Ibd?

[Jimmy whispers]

I posted this in the BP thread but no response.
I acquired a ball python from my plant manager. He said his son was not taking care of it properly.
It has the symptoms of ibd. However its an adult snake and eats/ acts normally otherwise.
I've read this is also a common trait in BP's with the spider gene. I do believe this snake is a spider morph and possibly butter/pastel as well
Should i rule out ibd as its an adult and would probably be dead by now?

[mlenny]

Well, yes and no. A snake can contract the disease at any age if exposed to Reptarenavirus species from relatively close contact with an infected snake, so age isn't the end all of it. But it would have to have been exposed to an infected snake very recently. In boas the virus can incubate for at least two years and possibly a lifetime without producing illness, but in pythons a really severe neurological disease pops up about a month or so after exposure and progresses to death in just a matter of weeks. But importantly she doesn't sound gravely ill enough for inclusion body disease. Often the first sign a snake is ill is declining to eat, but know that it is normal for a royal to go off fed during times of stress and the entire season of winter. A quick test is to roll her onto her back to make sure she can right herself relatively easily. If she's a spider, she may have more trouble, but she should still be able to relatively well. IBD comes with anorexia, staring up at the sky (opisthotonus), corkscrewing the head and neck (torticollis), seeking high temperature to induce a fever, sometimes respiratory infections, and such. And while it has become relatively common in boas (who show different signs) and Burmese pythons, it remains very rare in royal pythons, likely due to the very short interval between infection and death. If she has some spider in her, I'm far more inclined to think wobble.

Hope this helps,
Matthew