Some questions about quarantine

[shade-ilmaendu]

As has probably been established by my other posts here, I am incredibly paranoid when it comes to protecting my snake.

Two weeks ago when I pulled him out to feed he kinda jumped and seemed to regurgitate a bit, just a tiny splat of brown fluid. Still ate just fine and seemed normal afterwards however cue panic mode! Got him to a vet as soon as I could but I worried the quarantine wasn't enough. They sterilize the exam rooms in between each animal and this office rarely sees reptiles, but I wonder what other precautions I should take in the future (he was given a clean bill of health after physical exam and stool test)

I'm already considering not using the vet again as when I tried to ask some more general questions about protecting my boy from ibd he had to pull out a book and look for it.. >.>

Othereise, expos! I know I should bag up all my clothes and shower when I come home from one, but does that include my shoes? How safe am I walking from in the door to upstairs before changing/showering? (his tank is in the living room, he's my only snake still)

I've heard some people say they even keep their quarantined animals on a separate air supply so I'm not sure how cautious I need to be. I want other snakes in the future and God if I'm this scared now I don't wanna know how I'll be when there are other snakes in the mix. X.x

[dmt_jovi]

I get what you're saying, however if you do want to have more scaley friends in the house you should start to work on that anxiety or you'll have a heart attack or a mental breakdown I'm not saying to let your guard down, that would be a mistake, but to make the right decisions, follow the right procedures (always) and be confident about your choices.

Regarding visiting expos/petshops/breeders facilities, my advice is to clean yourself and everything you brought from there before getting in contact with the snakes, shoes included. Some people even have some shoes just for the snake room.

I'm already considering not using the vet again as when I tried to ask some more general questions about protecting my boy from ibd he had to pull out a book and look for it.. >.>

I wouldn't necessarily consider this a bad thing, you asked him about an issue he was not familiar with or hasn't dealed with it in a long time, so he did some research to help inform his opinion on the issue instead of just telling you to not worry about it or spreading some misinformation. If anything I think it shows some professionalism. Was this vet a specialized exotics/reptiles vet or a regular dog/cat vet?

[shade-ilmaendu]

Well sounds like I'll be designating a pair of expo shoes then. His cage is in the living room which I have to walk near by to go upstairs... Do you think that would be a risk? I could always come in through the basement, change and use the shower there..

And the vet is a specialist though I don't think he works exclusively with reptiles either. It's the same office I take my cats to, I was very surprised they had someone who could see reptiles there.

Thanks for the advice I'm finding it hard to be informed and calm at the same time. Try to keep reading up wanting to know everything I can about what to do and what could happen but the stories about ibd are so heartbreaking. I love my little buddy so much, I don't know what I'd do if anything happened to him.

[dmt_jovi]

Is his enclosure right by the living room door or on the opposite side of the room? If it's not right by the door I think you should be ok. However if you don't want to take any chances (and assuming from your initial post you don't seem to want that ), I would choose the basement option, that way the risk is minimal and you don't need to worry about it

If he was a specialized vet maybe he hasn't dealt with the IBD issue in some time therefore he went to the books, as (I assume) most of us here do, we resort to our sources of information, our knowledge and our experience when confronted with an issue.

That's the issue with information (or being overflowed with information), it can make you a little paranoid. That's why common sense and keeping calm are very important when you notice a sympton, because most of the time the most simple and logical answer is the right one. That's the reason when your arm starts to hurt you don't just assume "CANCER", you assume you pulled a muscle or twisted it the wrong way, and most (if not 99%) of the time you will be right. You just need to start to applying this logic and common sense to your slithery fellow, it takes some time to get used to it but you'll get there

And whenever you have some questions, feel free to post them, this forum is always a great place to get some answers

[shade-ilmaendu]

It is near the door, so looks like I'll be testing the basement shower tomorrow. :p I may end up moving him back into our computer room(it was a dining room but we eat at our desks like savages), we don't have central air and it tends to be cooler in there. I moved him to the living room in the winter to get him on an inside wall because I stupidly bought a glass tank that wasn't holding heat at all, but I should be getting my t8 any time now.

One other question, if you don't mind of course I really appreciate all the help you've given. For future reference, how does one deal with other reptile owners coming into your home and vise versa? Right no no one else I know owns any boids so I'm not too concerned, but should it follow the same procedure of just asking them to shower and wear a fresh set of clothes? Early into having Apollo I had one friend over who had a bp and figured since hed had her long past quarantine stages it was safe, but I'd like to keep a tighter reign on that in the future just to be safe.

I'm already itching for more scaly friends, it's bad. Had a chance to get a free brb but decided against it, don't think I'm ready for a bigger snek just yet. Might get leapord geckos if not anither ball. ^^;

[dmt_jovi]

I've read a great topic on here about how people deal with other people/herpers visiting their collection, I'll see if I can find it

My best advice is to create a thread regarding that visitors issue, it's a great question to ask the people here in the forum, and I bet most of them have different techniques to tackle that issue.

I don't get many visitors on my collection, but whenever I have someone around, these are my basic rules regarding people around my snakes:
- Only healthy snakes are allowed to interact with visitors.
- No touching the snakes if they ate the day before.
- If you are going to touch the snake, you will wash/disinfect your hands before and after touching it.
- The typical snake-around-the-neck-thing just happens if I know you well enough and I trust you to be clean enough to do that.

The rules apply to EVERYONE I don't care if you are the president or a family friend, those are the rules and following them is a must!

Thank you for the kind words, it's my pleasure to help someone to better enjoy this awesome hobby and our scaley buddies

[dmt_jovi]

I don't remember if these were the threads I was talking about, but they sure are a great starting point for you, many opinions from very different people, some of them with way more experience than myself.

Here you go:

- Question About Visitors In Your Breeding Facility...

- The quarantine process

Both of them (specially the second one) are great information since you are considering expanding your collection in the future.

Hope you enjoy these readings