The incubation period for IBD is unknown--it can range from just a few weeks, to a few months in pythons--usually several months at least in boas.
It's absolutely crucial to quarantine all of the snakes away from each other if you suspect it. It's transmitted by droplets and contact, so extreme attention to hygiene, and seperation, might save some of your other snakes if it IS IBD. Nothing from one cage must touch another--nothing that touches one snake should touch another or its cage before being sterilized. It is highly contagious. IBD is 100% fatal in snakes showing symptoms. If your snake doesn't show signs of recovering quickly from whatever event has caused the neurological symptoms, you should probably have it euthanized, order a necropsy, and disinfect absolutely everything. Avoid visiting others who have snakes until you can rule out IBD--you don't want to pass it to their collection.
Also, your friend doesn't know what he's talking about. IBD symptoms do not include mouth rot or lesions. They only include neurological signs, and loss of appetite in pythons. In boas, regurgitation can also be a symptom.
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