Possible IBD?

[tlc929]

I am new to this forum, but not to snake keeping. I have had the snake I am asking the question about for 3 years now. Unfortunately, it has only been recently that my snakes have started having health problems.
There is a lot of history that I could include, but I am going to try to keep this to a minimum. Sheba is 3 years old, I am unsure how much she weighs, and just recently had mites. At the suggestion of a friend, whose aunt is a reptile curator at a zoo, I used a pesticide, Sevin dust, to treat the mites. I know better now, but I am including that information because I think it is necessary. That was two months ago. Just recently I noticed Sheba moving strangely, so I immediately quarrantined her because I feared IBD, or neurological damage. I do have a video of the way she moves, but I have to explain one thing quick. In the video it definitely looks like IBD, but two symptoms for IBD don't fit. First of all she is very alert, knows immediately when I put prey in her tank, (which she doesn't strike) and does not stargaze. Secondly, even though she didn't do it in the video, she can flip herself back over. My daughter and I have force fed her a small pinky rat twice now, only because it was absolutely necessary. Unfortunately I cannot get her into a vet until monday, because there are only two herp vets in the area and they are both extremely busy. My question is do you guys think there is any hope for my baby? It breaks my heart seeing her like this, but I am afraid I will have to have her put to sleep, for her own good and the good of the rest of my collection.
Here is the video.

tlc929

[joepythons]

I am new to this forum, but not to snake keeping. I have had the snake I am asking the question about for 3 years now. Unfortunately, it has only been recently that my snakes have started having health problems.
There is a lot of history that I could include, but I am going to try to keep this to a minimum. Sheba is 3 years old, I am unsure how much she weighs, and just recently had mites. At the suggestion of a friend, whose aunt is a reptile curator at a zoo, I used a pesticide, Sevin dust, to treat the mites. I know better now, but I am including that information because I think it is necessary. That was two months ago. Just recently I noticed Sheba moving strangely, so I immediately quarrantined her because I feared IBD, or neurological damage. I do have a video of the way she moves, but I have to explain one thing quick. In the video it definitely looks like IBD, but two symptoms for IBD don't fit. First of all she is very alert, knows immediately when I put prey in her tank, (which she doesn't strike) and does not stargaze. Secondly, even though she didn't do it in the video, she can flip herself back over. My daughter and I have force fed her a small pinky rat twice now, only because it was absolutely necessary. Unfortunately I cannot get her into a vet until monday, because there are only two herp vets in the area and they are both extremely busy. My question is do you guys think there is any hope for my baby? It breaks my heart seeing her like this, but I am afraid I will have to have her put to sleep, for her own good and the good of the rest of my collection.
Here is the video.

tlc929

If she had IBD she would have died over 2 and a half years ago.This IBD kills pythons in months not years.I think she might have something neurological.Please dont use that sevins stuff again.Please take her to a vet ASAP and keep us posted

[littleindiangirl]

Yes, please take her to a vet. IBD kills pythons quickly (weeks). Unless you've added any snakes into your area recently, she would have succumb to it years ago. You also say she had mites recently, where did they come from?

[jdmls88]

whats up with the flies??

[tlc929]

She only started doing this two weeks ago. Before that she was a happy, healthy snake, no problems whatsoever. I am unsure where the mites might have come from. The last snake I bought was in July, a Brazilian Rainbow Boa, but Sheba has never been exposed to her. My sister in law said she read somewhere online that some snake keepers have said they got mites from cyprus mulch, but I don't know if that is even possible. The Sevin dust did work, but it isn't worth the risks. This was my first time of ever having mites, and I freaked out. Every time we go into a pet store my sister in law and my daughter both have to hold all the snakes, so the mites might have come in that way. I don't think I will ever know for sure.
I do have an appointment for monday with a vet for Sheba, but it is driving me crazy, going that long without her being seen. If we weren't having such terrible snow storms lately I would probably drive her the 100 miles to Madison to be seen sooner.
tlc929

[littleindiangirl]

This reminds me of another keeper, she had no new snakes introduced (I think), but let someone handle her snakes, who had recently lost her own snake to a mysterious disease, and unfortunetly she did lose her whole collection.

[edit]
Is the Boa in the same room?

I'm not one to blame IBD, but it does rattle you a bit when a snake gets sick for no reason. Hopefully it is treatable and will have little to no side effects.

[tlc929]

I am praying it isn't IBD.
Sheba is being kept on the main floor of the house, and all my other snakes are in the basement. When Sheba was kept in the basement she wasn't in the same room as any of my boas. Besides the rainbow I also have 2 redtails. They are kept in a different room, away from all the pythons.
tlc929

[slartibartfast]

If you are frequently handling snakes at a high-traffic retail shop, it possible you could have brought it home on your person, but it would have to have been recently. As joepythons says, it is a rapid killer in pythons (but not boas) so you would be looking at an exposure to the virus in the last month or so.

Sevin dust would be my first guess for the culprit. It's horribly toxic, and definitely can cause neurologic problems. I've seen dogs seizure when treated with sevin dust for fleas.

If she fails to recover, please have a necropsy done.

[ladywhipple02]

In all honesty, I seriously doubt she has IBD. She is only certain issues---no RI, no stargazing, still able to right herself. Pythons go quickly to IBD and typically show a good range of symptoms. Plus, if the only other snake introduced into your collection came in around 6 months ago, I would count that out.

If I had to hazard a guess, I would say her problems issue from the use of the Sevin Dust... considering it's an insecticide/pesticide with some pretty powerful ingredients, I would say her neurological problems stem from this. Can I ask how you treated her? Did you place her in the cage along with the dust?

Unfortunately, I doubt there will be anything you can do, but would definitely get her to a vet as soon as you can.

[ladywhipple02]

If you are frequently handling snakes at a high-traffic retail shop, it possible you could have brought it home on your person, but it would have to have been recently. As joepythons says, it is a rapid killer in pythons (but not boas) so you would be looking at an exposure to the virus in the last month or so.

Sevin dust would be my first guess for the culprit. It's horribly toxic, and definitely can cause neurologic problems. I've seen dogs seizure when treated with sevin dust for fleas.

If she fails to recover, please have a necropsy done.

Got distracted and you beat me to it