Does my snake have Nidovirus/Serpentovirus?

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    While signs of respiratory disease can be fairly obvious (mucus production, noises while breathing, etc.), a majority of serpentovirus- positive cases are subclinical and don’t present with symptoms of respiratory infection. The only way to tell if nidovirus is present in a colony is through molecular PCR diagnostic testing, which range in price proportionate to the quality of the result. Cheaper tests are very likely to miss even moderately divergent viral strains.

     Additional evidence for periodic viral shedding complicate determining true serpentovirus-negative snakes. For this reason, across studies in both the US and Europe, between 25% to 30% of adult pythons are positive. While prevalence appears much much lower for boas, colubirds, and other species (<5%), any sizable population of captive pythons almost certainly has one of these viruses. THIS PROBABLY MEANS YOU, EVEN IF YOU HAVE A COLONY THAT “NEVER GETS SICK”!
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     A qualified veterinary should be the appropriate resource in discussing treatment options for clinical snakes, as sometimes treatment of secondary bacterial infection via antibiotics and improved husbandry can improve animal health.