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oh yeah i know. my point was, i distinguishing my points of transmission vs. contagious methods of acquisition.
i do know that mites cannot and are not ruled out as a potential method of transmission. mainly for the fact that, we do not know if the snakes that have been infected have never been exposed to mites prior to showing signs. meaning, if we have a collection and a new snake is brought in, that is 6 months later shown to have ibd (via convincing lab results), even though the snake was mite free from the time brought into collection, to the time it died, what we dont know is, had that snake ever been treated before for mites at anytime in the past. unfortunately, most sellers (especially flippers) get snakes in, treat them for mites quickly and get them sold as soon as possible to make room for the next one.
thats my point, there are too many variables and unknowns (as of right now) to say anything for certain.
whats the incubation period ? to my knowledge, we dont know that either. i know there are at least a couple studies that have been done in controlled environments where a snake that has ibd symptoms and was tested consistent with ibd through liver biopsy, that was put into a collection of burmese and ball pythons and other boas, over a 1 year period (i belive) and not every snake of each species contracted it. the boa that tested positive was mite free at the time.
so, is all incubation period, is it contagious by contact, is it contagious by breeding then passed on to offspring, is contracted by "third party" host (ie, snake mite)?
these are all things that are known yet fully.
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