Does My Python Suffer From Inclusion Body Disease?

Has your python been in contact or proximity to a potentially diseased snake recently?

Does your python exhibits difficulty moving?

Does your python exhibits difficulty righting itself when it turns over?

Does your python exhibits head tremors (shaking)?

Does your python have pupils of uneven size?

Does your python exhibit loss of coordination and disorientation?

Does your python exhibits the inability to strike at or constrict prey?

Does your snake holds its body still and raises its head, looking straight up for some time before resuming movement (star-gazing)?

Inclusion Body Disease, or IBD is caused by a virus, and is highly contagious among boids of all species. IBD can spread quickly in secretions from a sick animal, either by direct contact with an infected animal, by particles in the air reaching healthy snakes kept near sick ones, or by poor sanitation practices leading to spread by the snakes’ keeper. If your python has not been in contact with a diseased snake it couldn't have contracted IBD.

Your python doesn't show any sign of Inclusion Body Disease.

Your python shows few common signs of Inclusion Body Disease. Pythons generally develop severe fatal neurological symptoms within a few weeks. You should take your python to the veterinarian for a check-up. Your veterinarian will start by taking a thorough medical history and give a physical examination. The snake should also have blood taken for a complete blood count and plasma chemistry in addition to X-rays.

Your python shows several common signs of Inclusion Body Disease. Pythons generally develop severe fatal neurological symptoms within a few weeks. You should take your python to the veterinarian for a check-up. Your veterinarian will start by taking a thorough medical history and give a physical examination. The snake should also have blood taken for a complete blood count and plasma chemistry in addition to X-rays. Treatment of individual animals has not been effective. However, in some cases with just one snake in the collection, supportive treatment measures including fluids, antibiotics, and force-feeding may be attempted.

Your python shows all common signs of Inclusion Body Disease. Treatment of individual animals has not been effective. Because IBD is fatal, the vast majority of snakes confirmed to have it should be humanely euthanized. However, in some cases with just one snake in the collection, supportive treatment measures including fluids, antibiotics, and force-feeding may be attempted.