That Reptile Blog – Reptile, Amphibian and Exotic Pet Care and Information

Inclusion Body Disease (IBD), or “Stargazing”, is an incurable ailment that afflicts captive Boa Constrictors, Ball Pythons and related snakes (please see below for species list).  As a child with a burgeoning snake collection, I was warned about it by older keepers, and then faced the perplexing condition as I began to work for animal importers and zoos.  Always, the scenario remained the same – once symptoms appeared, the snake died. In zoo collections, much time and expense was spent in testing snakes that had been exposed to IBD, with euthanasia being the usual course of action for those found to be positive.  However, snake keepers now have cause for guarded optimism – a ground-breaking finding published this week (August, 2012) may pave the way for a treatment.  The sequence of events leading up to the discovery involves pet owners, gene-sequencing competitions and a host of twists and turns, and shows that alert, dedicated snake enthusiasts can make vital contributions to conservation and research. Read More »