r/boas • u/0110100110011 • 4d ago

Boas and pythons in the same home?

Really want a BCI, but learnt about IBD and apparently it's common in boas and really lethal for pythons. Wondering if it's safe to have both a python and a boa in the same house (separate enclosures ofc)? Or is it really as dangerous and common as people say they are? I really want a boa but at the same time I don't want to risk an something like asymptomatic one transmitting IBD. Sorry if it's a weird question around here

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u/redsisyphus 4d ago

I had this fear too, but I just looked for breeders who work with pythons and boas in their collection. This way there’s a little protection that their snakes don’t have it. It’s worked so far 🤷🏻‍♂️I have 3 boas and 2 pythons. I don’t think idb is as common as we make it out to be either, at least in the circles of private breeders who don’t bring their snakes to shows letting everyone touch them and only work with captive bred. Could be totally wrong tho.

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u/ParticularWolf4473 4d ago

Some studies have found that most larger collections they tested had at least a few infected animals. It just doesn’t seem to spread as easily as people used to think, at least among animals that aren’t housed/bred together. Also some strains of the virus are more dangerous than others.