Question about 90 day quarantine

I was wondering about the origin of the 90 day quarantine. What diseases or parasites might take that long to show up? How was that particular amount of time decided upon, and is it standard regardless of where a new gecko comes from? I can certainly understand it in regards to a pet shop purchase or a gecko of unknown origin, but is it also required when an animal is purchased from a well-known breeder? I'm just curious to see if everyone here goes by the same standard regardless of the background or if there are circumstances when a shorter quarantine is ever used.

I have recieved many geckos from "well known breeders" who were infected with parasites among other problems. I would not trust any breeder enough to not "quarantine". I do not wait 90 days, more around 40-50 days for me. I also treat a lot of my geckos I receive from big scale breeders with panacur, albon, and metrondizaole just to rid them of any unwanted parasites. Hope this helps.

I know plenty or people who only do 30 days, but I personally quarantine for 90 days regardless of where the critter came from. My reptiles are very dear to me and I always go the extra mile to ensure that I do everything possible on my end to make sure they are healthy and well taken care of.

I am just anal about things like that. I wash water dishes every other day and sterilize weekly, change substrates and sterilize weekly for my leos and monthly for my balls, sterilize feeder tubs weekly, etc.... I admit some of the things I do may be a bit much but I would never stop feeling guilty if one of my critters died because of something I did or did not do well enough.

Joe,
Thank you for your reply.
How did you decide upon the 40 - 50 day time period? Do you have a source other than your vet for the meds or do you take each new animal in to the vet when your receive it?

Sue

Originally Posted by www.leogeckos.com

I have recieved many geckos from "well known breeders" who were infected with parasites among other problems. I would not trust any breeder enough to not "quarantine". I do not wait 90 days, more around 40-50 days for me. I also treat a lot of my geckos I receive from big scale breeders with panacur, albon, and metrondizaole just to rid them of any unwanted parasites. Hope this helps.

These steps sound like good advice. I wasn't actually questioning the need for the quarantine, I was just trying to figure out what types of illnesses take that long to show up, in other words, the original basis for that specific amount of tme.
Thank for your input! It sounds like your animals are kept better than some folks keep their kids!

Sue

Originally Posted by shrap

I know plenty or people who only do 30 days, but I personally quarantine for 90 days regardless of where the critter came from. My reptiles are very dear to me and I always go the extra mile to ensure that I do everything possible on my end to make sure they are healthy and well taken care of.

I am just anal about things like that. I wash water dishes every other day and sterilize weekly, change substrates and sterilize weekly for my leos and monthly for my balls, sterilize feeder tubs weekly, etc.... I admit some of the things I do may be a bit much but I would never stop feeling guilty if one of my critters died because of something I did or did not do well enough.

I asked my vet about this a few years ago and her answer was:

"I don't care if you bought your "reptile" from "God" all reptiles can carry a normal load of parasites that do not affect them in any way under normal conditions. Those loads can shift to unsafe just by being shipped. Shipping may stress one animal more than another. 2 reptiles from the same seller may react totally different to being shipped so 90 days is best, 30 - 45 day only if you have a vet check including fecal."

I follow those rules and with all of my leos I clean the poo area everyday and sterlize that corner daily.

With new arrivals I do the above but I spray the tubs with bleach once a week then run through the dishwasher. Water & food dishes are changed daily with clean ones until quarantine is over.

With my regulars I run the tub with a bleach prespray every other week. All food and water dishes are changed every other day.

Ok, now that makes sense, but it never crossed my mind before about the possibility that the stress of shipping could cause an imbalance that would let the parasites take hold. Interesting stuff! This forum is such a great resource of information. Thanks!

Most parasites (other than Cryptosporidium) will go through a complete life-cycle within 45 days. The only time many parasites can be seen through a fecal exam is when they are shedding (reproducing), so the best protocol IMO is to get a fecal exam done ASAP when you receive a gecko, then again 45 days later.

For newly acquired geckos, the stress of shipping and a moving into a new environment can cause otherwise normal parasite loads to grow at abnormal rates. A second fecal exam after the second 45 days (total of 90) is not a bad idea, and if the fecal is clean and the gecko shows no signs of illness then it would be safe to introduce it to the rest of your colony.

The only parasitic infection that does not always manifest intself within 90 days is crypto, and there is speculation that it can lie dormant for up to a year in a gecko's GI system before any signs of infection show up.