Star Gazing? is this it?

[Dark_Angel_25]

Cleo has almost always been the type of snake who sometimes while at rest will 'look up' it is never really on a 90 degree angle or anything, she just curves her neck upwards. I never worried much, until when we took her for her fecal because she regurged (it was NEGATIVE) btw (and she had a large poop to test) the vet mentioned that Boas are the main carriers of that disease.

Well I didn't think anything of it then either until I read this off a website:

"Signs of infection in boas include central nervous system disorders such as paralysis, being unable to right itself when turned over, "star-gazing", inability to strike or constrict. Other signs include chronic regurgitation, extreme weight loss, respiratory infections, and dysecdysis due to the inability to control body movements enough to rub off the old skin. The disease is rapidly fatal in young and juvenile boas, typified by rapid onset of flaccid paralysis."

The part that concerns me is the shedding part. Her last shed, she didn't really do anything, the skin was hanging off her like an old sock. I had to help her out with that shed. by itself it could be nothing but with the looking up I am now worried.

when she is out, she is normal, and she thermoregulates normally, and when she is in her hide she relaxes normally. only when she is outside the hide does she 'look up' like that.

Should I be concerned? especially since a fecal was done just last week? that one part of the explanation of the disease really is freaking me and my boyfriend out...

Any advice would be appreciated. if she does it again tonight, I'll get a picture to show you all...

[snakehunter]

IBD is tested through blood work, not only is it expenxive, your snake must be a certain size, if the snake is too small, it could hurt the lil guy. IF you can afford it, and he is the right size (ask vet about size), and you were concerned enough i dontthink that it would be too devastating to the animal

THIS BEING SAID
i am in NO way a vet nor have i alot of experience in this subject. i would ask around, maybe others have dif. points and cases to make

i had a WC ball python that lost wheight like it was going out of style, had no apetite, no righting reflex (to see this, just turn the snake on its back, if it takes a long time to right itself then i would get worried), and started to wave its head side to side at a 90 degree angle (*star gazing) minutes before he past, sorry if i scared you, but IBD is terminal, and hard to watch happen

[BoAddict]

i thought you could not tell if an animal had ibd till it was too late????
i didnt think there was any tests that could be done on a living animal

[Dark_Angel_25]

snakehunter: no you aren't scarring me. She DOES have an appetite, she regurged because the food was too big. She hasn't lost any weight, the vet said she was hefty for her size. She weighs 192.4 grams (she is still very young) the 'stargazing' she has ALWAYS done just like casually looking up.. not strained or forced looking, and her constriction and striking works fine... all the other symptoms she does NOT seem to be showing. and like I said I wasn't worried up until I read about the SHED part of it. Althought most people said that by the time their snake was Stargazing, they passed very quickly after... so I am thiking that it is just her being kooky... as she has done this since October... anyone else think I am overreacting? (again....)

Bo Addict: they can do a blood test, from what I was told, it is kinda like AIDS for people only in snakes... (I guess a simple way to explain it...)

[Linds]

From what I can understand, the only 100% diagnosis that can be made is from a liver biopsy, however there is a new blood test that can help, but it can only verify that your snake does not have it, it cannot identify if it does have it though, or something along those lines, I can't remember the details. A clean fecal is completely irrelevant to the disease. The disease is also not very common at all, there are many other problems however that can also have the same symptoms as IBD - everything from bacterial infections to exposure to toxins. I wouldn't be worried about anything yet based on what you have said. Keep an eye on your snake, and practice good quarantine measures just to ensure everyone else's safety in the event that there is something wrong ;)

[BoidKeeper]

There's a great chapter on IBD in the Boa Constrictor Manual.
Trevor

[snakey]

Yes that is a very good book! Get it, read it, know it. Then quarentine A.S.A.P. And the same for any snake she has been with. Now find youself a good snake vet at...www.arav.org Thats the association of reptile and amphibian vets. Now don't freak because it's probably nothing. But with I.B.D. you don't want to take any chances of spreading it to other snakes, and if it is that dreaded nasty... you'll want to let us all know where you got this specimen, and you'll want to notify the breeder or person you got it from. I.B.D.,...from what I've read, is a terible thing, and yes it is the snake equivalent to aids. So please keep us posted. Where are you?

[Matt_K]

how many confirmed cases of I.B.D have there been in N. America in the last say.. 10 years.. Anyone know??? Im just curious.

[Dark_Angel_25]

well she dhasn't done it for a long time, I really think looking back that it is nothing, I think we just overeacted because the vet mentioned that Boas are the main carriers... so we read things into it, hypochondria if you will. Anyway she is perfectly normal, hasn't done the stargazing thing, and rights herself right away when I flip her over, she actually starts fighting me on flipping her so I don't think it is anything. as for the number of cases, I think it is pretty rare....