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: http://bitly.com/So3Y34.
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 http://bitly.com/JJNk9h. Please also check out my posts on Twitter http://bitly.com/JP27Nj.
Thanks, Frank
My Bio, with photos of animals I’ve been lucky enough to work with http://bitly.com/LC8Lbp
Face Book http://on.fb.me/KckP1m
Stargazing, Inclusion Body Disease, IBD
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: http://bitly.com/So3Y34.
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 http://bitly.com/JJNk9h. Please also check out my posts on Twitter http://bitly.com/JP27Nj.
Thanks, Frank
My Bio, with photos of animals I’ve been lucky enough to work with http://bitly.com/LC8Lbp
Face Book http://on.fb.me/KckP1m
Stargazing, Inclusion Body Disease, IBD
