New, incoming ball pythons through the mail...

[withonor]

Assume I know nothing about sickness or quarantine. I don't know much nor do I know any best practices. I assume that I know very little. I know temperatures and humidity.

Here is what I imagine. I am getting three snakes from two different shippers. I expect that they will be in snake bags inside a box lined with newspaper or something equivalent with a heat pack or two.

I plan on pulling each snake out and looking at it closely. Looking for any abnormalities, stuck shed, mites, basically anything that I know of and know how to look for in a new snake. Please detail anything you think I might miss and should look for. I will not take if personal if think think I am the most inept human being capable of caring for a spec of dirt and nothing more.

Once I inspect them, should I put them back in the bag and back in the box for a period of time, which would be what? Or should I put them in the tubs I have prepared. 28qt sterilite tubs that are 6" tall. I have two coming that were last measured at ~160 grams and one at ~240 grams. I will be building a rack that houses 41qt tubs, 2x 28qt tubs and 3+ smaller tubs. If their weights call for a 15qt tub I can make a shelf for that size. The rack will have 8 shelves and definately a combination of 41qt and 28qt tubs. If I need 15qt and 6qt tubs to make adequate accomidations I can do that.

Assume I am a total idiot who has kept plates as pets and they did just fine. I welcome all feedback, critism and general information.



Thanks,
David

[Fallguy]

You said "mail". Please tell us that does not mean USPS....

[Crawdad]

I will let everyone else speak to the inspection procedure, but definitely quarantine. This means:

1) Put the snake in separate tubs, separate from any other snakes you own. As in, in a different room, maybe in a different part of the house. It may be a good idea to separate each NEW snake from one another as well.

2) Wash ANYTHING that goes from that room to the other -- especially your hands if you have handled either snake.

3) Check the cage every day for feces, and take the first feces dropped for each snake to the vet to have them look for parasites and other maladies (you should have the snake itself checked at some point as well, might as well do it now).

4) When the vet gives the all-clear, I would give the snakes another couple of weeks to bear out any illness and ensure they are settled down before you move their tubs again.

Inclusion Body Disease (IBD) is primarily what the quarantine procedure is trying to avoid (as well as less dangerous mites and parasites etc.). IBD is a very infectious retrovirus that causes mouth rot, chronic regurgitation, disorientation, as well as neurological symptoms of paralysis, "star gazing", and the inability to strike. You can read more if you like, but that's the gist. IBD is ALWAYS fatal and there is NO cure for it right now. Keep in mind that IBD takes MONTHS to manifest, so your quarantine period should realistically be 6 months or more.

[withonor]

I used mail as a generic term for a delivery service. They are UPS overnight and I am sitting here waiting for the driver as I type this.

I will let everyone else speak to the inspection procedure, but definitely quarantine. This means:

1) Put the snake in separate tubs, separate from any other snakes you own. As in, in a different room, maybe in a different part of the house. It may be a good idea to separate each NEW snake from one another as well.

2) Wash ANYTHING that goes from that room to the other -- especially your hands if you have handled either snake.

3) Check the cage every day for feces, and take the first feces dropped for each snake to the vet to have them look for parasites and other maladies (you should have the snake itself checked at some point as well, might as well do it now).

4) When the vet gives the all-clear, I would give the snakes another couple of weeks to bear out any illness and ensure they are settled down before you move their tubs again.

Inclusion Body Disease (IBD) is primarily what the quarantine procedure is trying to avoid (as well as less dangerous mites and parasites etc.). IBD is a very infectious retrovirus that causes mouth rot, chronic regurgitation, disorientation, as well as neurological symptoms of paralysis, "star gazing", and the inability to strike. You can read more if you like, but that's the gist. IBD is ALWAYS fatal and there is NO cure for it right now. Keep in mind that IBD takes MONTHS to manifest, so your quarantine period should realistically be 6 months or more.

Thanks for the information and definately about IBD and why exactly 6 months is always said but never explained.

[Shadera]

For animals that small, I'd go with the 15 quart tubs. They might feel a bit intimidated by all that extra space in a 28. The other advice you've gotten is solid.

[Ouroboros]

Just a rookie mistake that is good to remember - wash your everytime when you handle a new snake. If the animal is sick then you don't want to spread to the others.

And you could also look for dents in the eye/s because it is normally a sign on there's something not right here.

[withonor]

For animals that small, I'd go with the 15 quart tubs. They might feel a bit intimidated by all that extra space in a 28. The other advice you've gotten is solid.

Two of them turned out to be much smaller than I was told and the third who was from a different person was bigger by quite a bit. One was 105 grams, 120 grams for the second (40-50 grams smaller) and the third was 302 grams (60 grams bigger). Not a problem but I didn't get small enough food, will have to pick up some pinkies this weekend.

The 15qt tubs I saw weren't the right shape but the Walmart near my house is 24 hours so they're always out of stuff. I got 12qt tubs that looked to be perfect size except for the one that ended up being bigger but I'll leave her in there for now.

Just a rookie mistake that is good to remember - wash your everytime when you handle a new snake. If the animal is sick then you don't want to spread to the others.

And you could also look for dents in the eye/s because it is normally a sign on there's something not right here.

Thanks for the tip on the dents. I washed my hands about 30 times today and I washed anything I touched while handling them.

[LaFilleClochette]

One was 105 grams, 120 grams for the second (40-50 grams smaller) and the third was 302 grams (60 grams bigger). Not a problem but I didn't get small enough food, will have to pick up some pinkies this weekend.

at that size, pinkies are too small- don't forget to feed no larger then the largest part of the snake- but i just got a couple of snakes that are about the same weight as your first two guys (between 100-130g) and am feeding them adult mice (tho at first i did think that all they would be able to get down was hoppers... )

[cinderbird]

And you could also look for dents in the eye/s because it is normally a sign on there's something not right here.

actually, dents in the eye caps are just from low humidity and dehydration or a combination of the two and will fix themselves when the animal gets re-hydrated.

now, CRACKS in the eye caps are an entirely different story. that could be a multitude of things that are not as easy to fix as the dents. Someone could have tried to pull them off with tweezers (!) or needles (!) or something else. A layer or 3 of stuck eye caps won't harm the animal and they can be left until the next shed. Just make sure it has proper humidity throughout the shedding cycle and everything should come off just fine.

[withonor]

at that size, pinkies are too small- don't forget to feed no larger then the largest part of the snake- but i just got a couple of snakes that are about the same weight as your first two guys (between 100-130g) and am feeding them adult mice (tho at first i did think that all they would be able to get down was hoppers... )

Thank you for your thoughts. I have not weighed the fuzzies I have. I reference rodentpro.com to see what weights are related to a size by title. The fuzzy they have pictured has a fuzzy head and pink body. These that I have are more fuzzy than that. They may be okay for the 120 gram, it's a close call but the 105 gram looks smaller in diameter definately than the fuzzies I have, kind of skinny.

I haven't fed with any mice yet so I have no real picture of what they are compared to stages of rats.

A pinky may be too small in general but I don't want the food to cause stress so I want to try something smaller to get feeding going. Mabye this is a stupid idead. It's not something I have practiced, just a general, averages thought.


Thanks