Seamus:
Well no offense, but I am too sleepy to figure out what you are trying to say below, but if you are saying that IBD can only be tested with a dead animal, then I don't have any arguement with that if true.
I am not sure where or when or how but I don't recall getting confused with IBD or MBD or FBI or CIA? I don't recall anyone mentioning MBD but I never read much of anyone's comments anyway so if I missed it, then take away a cookie and call me another name and blame my ignorance on other folks email on the nasty folks who call names so I don't read much of some comments and such. Yea, inclusion bodies were discovered in the snake. I did not make the snake, I did not strangle the snake, the other snake strangled the snake so blame the other snake, not me as I told them both to behave when I bagged them. And I really did believe it or not as they were trying to eat my fingers.
And had this been a full blown outbreak of a so called IBD virus, then why has it not shown in the other snakes? If you believe it was a virus, then it must be in the other snakes right? How come none of the other boas I shipped in the bag and box have it? How come none of the dozens of boas I bought and shipped since don't have it? At the time, I only had 5 boas, the 2.2 costa ricans and 1 peach surinam I sent with the costa rican pairs and it took many weeks for me to find some other decent ones to purchase and sell. So if this disease hangs around, why hasn't the disease shown up in any of them if a highly transmitted disease? I only have colubrids at the time, a few lizards, and skinks, but no boas or pythons acting goofy or sick.
Hey, if IBD is tested on only dead snakes, then perhaps the breeder kills a snake and subjects it to testing? That would seem feasible if you are producing dozens/hundreds a year and its your bread and butter.
Dan
Even if the text was pulled from an email, it doesn't change the simple fact that conclusive IBD testing is something that can only be accomplished with an animal that is already deceased. It doesn't change the way that your ramblings about bone damage and strangulation indicate that you were unaware of what IBD was (and likely confused it with MBD when you generated your excuse). And it doesn't change the fact that the vet report does conclusively indicate that inclusion bodies were present in the necropsied snake.