Many zoos quarantine boas specifically as a result of the risk of IBD before introducing them into their permanent collections and breeding programs.
[3] In python species, the disease presents as a profound, highly severe neurological illness that is swiftly fatal.
In adult boa constrictors, the disease assumes a milder, more chronic or, sometimes, even asymptomatic form with a wide array of extremely variable manifestations that may or may not gradually progress to death.
Stomatitis, pneumonia, undifferentiated cutaneous sarcomas, lymphoproliferative disorders, and leukemia have all been observed in affected specimens.
[citation needed] Several snakes have been seen with proliferative pneumonia, while inclusions are commonly seen in the liver, kidney, and pancreas.
In a few snakes with signs of central nervous system disease, and with a severe encephalitis, no inclusions have been seen in any cells.
[citation needed] Permethrin is effective against mite infestations, but must be used with great caution and only in small quantities due to its toxicity to snakes.
[5] Alternative approaches include biological agents that are sprayed onto infested animals that desiccate the mites, rendering them unable to lay their eggs or consume blood beneath the scales of their host.
[citation needed] The incubation period for mite eggs is thought to be about 10–14 days, so the treatment should be repeated after 10 days to ensure that any eggs that hatch or larvae that develop into nymphs are eliminated from the host before reaching sexual maturity and becoming able to repeat their reproduction cycle.