Question about Quarantine

[Peter Williams]

I'm curious as to how some of you QT multiple ball pythons. I understand that if you bought, lets say 3 bps from the same person, you will set them up in a rack in a different room, separate from your collection for a period of time, and then introduce them into your collection.

My question is how exactly you quarantine balls you KNOW have something wrong with them. Lets say a ball in your collection develops an RI, and another one has mites. How exactly are you going to quarantine them, you don't want either of them near your collection, but you also don't want either of them near each other. How do you quarantine them from each other? Do you set them up in separate rooms from each other as well? Doesn't this mean your going to require multiple quarantine racks, and multiple thermostats? Sure thats ok with 2 bps, but what about on a larger scale, and what about people living in apartments and such with a limited number of rooms?

I suppose you could make the arguement that if you have an ill snake you should not bring anything in under and circumstances, and you would not have 2 snakes with 2 separate conditions if you followed proper quarantine in the first place.

I'm just curious what you guys have to say on the subject, or if there is some easy solution that I just haven't thought of.

FYI - None of these conditions apply to me, I'm just curious if anyones ever heard of a situation like this, or experienced it first hand.

[Argentra]

Well, I live in a small apartment AND I have multiple snakes in QT right now...so I think I can give some answers. And yes, I even have a snake that came in with mites, so that area is covered here as well.

I currently have 5 snakes in QT: 1 corn, the MBK, and 3 BPs. The two young BPs came in about a week apart from reliable sources, so they are both in the spare room/office. The corn and MBK, which I QT for only 1 month instead of 3, are in the living room in a nice cozy corner. The third BP, an adult male who came in with mites, is on the other side of the living room as far from the office, and especially the bedroom(snake room) as possible.

Yes, this means I have tubs and thermostats all over the place... but I also have very healthy snakes. The mites were a light case and gone now, and everyone eats well (when they aren't in shed).

The key is to get them as far from others as you can. Oh, and each snake I mentioned is in their own enclosure. The two office BPs are in 10g tanks and the others are in individual tubs. And if you were wondering, I have about 5 spare thermostats for just such an occasion. Best to be prepared.