Ibd??

[GYMRAT2B]

I accidentally posted this in the General Python forum. Since I own BP's, I'll repost here just in case...

How do you recognize the first signs of IBD and what can you do to prevent it? I have some CH babies and just lost the third. Granted, some were finicky eaters and I thought I killed one by force feeding it and thought the rat pinky rotted inside them. I did note that prior to their death, they did seem as though they were off balance and flip back onto themselves. Their enclosures were cleaned constantly, temperatures were up and I didn't notice any little black dots on their faces or jaws to signify mites. I also didn't notice any white dots on their bodies. On one of them, I did notice that there seemed to be scrapes on the lower jaw (possibly from the rocks or log in their cage?). The other two did not have any of this. I never noticed any of them lying in the water dish at all.

If it weren't for the BP book, I wouldn't have suspected something like IBD. The "screwing" movements of the head is what tipped me off. If the shipment of these CH babies came with a guarantee and I've had them in good health for the first two months. Could mites have been in the logs that I got as hides for them? I figured, if I purchased those logs at Petco, they would have been treated and therefore safe. Any help/advise would be appreciated.