Ashley Caspillo-SakaraGT4/Sakara *Possible Buyer Beware!*

I just have a quick question I'd like to pose, Dr.Jacobson's article will not load properly for me for some reason (I blame comcast). It kind of has to do with the thread so try not to get too mad at me for asking it...

If someone had the money to get their entire collection tested, three times a year, for 3 years, what are the chances that not a single test would come back positive if IBD were present. In Ashley's case, and we know she won't do this nor would someone who didn't REALLY adore their collection, but it is a hypothetical that I'm curious about. That's approximately 210 tests a year, 630 in total. Could all of them really come back with a false negative with that many tests done?

Don't jump down my throat or yell and kick and scream, I am honest to god curious if this disease is that elusive. Statistically, you'd think at least one of those 630 tests would come back positive if IBD was present.

Who knows.

It depends on which tissues are sampled. How they are sampled. How they are stained. And how they are analyzed. Boas may be completely and utterly asymptomatic/ subclinical.

Is it a retrovirus? Not likely. At least the retroviral particles-when tested-failed Koch's Postulates of etiology.

The point is this: We don't know what it is. We don't know how it's spread. All that we really know is that affected snakes all show plagues of a specific protein (the "inclusion bodies") in the 68 kilodalton range that may or may not contain c-type retroviral particles.

And so, as any research in this field has recommended, all snakes should be QTed for 6 months to a year. Boas and pythons should never be kept together. And that biopsies of all new animals (liver and esophageal tonsils, specifically) should be performed in addition to the standard QT.

Her collection should completely locked-down. And anyone with boids should avoid contact with her collection at all possible. This may be a prion disease, and if so, no amount of lysol, IPA, soap or permethrin will decontaminate. Only time will tell regarding her pythons, and as far as I'm concerned, ever boa of hers must be considered positive, and indefinitely so.

Originally Posted by AddictedToBoas

If someone had the money to get their entire collection tested, three times a year, for 3 years, what are the chances that not a single test would come back positive if IBD were present. In Ashley's case, and we know she won't do this nor would someone who didn't REALLY adore their collection, but it is a hypothetical that I'm curious about. That's approximately 210 tests a year, 630 in total. Could all of them really come back with a false negative with that many tests done?

HYPOTHETICALLY: Yes, it's possible that all 630 tests could come back with a false negative. It's enormously improbably, but the potential does exist.

Look at it this way. The odds of getting "heads" when you flip a quarter are 50/50. Most people think that means every other flip will yield "heads".

However, if you flip that coin 1,000 times, you could get "heads" the first 500 times, and tails the next 500. Would it ever happen that way? Probably not, but it could.

Originally Posted by LD50_Junkie

Her collection should completely locked-down. And anyone with boids should avoid contact with her collection at all possible. This may be a prion disease, and if so, no amount of lysol, IPA, soap or permethrin will decontaminate. Only time will tell regarding her pythons, and as far as I'm concerned, ever boa of hers must be considered positive, and indefinitely so.

I agree 100%.

I also agree

I read through about half of this nightmare, and I just wanted to say I feel really terrible for all parties involved. It's a horrible experience and I truly wish none of it had happened to any of you.

I wanted to point out two things, for those of you, ANY of you, dealing with Mite infestations, I have never myself had one but I stumbled across this website years ago and have since passed on the information to 10+ people who could not get rid of mites, and this worked within a day. I don't know if it's been mentioned before, but if you haven't tried it, please do. It seems like it is on the low-end of chemical toxins and might be the "lesser of evils" when dealing with chemicals to get rid of snake mites.

http://www.albertareptilesociety.org/caresheets/nix.pdf

I also found this link, but don't know anything much about it, but it seems like another natural way to combat snake mites:

http://www.biconet.com/biocontrol/hypoaspis.html

Secondly, if we have all learned anything from this mess it's that we still have SO MUCH to learn about IBD. It is an extremely scary, horrible thing, and more research is desperately needed to understand it. I am a specialized laboratory tech trained in dealing with biopsies and cancer diagnostics, and the first thing I did when I moved to the Gainesville, FL, area was offer my help to Dr. Jacobsen for IBD research. He still knows how to get me if he needs me for any kind of histopathological diagnostic help, and I would happily give him any time he needed for this cause.

Even if it's $5, every little bit we can send to him for this cause will help. With more research, it won't be so hard to afford the testing, and maybe one day it won't be as devastating as it is now. My heart goes out to Ashley, Rachel, and everyone else, regardless of all the other drama and whose fault is whose, because this is such a horrible situation.

While this is a terrible disease, and those affected by it will be going through some hard times, I still have ZERO respect for a person who KNOWINGLY exposed countless collections to a very serious disease and has the audacity to lie about it. Ashley needs no sympathy. None.

She has also LIED to Dr. Jacobson about animals dying after the initial diagonsis of IBD.
Her goal is to start selling again in a year and she's skewing information and handing it to him because she thinks that will work in her favor.

She is a terrible person. I feel bad for her animals. She does not deserve them.

She has also LIED to Dr. Jacobson about animals dying after the initial diagonsis of IBD.
Her goal is to start selling again in a year and she's skewing information and handing it to him because she thinks that will work in her favor.

She is a terrible person. I feel bad for her animals. She does not deserve them.

Exactly. She has made a mockery out of the hobby. And she makes a mockery out of any forum which allows her to even post. I find it insulting to even read her name at this point.

The saddest part about all of this, is that Ashley is the not the first and will not be the last in a long line of dishonest people who own these animals for ALL the wrong reasons making our hobby look like a big joke.

If anything can be learned of this, it is that we MUST be more proactive, even if it can be construed as aggressive about exposing these people. The government is breathing down our necks, threatening to take away our livelihoods and strip us of what we love. We have people like Ashley spreading disease and dishonesty in our own community.

Where do we draw the line? I know I'm not going to let some other forum's TOS stop me from doing the unpopular thing and calling that person out. Especially a person as detrimental as this. We NEED to start policing ourselves, and sticking up for what's right instead of sweeping it under the rug and pretend it isn't happening. The "out of sight, out of mind" mentality is a huge part of what is killing us from the inside out.