“Stargazing” (Inclusion Body Disease): Pet Owners Aid Research Breakthrough

[findiviglio]

Hi All,

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 article here: Inclusion Body Disease or Stargazing - Pet Owners Aid Vital Research | That Reptile Blog.

Comments and questions appreciated. As I do not place notices here each time I post a new article on That Reptile Blog, you may wish to check in periodically or subscribe; you can do so here That Reptile Blog. Please also check out my posts on Twitter Twitter.

Thanks, Frank
My Bio, with photos of animals I’ve been lucky enough to work with That Pet Place welcomes Zoologist/Herpetologist Frank Indiviglio to That Reptile Blog | That Reptile Blog
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[flybyferns]

Frank
Hello again.
My husband and I have a very good friend with a large snake collection.
I can't wait to forward this valuable information to him.

Many Thanks, Lynn

[IrishRonin]

unfortunately when i started at my work we had 2 big burmese pythons (15' &16') and the lady b4 me didn't know what she was doing at all. They were both completely infected with mites (what we think caries IBD) after a long cleansing proses I got rid of the mites they started star gazing and with in 2 weeks of the symptoms they both died, really sad. Shortly after I lost our two ball pythons, again really sad. Its been a year and after lots of observation I haven't lost anymore. Its a scary disease, if you dont know about it educate yourself.

[findiviglio]

Frank
Hello again.
My husband and I have a very good friend with a large snake collection.
I can't wait to forward him this valuable information.

Many Thanks, Lynn

Thanks very much, Lynn. I just responded to your private message from June...sorry, I never seem to get notices that there are messages there.

Take care, Frank

[findiviglio]

unfortunately when i started at my work we had 2 big burmese pythons (15' &16') and the lady b4 me didn't know what she was doing at all. They were both completely infected with mites (what we think caries IBD) after a long cleansing proses I got rid of the mites they started star gazing and with in 2 weeks of the symptoms they both died, really sad. Shortly after I lost our two ball pythons, again really sad. Its been a year and after lots of observation I haven't lost anymore. Its a scary disease, if you dont know about it educate yourself.

Thanks very much for the feedback, Best, Frank