OPMV (Paramyxoviral demyelinating encephalitis.)

[Reptile City]

Hi Herp Lovers
I have a mate who has bought a pair of Adult womas from a reputable breeder.
Both have died within two months!!!!!
He had them the full blood & everything tests done.
The results came back that he had, OPMV (Paramyxoviral demyelinating encephalitis.).
Lucky he only had two womas, so no spredding of OPMV.
But he wants to get new pythons so how does he stop it spreding to other pythons?
Also do you think he should ask the breeder for a refund?
The vet told him the pythons could have contacted OPMV up to 10 months ago!
The pythons also had no contact with any other pythons or tanks, straight from the seller.
His tanks are also brand new built for the womas as these were his first Reptiles ever.

Please help with answers & Ideas.
Thanks,
Jason Lapins

 

[Lucas]

Ask for refund

 

[Snow1369]

Yeep Yeep Definatley ask for a refund(imo)

 

[bikiescum2003]

poor bugger,
i would be at very least letting the breeder know ASAP because they might not know they have it and could be selling to other people. and then go from there. if these poeple have all the paper work from the vets then they should be asking for a refund

 

[I.Like.Stuff]

Poor Guy. That would be terrible for a first time snake owner. Glad it hasn't put him off

 

[paul4]

I reckon if this is a true case of OPMV we should all get to know who this guy is who sold the pythons...
Nobody wants to have dealings with this virus but on the other hand i don't believe all vets know exactly what this virus is and in some cases it is wrongly diagnosed so it's a hard one. Was the keeper aware of the temperature requirements and husbandry for this species?
I myself have sold perfectly healthy animals to people who have told me that they have died only 8mths later etc and when i have checked the set up of the keeper it was inadequatly heated with no hiding places etc and they wonder why the animal was sick or died.
I have also had a close friend who had an animal diagnosed with OPMV that later died and the vet informed him that he should expect a heap more deaths to come over the next twelve months as this is believed to be the max incubation period and nothing ever got sick and to this day, 4 years later everything is going great. Also i must ad that he did not have any new arrivals within the 3 years leading up to the death of the animal so like i said earlier, sometimes incorrectly diagnosis could come into it and husbandry could be an issue.
Just thought i would throw that long boring story in for all those interested.

 

[Reptile City]

Thanks Guys/Girls.
I know the breeder & will ring him/her ASAP after seeing the vet report.
It will be tommorow as the guy is dropping me off a copy Saturday morning.
I think I will meet him out side as I dont want him comming near my reptiles!
Scary stuff!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Jason

 

[NoOne]

I would be definately asking for a refund showing proof of the diagnosis, the guy possibly doesn't know it is in his collection yet and letting him know asap would be wise.

I'd also be ditching the enclosures if it were me, I wouldn't risk using them again.

 

[Reptile City]

Hi Paul4
Temps & set up was perfect!
I told the keeper to get a full test done as why they died like they did was a mystery.
Jason

 

[NoOne]

It doesn't take a genius to keep a woma happy. I also think if someone was paying the money for an adult pair of womas that they would take the time to set them up properly.

 

[ad]

How scary is that?
I would definitely ask for and expect a refund.
JandC - I dont think you should publicly name this guy, if he has a problem he doesnt know about, he should be given the opportunity to fix it.
If he continues to advertise animals for sale without declaring it - I would broadcast his name on every forum going.
Ad,

 

[nvenm8]

I would hit him up for the vet bill as well. As for name and shame, well that does nobody any good really?
We all have mishaps and make mistakes on our herping adventure. Why destroy a blokes?Ladies? herping future. Kindly inform them that there is a potential threat and work with them to correct the problem. But if they are obstinate then by all means shout long and hard we will listen

 

[Lucas]

No one needs the shame of having their reputation destroyed, but ppl should know. How many others may have bought snakes from him and have this underlying problem that they don't know about yet. Its better to know now than fing out about it one morning when they go into their snake room and see the tragic outcome of OPMV. I don't see it as trying to shame this bloke, only as looking out for other herpers. This bloke may have had his collection infected by someone else too. Who knows how far back this goes.

 

[peterescue]

Interestingly I have just had OPMV decimate part of my collection.

 

[OuZo]

Wow Peter that's awful for you :cry:. And to your friend too Jason . I agree though that this person should be made aware of the problem before you name them publicly because as others have said they may not know they have it in their collection. I'd also be making him aware that no animals should leave (or technically enter) his collection for 10-12 months and if you see him advertising elsewhere then I'd consider taking the next step then to prevent further spread of the disease.

Peter did you happen to buy any womas recently? :?

 

[krusty]

poor bloke yes tell the breeder what happend and see what he thinks.

 

[Kris]

You need to inform the breeder of this. It's possible that he may not even know yet that he has it. If he's selling animals to other people he then needs to contact them and tell them what has happened. I'm assuming your friend has kept the records from the vet which state that it was definitely OPMV?

I'd be hesitant to name him just yet, Give whoever it is the chance to do the right thing first. Just keep VERY close tabs on the situation, it'd be handy if your mate knew who else he'd sold animals to (if anyone).

 

[Kersten]

Ditto to what Kris said.

Sorry to hear about your experience with it Peter

 

[soulweaver]

like kris said.

Also if it is O.P.M.V and it can be prooved you will find most ppl will go out of the way to help your friend, as it is something that ppl don't want getting out.

 

[Tristis]

people with O.M.P.V and I.B.D should be named so we no who has it and can try and pervent it going in to other collections. eg. fred has OMPV in his collection and sell 5 snakes to 5 difrent people thats 5 collection now flooded with OMPV, those people sell snakes to others not knowing that the animals they sell might have OMPV. if they did have it then there is another hand full of collections with it and so on and so on. no one is going to pay good money for a snake that has OMPV or IBD. the breeder who sold these womas did he have them in quarantine? i dout it ,then his collection will have it. how many snakes has the breeder sold in the last 6 months before the womas died? all those snake could have it as well. its unfair on us not to know who has it, i dont want to buy a pair of green tree pythons only to have them die in 6 month becuase it was unfair to name people with diseased collection