Attention Ron Billingsley Customers!

Before I even begin I would like to say if this is in the wrong place I apologize and will gladly move it.

On March 4, 2007 I purchased a WC female ball python from Ron Billingsley at a reptile show in Wheaton, Illinois. When I bought her I asked all the questions I could think of; I found out she was imported about one and a half months before being sold to me. He said she was treated for external parasites but not for internal ones. I weighed the factors and decided that I'd just take her to the vet to get examined. I took her home on Sunday (March 4) and made an vet appointment on March 5. I could not get into the vet until March 12, so at 2 PM on March 12 she was at the vet being examined.

The vet removed many external parasites and treated her for internal ones as well. The mites that were removed resembled ticks and the vet used the word interchangeably. The vet hadn't seen anything that resembled them and knowing the snake was imported she decided to send the ticks to the pathology department for identification.

I have the vet report and as much paperwork as I can right now. The following gets a little fuzzy for me as I'm not being told much information. I don't know if they could identify the tick/mite or not, or if it is carrying an unidentifyable disease. All I know is that the National Department of Agriculture has put a quarantine on my entire house because of these mites. They told me that it is because of an epidemical disease having to do with the snake.

I have contacted Ron today (I only found out about the quarantine today) and I let him know I was making this thread. I am not asking for any form of reimbursement from him. I am not asking for a replacement, and I do not want to hurt his business. But I will say what I am asking for:

I am asking that everyone who has done business with him, ESPECIALLY if you were at the show on March 4 to please bring your snake to a vet. It is very important for the government to know how many infected snakes there are and where they are located so they can stop this before it becomes a problem.

If he had my snake for over a month there is a very good chance that it may have infected other snakes. I cannot say how he houses his snakes and whether or not there may be a problem, but I definitely urge you to take a step and make sure your animal has a clean bill of health.

The government agents will be at my house tomorrow to start their investigation, so I should have more information.

Once again, this is not a thread to bash Ron at all; I am merely using this as a way to inform his other customers and if this is not the place to do it then I will gladly move it.

Thank you,
Jenna

WOW, that is terrifying!! They haven't been able to tell you what it actually is that they are trying to contain??

Thanks so much for sharing this important information. I know Ron is a good guy, perhaps he may have/get some information to share as well.....and I hope for your sake (and Ron's) they get some answers on this soon!! I know Ron sold a lot of those WC girls, I hope this is an isolated incident. Please keep us all updated.

Govmt B.S.

So the mites has caused that your house is under quarantine by government agents ?
Are we speaking about mites from outta space or something ?
This thread is a joke.

So I assume that your vet found ticks that carry the heart water disease. It has been found on African tortoises and is the reason many species have been banned from import to the USA as the disease is by expert accounts a huge threat to beef cattle in this country. If that is the case your situation may be a very large problem for many in the business all over the country.

Regardless, if Ron or anyone else wants to sell imported animals that is fine as long as it is legal but man how can you be so lazy as to not clean them up before you sell them? It is so simple to just spray tubs with provent a mite and unpack the animals right into them to ensure you have nothing like this happen.

There has been talk about the ending of ball python imports from Africa due to the ticks by the US government for years now. If they confirm any disease that is a threat to an industry as valuable as the beef cattle, they will kill all ball pythons from coming in from Afica for good.

How long have we been importing reptiles without any epidemic outbreaks? Clean up your animals before selling regardless. I never stopped eating beef & aliens are ok in my book.....

If the Feds follow the same regulatory clamp-down on ball pythons as sulcata tortoises then imports will be banned completely. No captive bred either from Europe. No exports from the USA also, I believe. You will have to get a health certificate from a veterinarian for each ball python that you wish to ship out of your state.

If the Feds do the same as for pouched rats or prairie dogs, then I think that you cannot sell ball pythons any longer. Ball python game over.

Bruce, since the ticks and the disease come out of Africa, it would not affect the animals bred here from being sold here or anywhere else in the world. It would end African imports. Animals being shipping in or out of the country that are captive bred are already required to be inspected and certified by a veteranarian and be accompanied by a health certificate now so that likely will not change.

And the monkey pox thought process wouldn't apply either as we are not talking about something that is a feared human pathogen.

Ron, the fact that you do not know what is and has happened over the past couple decades does not mean that nothing has happened. Just in this thread we mentioned the train wreck of African tortoise imports that threatened the beef industry here and the pouched rats that carried a disease that had some risk to humans. There is much history in areas like this on problems like this when you bring foreign species to another part of the world. You just don't know about it. When you have an import/export license and/or rely on it to make your living you are very up to date on all the near misses that have happened in this business.

Originally Posted by droogievesch

The following gets a little fuzzy for me as I'm not being told much information. I don't know if they could identify the tick/mite or not, or if it is carrying an unidentifyable disease. All I know is that the National Department of Agriculture has put a quarantine on my entire house because of these mites. They told me that it is because of an epidemical disease having to do with the snake.

I think you need to insist on more information. What is the extent of the quarantine? How long is going to last? What paperwork do you have and how does it claim authority to quarantine your home? Has Ron contacted you yet and is his business being quarantined?

Jenna, this must be a lot to deal with; I hope all is well and that your snake and your collection come out of this with no problems.