What do you do when you get a rescue in?

[NormanSnake]

I'm getting my first 'rescue' bp tomorrow. Coming form a lady with a teenage son that won't take care of it. Anyways, what all do you guys do with a new rescue as far as sanitation and health check, etc? I'm planning on bleaching everything (except the snake) and rinsing well, then keep him on paper towels for at least a month or two until he's out of QT. Anything else specific I should do to help safeguard my other snakes?

[southwind]

Separate living quarters, in a different room, and separate cleaning tools as well as possibly using disposable rubber gloves depending on issues with that rescue

[NormanSnake]

I'm keeping them as far apart as possible. I don't have rooms in my apartment, so to say. it's a loft, so i only have the downstairs living room and the upstairs bedroom but no doors except the closet. My first snake is downstairs, then I have a corn in QT in the closet upstairs, and the new one is going to be housed upstairs but on the separate side of the bedroom. I haven't been using different cleaning supplies, but I wash everything with scalding hot soapy water in between cleaning the enclosures. I don't do them on the same day, so that I can clean the cleaning stuff. Anything I should look for? I'm gonna try and calmly but quickly look the snake over for mites, scale rot, burns, and other ailments before letting it settle into it's comfy, sanitized tank. I'm not sure what the situation with this snake is, and I don't know what's coming with the snake. If it comes with a heat pad, I'm going to possibly switch it over to a tub. I'm most scared about burns from an unregulated heat source. Thanks for the reply! I guess we'll see tomorrow what the prognosis is!

[Sita]

When I get a new rescue in, I plug their heat pad into a thermostat and leave them completely alone for 24 hours. Unless their cage is so nasty it's growing mold or something, I don't even clean the cage yet. They just went through the stress of moving/car ride/moving some more, and 24 hours more in a dirty cage is not going to make a difference. I have a quarantine room that they stay in for at least 3 months. The next day, I will put them in a tub to hang out in while I bleach out their cage and any accessories they came with. I proactively use mite spray for the first week, but if I don't see mites after that, I stop using it. Most of my rescues come with bad shed stuck on them, so lots of times they'll be soaking in the tub while I'm cleaning the cage. Once the cage is all set up with paper towels, I'll clean up the snake. I'll only work on them for about 10 minutes or so, then I'll put them up, to help lessen stress. I use a little bit of Dawn dish soap to actually clean them by putting some in my hands and rubbing to get sudsy, then let the snake just slither through once or twice, then rinse very thoroughly.

I take the first decent sample of poo to check it for parasites, and I check another one at 3 months. No handling except to change out paper towels if they mess for 1 week, then I offer food. Even though all of my rescues have come to me on live food, I've only ever offered F/T, and I've never had one refuse more than once. I don't handle them except to clean until they've eaten for me at least 3 times.

Always do things with the QT snake last. Since you've got two separated, I would work with your first BP, then the corn, then the new BP.