Quarantine

So this came up today and I wanted to see what people thought. We all know the importance of quarantine, but just how extreme is needed? Now I understand that there are some here with collections of over 100 animals that may exceed tens of thousands of dollars. I'm sure they may be a bit more stringent than most. For the average herp keeper though, what's your regimen? My personal system is: transport/storage in a provent-a-mite treated container for 30-60 mins., wipe with reptile reliefe, wipe with frontline, place in proven-a-mite treated enclosure on opposite side of room from other snakes for 1 month. I will also state that it is rare for me to bring in a python from a breeder I don't know, and I don't keep boas. This slightly lessens my fears of IBD.

Same room QT isn't enough as there are plenty of other deadly nasty bugs besides IBD, including the various PMV's, adenovirus, cryptosporidium, etc. and these can have fairly long incubation periods as well.

I send my snakes to live in isolation at a friend's house before they come under my roof. His wife only lets him have one snake at a time LOL.

As for the rest...

- The QT enclosure, paper, and hides are pre-treated with PAM (or equivalent permethrin-based product) the day before the snake arrives.

- I record unboxings.

- The snake gets wiped down with a white paper towel that I've sprayed with some Reptile Relief right after being removed from the shipping box. If it has mites it should be immediately obvious.

- QT lasts for 90 days minimum. If the snake gets sick or has mites the count doesn't start until it is healthy and mite-free.

- Animals in QT have their own equipment (feeding tongs, thermometers, spray bottles, etc).

- If you're doing same-building QT then work with the established collection first, then your QT animal(s), and then go shower.

- A leftover feeder from a QT snake should never go to snake in your main collection.

- Hand sanitizer, and lots of it.

I also run a combo HEPA air filter / UVC sanitizer in my snake rooms. A side benefit to this is that I'm finding that I don't get sick as often and have fewer sinus/allergy problems.

I too use a HEPA filter and my vacuum has a UV light that supposedly sanitizes the floor. As far as adeno's and crypto's go, they are passed by contact with infected feces. That can be avoided simply by following your order of operations of dealing with QT snakes last. PMV's would be the most likely to spread through a collection since they can be airborne. The HEPA filters would help slightly with that issue. Another part is that those viruses tend to be very temperature dependent, so proper husbandry is a strong deterrent. That's why many times early RI's can be fixed simply by jacking the temperatures up. Not trying to downplay your QT by any means, it's just that some of have very small collections that are regulated to our own little study room area.

I don't have a large collection, but it was all pythons. When I adopted a big Dumeril's, I quarantined at a friend's house who used to keep snakes but didn't have any. She stayed there 3 months, then I kept her in a separate room for another 3 months. I'm still paranoid and work with the Dums last. I have quarantined at work when I received ball pythons that were sick and subsequently died, but for healthy animals coming in, I quarantine in a separate room for at least 3 months, work with them the day after my regular collection, and wear gloves. I keep the area around the quarantine rack sprinkled with DE (I keep/breed tarantulas and can't use PAM) and use reptile relief if needed. I cannot afford to introduce mites into my collection. Treating them would be impossible unless I moved all my tarantulas. That would be a major undertaking.

I would not say the viruses are temp dependent at all. Did you mean bacteria? PMV can wipe out healthy collections very quickly.

If you only have a few snakes and are willing to risk them, then that's a choice you make and understand. For myself, I would rather err on the side of being too cautious than not enough, and paying for it later.

Viruses can be temperature dependent as well. Ophidian paramyxovirus incubation rates drop off past 32C(89.6F). The higher you go, the lower the incubation rate with the virus being destroyed past about 38C(100.4F). Though that temperature would be enough to kill most snakes at that point. Bacterial RI's are going to be the biggest threat it seems. Again, husbandry is key to prevention here. I also keep pyrethrin dust around the corners of my room, and the racks and bins stay sprayed with PAM to prevent mite movement.

I'm just wondering what level of isolation is really going to be necessary to prevent the bacteria from coming in contact with the other animals. Like I said, I don't exactly have the option of using a completely different area. Thus my ability to QT is somewhat limited. That is also a partial reason behind my usual standard of buying from someone I am well acquainted with.

I should not post this, but it is the truth.

It depends on who I get the shipment from. A proven reliable breeder, then I use the back room as my QT for 6 months. I feed and clean the QT last. I use different tongs for each animal. And hand sanitizer with each change.

If I get from a unknown, flipper, or petstore, I use the shed outside for QT. 1 year minimum. (honestly, I just stopped going to petstores/flippers/unknowns)

My very first snake had IBD (15+ years ago). She was bought from a petstore and show signs right away. Took her to a vet, we did the treatments, force feeding, and all that. After fighting the good fight, she passed away (only had her for 3 weeks, but it broke my heart). I was completely turned off snakes for years after that.

Last year, I got back into snakes. But I swear, I am soo paranoid, I have the vet on speed dial.