Quarantine

I tried searching the forum before asking, and didn't see anything on it.

How long do you guys quarantine new caimans before adding them to the existing enclosure?

I know there's no absolute, but wanted to get an idea of what others do.

I never worked with caimans, but can't see where they would be any different than any other reptiles.

Minimum I required was 90 days. Realistically it would be as long as I could possibly do so LONGER than 90 days. You can't be too careful when it comes to quarantine procedures. With every new animal you bring into your facility, you risk every animal you own if the worst case nightmare scenario takes place. And it doesn't matter WHO you get the animal from. They might have made a big mistake 2 weeks ago and your new animal from them is carrying a pathogen that even they don't know about yet.

The phrase "better safe than sorry" could have been tailor made for the case of doing quarantines.

Originally Posted by WebSlave

I never worked with caimans, but can't see where they would be any different than any other reptiles.

Minimum I required was 90 days. Realistically it would be as long as I could possibly do so LONGER than 90 days. You can't be too careful when it comes to quarantine procedures. With every new animal you bring into your facility, you risk every animal you own if the worst case nightmare scenario takes place. And it doesn't matter WHO you get the animal from. They might have made a big mistake 2 weeks ago and your new animal from them is carrying a pathogen that even they don't know about yet.

The phrase "better safe than sorry" could have been tailor made for the case of doing quarantines.

Okay, that's a good time-line to consider. I appreciate that.

I agree with Rich.

Mader's Reptile Medicine lists these pathogens that are relevant to crocodilians: Chlamydia, helminths (intestinal worms), Mycoplasma, Pox virus, and West Nile virus.

I don't know crocs at all, but my typical procedures with other taxa are:

-- look up relevant pathogens and get familiar with symptoms,
-- identify any risk factors that would make these pathogens more likely,
-- learn if antemortem asymptomatic testing is possible and if so get the animal tested (fecal/blood/PCR swab),
-- most importantly figure out what the longest possible asymptomatic case can be and quarantine for longer than that.

Originally Posted by Socratic Monologue

I agree with Rich.

Mader's Reptile Medicine lists these pathogens that are relevant to crocodilians: Chlamydia, helminths (intestinal worms), Mycoplasma, Pox virus, and West Nile virus.

I don't know crocs at all, but my typical procedures with other taxa are:

-- look up relevant pathogens and get familiar with symptoms,
-- identify any risk factors that would make these pathogens more likely,
-- learn if antemortem asymptomatic testing is possible and if so get the animal tested (fecal/blood/PCR swab),
-- most importantly figure out what the longest possible asymptomatic case can be and quarantine for longer than that.

I appreciate that information!