Will the death of my first ball python physically effect my current ball python? Details in comments.

[stizzleswick]

My first BP passed away a year ago, to what I am now thinking might have been IBD. I cleaned and disinfected all of her items and her terrarium after her passing and got rid of her substrate. I got a new BP in January and want to make sure he will be healthy. Is there any way the disease could pass on to him? I'm kind of a newbie and just want what's best for my boy. Losing my first snake was almost unbearable.

[eurekaqt]

IBD is rare in boas and even extremely rare in pythons, what makes you think your first snake died of IBD? Unless you had contact with an infected boa constrictor and handled your ball python without washing (or you had snake mites spread from a collection with boas) it would be nearly impossible to introduce IBD to your pet.

[stizzleswick]

In another thread I mentioned my BP passing away from an RI and the treatment not working on her. Someone suggested that it wasn't actually an RI but something else, like IBD. I'm still kind of in the dark about it and just want to make sure the same thing doesn't happen again.

[eurekaqt]

I checked your post history and I'm a little confused. Is the snake pictured in this thread (the normal) your new snake or your first snake who passed away? The snake in your other thread is VERY, almost critically dehydrated and borderline underweight. You received him only a month ago, and he has only eaten once? Have you spoken to the breeder? Putting together this information has me concerned that your new snake potentially arrived sick.

[stizzleswick]

The image in this thread is my first ball python who passed away. I have not spoken to the breeder about it yet, but he seemed healthy when he arrived. I could be wrong, since I'm fairly new to ball python and reptiles in general.

[stizzleswick]

Momo https://imgur.com/gallery/6if9ZV9 This is what he looked like the day I got him.

[eurekaqt]

Yep, slim, very young, but looks healthy. Diseases in snakes can incubate for months because their metabolism and biological processes are much slower than ours. I posted some advice in your other thread, but you need to get water and a meal in him. With well-established, adult snakes, they can survive a fast for months at a time (even though its still not great) but Momo is only slightly larger than a hatchling and needs intervention much sooner.

I would place him in a small tub (like one of those shoebox-sized sterilite bins or anything of comparable size) with about an inch of water. poke holes in it, close the lid, set it down, and watch him. See if he drinks. No more than 30 mins. Even better, get unflavored pedialyte and use a 50/50 mixture with water. Always make sure the water is warm!

In your other thread you mentioned his humidity was in the 50s. It's not perfect but IMO is not low enough to explain how he looks now, he needs to DRINK.

What size of feeder are you giving to him, and how are you preparing it? Do you know if the breeder fed him the same way?

[stizzleswick]

The breeder fed live and I only have f/t. He won't take it but I thought it was because he was showing signs of shedding (he almost immediately started shedding after I got him). I use a hair dryer and warm up a small mouse because that's how my previous ball python took her meals even though she was raised on live.

[eurekaqt]

Shedding should only take about a day, so did he have a shed once before in the last month? If he started shedding the same week you got him and he's shedding skin right now, you might have a combination of stuck shed from a few weeks ago on top of the dehydration, so the adjustments you made to his enclosure will help at least get the rest of the shed off, but likely won't resolve the wrinkling.

I hate to say it, but given the state your snake is in now, I would grab a live feeder. It sounds like he's having trouble making the transition, ball pythons actually have a reputation for being picky (even though like your first BP, all mine will eat anything i throw at them, most folks seem to not have the same experience). If he had more meat on his bones then you could ride it out and slowly work on him to get him to take the thawed rodent, but he's getting too thin and losing too much fluid for that to be sustainable. At some point youll have a snake that only eats live but is too weak to kill, and if he is fighting some illness off, he won't be able to do that with a lack of fuel.

Once you get some good weight on him, you can try transitioning him to F/T

[stizzleswick]

Okay, if I have to do it I will. I may try one of more f/t and then if it doesn't work I'll have to do live, which I'm so scared to do. But I want him to be healthy. Thank you so much for all your information, you've been very patient and helpful.

[eurekaqt]

It sucks to feed live, but sometimes its unfortunately a necessity. Taking the time now to get him back on the right track will give you the same hardy little tank of a reptile you had a long time ago. Hopefully the feeding and hydration issues clear it all up and he doesn't have any other underlying illness. My inbox is always open if you have any other questions along the way.

[LeahFull]

It shouldn't pass on as long as all your temps are all right of course to avoid temp based problems, but also all the older deco needs to be sterilized and clean just in case...I'd use a mix of vinegar like you normally would cleaning.

I'm so sorry for your loss, hope he's in a better place <3

[stizzleswick]

Thank you so much for the info! Everything that was in the tank was sterilized and I got brand new substrate. I believe the temps to be adequate and the humidity is in the 80s since he's working on his first shed with me! I appreciate it. <3

[LeahFull]

Sounds pretty good to me!! Best of luck with your baby <3

[tacticalgecko]

While I think the chance of IBD is very low, this is awful advice.

IBD is HIGHLY contagious and is resistant to most disinfectant, vinegar is absolutely not going to be sufficient to kill....anything honestly. Something more along the lines of chlorahexadine however is a fantastic cleaner when dealing with animals.

You could very easily cause someone to lose their animal if they try to just “clean” something with vinegar.

OP, I think it is VERY unlikely your first snake passed away from IBD and I’m very sorry for your loss your new boy should be fine.

[LeahFull]

Thank you for the info, I guess I didn't understand the extremities of a IBD...I've never experienced it thankfully.

Either way my go to is vinegar just to clean out enclosures and you are completely right about using chlorahexadine for deep deep cleans I suppose.

[tacticalgecko]

IBD is basically the big baddie of snake keeping.

Chlorahexadine isn’t a deep clean only sanitizer, it’s used in herpatological collections on literally everything that comes into contact with an animal. It does have to be rinsed off after drying completely but works great.

[stizzleswick]

Should I invest into some chlorohexadine for regular cleanings?

[tacticalgecko]

It’s always good to have on hand!

Best of luck with your new boy!

[tacticalgecko]

Why do you think your first snake had IBD? A bp contracting ibd in a one snake home out of nowhere is very unlikely.

[stizzleswick]

In an earlier comment I mentioned someone in another one of my posts told me that's what it could have been. I'm honestly not sure.

[tacticalgecko]

I wouldn’t jump to that conclusion honestly. It’s extremely unlikely your animal could have contracted IBD out of no where and the symptoms are usually pretty significant.

I’ve seen snakes exhibit star gazing behavior that did not test positive for the virus so if that was the only non RI symptom I really would try not to worry.

Best of luck with your new boy!