Contagiousness of RI and risk of spreading

[Neotetro]

I currently own two healthy happy ball pythons and someone has brought me a very sick, malnourished ball with RI and mites as well as some scale rot. I have what's necessary to treat the poor baby. Can the RI get to my healthy snakes if the sick snake is contained in the same room? Or should I keep the sick snake out of my home entirely? I have a quarantine tank for him so he'd be at least 5 feet away. Can anyone give me some advice here? Thanks

[Daybreaker]

Speaking of personal experience only:

A big female came to me with an RI, and I got her along with another. Housed them in their own tubs in the QT rack: the one was treated and cured of the RI and the other never came down with an RI.

I recently picked up two babies from an expo who both had RIs (came from the same vendor). Each were transported along with seven other pickups that day and also housed in their own tubs in a QT rack setup. None of the others came down with RIs.

I always recommend QT in at least a separate room than your established guys, but if that's not possible I would handle the sick one after you work with your healthy ones and clean and sanitize everything that would come in contact between them. I have a different set of everything for my QT guys vs my established guys (feeding tongs, hides, paper towels, etc). Wash hands, sanitize, and keep the sick one as far away from the healthy ones as possible and keep an eye on your healthy guys.

[satomi325]

I currently own two healthy happy ball pythons and someone has brought me a very sick, malnourished ball with RI and mites as well as some scale rot. I have what's necessary to treat the poor baby. Can the RI get to my healthy snakes if the sick snake is contained in the same room? Or should I keep the sick snake out of my home entirely? I have a quarantine tank for him so he'd be at least 5 feet away. Can anyone give me some advice here? Thanks

Yes. RI and mites are contagious. Quarantine should always be in a separate room at the very least. Especially with sick animals. Nymph stage of mites are airborne so be aware. You should always treat for mites for every new addition regardless.

Work with your snakes before you touch the sick one to prevent cross contamination.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

[Neotetro]

Ahh alright, I have the sick Ball in my closet in a tank on the floor, so there is a door between the two tanks. And I have a ton of hand sanitizer and cleaning products, and seperate tools for each set like you've described. I guess I'm just a bit nervous as a new BP owner.

Today I helpd work the excess shed off of the sick juvenile, and it looks like it cleared his nose of a TON of dead skin. All the burns/discolorations have been shed off but now I'm concerned because the poor guy won't move. He barely corrects himself if I set him down oddly. Do you think the whole adventure of moving and helping him shed has tired him out? Is there anything else I can do for him?