Felicia, because 2 very knowledgable and experienced reptile vets told me it was OK to do so. Why would I have any logical reason to not believe them? As I posted on the BOI, Elliot is doing the lab work -- contracted by Dr. Gordon's clinic. When you have lab work done on your pets, do you talk to the lab or do you talk to your vet? I'm willing to bet you talk to your vet and probably never hear anything from the lab except for test results on paper. Which is what I was doing, I was talking to my vet and making decisions based on believing that he was going on what he was learning from Elliot and his own expertise and research. Again, why would I have any reason to disbelieve him?
I already stated what I am going to do. And I will say it -- Felicia, I don't have $35,000 to spend on ball pythons like you. That's great that you do, although I'm assuming you got it through insurance money because you had to go through a horrible personal loss, which I am truly sorry for. But as I stated on BP.net -- I will not kill otherwise healthy animals unless it comes back that I have absolutely no choice. If I have to, I will -- and I will never keep snakes again. I will surely lose my family if I even remotely think about spending money to start over from scratch. But how do you think I (or any reasonable animal lover) would feel if I killed them all -- then the results came back that this virus is indeed something else and has a very plausible cure or does not get carried asymptomatically, and that they would have all been just fine? I would be more devastated than I am now after losing animals not by my own doing. I can't do that.
Like I said above -- I am going to work with what I have privately for a few years. If it comes back that they have to be destroyed, then I will do that and keep the 2-3 that mean the most to me as pets. I will never work with snakes again. But if it comes back that they will all be just fine, then I will come back into the business and will at least have a lot built up that I can start with.