse again. UNLESS it was exposed to IBD later on in life, right before you got her or while you had her. I doubt she would have gotten it in her care, since you didn't add any animals. So unless she was exposed to it at the breeder shortly before you got her, I don't think that's it. But of course I could be wrong..

Make sure you tell them the entire history of the snake, how long you've had it, that it has eaten in your care, that you have not added new animals during that time.

There are other diseases that are quite nasty, though, and can cause issues.

Her being active while not eating could be so many things. Breeding season (despite her low weight, due to her age it might cause her to wander), husbandry being off (yours sounds right, though) etc etc.

With the bad diseases you usually get some other symptoms. Neurological ones like star gazing, erratic movements, inability to flip over if turned upside down, etc. OR respiratory issues, URI's, lung issues, etc.

She also never regurgitated, right ?

Has she been checked for parasites ? Hook worms can do a number. So can other worms. Giardia can also cause problems and low/no appetite. There are other protozoans, too. A in depth parasite check would be vital, imho. Protozoans can be difficult to see in a fecal, and it might be a good thing to check more then once. If no fresh fecal is available, Vets can usually use a swab and get some sort of sample while you are there.

Definitely still quarantine your two snakes, even at this point. And from now on, every new animal. That is usually a hard lesson to learn, I'm sorry. You are far from the only one that doesn't make that a priority. I know of people with large collections that don't. Until something goes wrong.

Perhaps your snake doesn't have a fatal condition. I hope so. I hope they will both be ok.

However, if things turn bad, don't beat yourself up forever. Learn from it. It sounds like you did a good job aside from the quarantine.

In the worst case, start new, and do better. Sanitize everything, throw away what can't be sanitized. Buy from reputable breeders.

And whenever you have questions, concern or want to share, keep posting. Sometimes there just aren't many replies, but other times there are, it all depends on how busy people are and how fast posts move down.

But this is a helpful and friendly bunch of people, you will feel at home..

Thank you so much for such a lengthy reply. I wasn't sure at the time whether my other post was urgent or whether i was overreacting so i didn't want to keep bumping the post and annoying everyone.

I honestly messed up a lot by not asking the breeder i got Aries from enough questions, i hasn't realised how small she was until i got her home, started questioning the breeder, and they explained that she's an incredibly picky eater and wouldn't eat for them most of the time. I got my other snake from a well known reputable breeder and he's doing fantastic and couldn't be better so i sort of just presumed that Aries (who i got from a different breeder) would be the same which was incredibly stupid on my part.

If she might not have IBD, are there any obvious illnesses or diseases that would explain her eating habits and low weight? She's been tested for parasites through a swab which came back clear but i'll be testing her again as soon as i get a fecal sample from her to have sent off.

I've given the vet all information i have about her including everything you mentioned, including weight logs and feeding diaries. And everything i learned from her breeder before they just stopped replying to my questions.

She's never regurgitated thankfully. And I had quarantined Aries for a month before putting her in the same room as my other snake but i realise now that i probably didn't keep her quarantined long enough?

If she does hve IBD what are the chances that it's already spread to my other BP? I'd imagine he'd already have it too by now wouldn't he?

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There has been since 2014, I would tell your vet to email Dr Jacobson and see if this can be done in the UK.

I'll definitely do that, thank you so much for all of your replies.