Quarantine or not?

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showthread.php?p=867421

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Thanks for the link!

Who is to tell you whether or not you should quarantine? It is ultimately going to be your decision. If you don't want to do it, then don't. The quarantine police won't come knocking on your door. Just know that you still put your established collection at risk. If you are willing to take that risk, that is completely at your discretion.

I will admit I don't have the best quarantine procedure, mainly because I don't have the space to do so. I will also admit that there are a few specific animals I did not quarantine. Should I have? yeah probably. Are my snakes all dead? Nope. I personally quarantine for mites, RIs, parasites.. anything that shows up in under 3 months. Scary diseases and viruses that wipe out entire collections are, in my opinion, extremely difficult to quarantine. With my current procedures, I would not be able to stop something like that.

If I got something through the mail, I would quarantine it. Plain and simple.

If you are asking, it means you are unsure. We can only give you our opinions, it is up to you to follow through if you so choose.

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Originally Posted by ewaldrep

It did come across as somewhat snarky but of course, tone is hard to discern via text alone. I am trying to take a page from Skip's feedback that I have seen on the forum. It would appear that a lot of feedback comes from dogmatic regurgitation of advice and not always with evidence to support it. My thoughts were that if quarantine is mostly due to fear of IBD, and IBD is so rare, then excessive preventive measures are not indicated. That is why I framed the question the way that I did, I am relatively certain, after having our snakes for several months now that they do not have IBD. Or at least, I wouldn't be able to tell if my boa is a carrier anyway. If there is not an outbreak at the facility, then it would seem almost magical for the IBD appear. If there are other good reasons for qt other than IBD, such as mites or other infections, then that would have been additional information that would inform my thought processes regarding why it is good idea. I obviously understand that it is a good practice, but to accept that without critical thought, would be the "no brainer" imo.

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Where the....................:confusd: do you think just IBD is a problem?
Mites?
Parasites?
RI???

I'm with Kaorte on this one. I don't have the best QT practices. I have a QT rack, but it's in my room. I have 2 pairs of tongs, and I don't wash water bowls together. When I take pictures, I'll clean the surface as best as I can to insure a clean environment, but that's as far as I can go. I don't keep them in separate rooms because I only have one room (for now). I don't change clothes when handling QT snakes. I've been dying to take group pictures of my enchi stuff while they're still young and cooperative, but I'm waiting a few weeks to ensure they're eating, and they have consistent healthy sheds. I don't have a set time.. Just when I feel comfortable (at least a month).

The things you can't see right away (RI, mites, parasites) are the things that scare me the most. I recently saw a video where the guy was pissed that he got a snake in the male that ended up having mites. He went through the tubs in his rack, and one by one, you can see each snake soaking in their water bowls... I can't imagine how that must feel :(.. The first mistake was placing that snake in the same rack as his other snakes...

But yeah, it's upto you man. I know tons of people don't QT. In fact, I saw a picture of a snake I sold to someone being paired with another snake, just 2 weeks after the snake was sold lol. I don't care because I know the snake was a monster feeder and was perfectly healthy, but it was that guy's choice whether to QT or not. I bet he fed the snake a few times to see him eat, then decided to go ahead and pair.

I unfortunately quarantine in the same room. Really don't have a choice I own a house but have young children and they have friends over...so the snakes are kept in our bedroom where the door can be locked and not much traffic and the girls know no one but our family can go in there.

My main concerns are mites, ri and parasites.

I learned a really good lesson this past week well over the past month. If my newest did have ri would my other guys in the same room be safe? Maybe not. If he did have mites from what I read those little buggers can crawl and nice ways to find a meal. Would my guys in the same room be safe? Most likely not.
Thankfully it looks like no mites and probably no ri but I actually had trouble sleeping some nights. When I saw bubbles the other night I swear I felt sick. It's not a money thing it's the fact they are our pets. Money is replaceable sure I could buy another snake but will they hang out with my daughter watching tv? Like our baby bee and Linus do?

I now have a can of PAM on hand, F10 as our cleaner, but I think for our next one I'm going to try figure out a different room to quarantine in and only deal with people I know and trust for more peace of mind on my end.

In terms of RIs being passed to snake to snake when being in close quarters I can say this has NOT been the case with me and my snakes. I received a big female over a year ago that came to me with an RI, and no others in that QT space got an RI from her (she cleared up and is in with the established collection now). I recently got two snakes from an expo (same vendor) who came down with mild RIs and no others in the QT have an RI now and I doubt they'll come down with one: we've been checking for signs in between feedings. Never dealt with mites, all new additions have their tubs pretreated with PAM before they even arrive.

I QT mainly for general sicknesses; IBD isn't as big as a concern to me as it's not as common as other illnesses. I QT in a separate room from the established guys.

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Originally Posted by PitOnTheProwl

Where the....................:confusd: do you think just IBD is a problem?
Mites?
Parasites?
RI???

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Thanks, but I didn't say that just IBD is a problem. I gained a lot of new information from the link provided so I am now more informed. Mites, parasites, and RIs can be treated I think of it as more of a pain than anything. I do not, and would not, knowingly expose anything to potential risks if it can be helped. As I stated originally, I plan on qt but I just wanted to be able to make informed decisions about my husbandry. My plan for qt is more along the line of Kaorte and Daybreaker, as well as many others, of doing the best I can with what I have available. I also prefer to examine things critically and just doing what I'm told is not that attractive, never has been.

Now as I am not the one starting "it", I have never seen an RI passed to another snake in the same rack or room. Would I recommend anyone blow off QT, NO. Do I treat mine as well as other snakes that have an RI BHB style? Yes ;)

My biggest worry has always been mites, I picked them up at a show and brought them home to my snakes. I never thought of myself being a carrier but guess what? hat was the worst month of my reptile life trying to get them little black free loaders out of my house. I have seen how they can stress an snake.
We are lucky, I have a 3 bedroom and only one kid so the snakes got their room and our bedroom is the QT area.

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Originally Posted by PitOnTheProwl

My biggest worry has always been mites, I picked them up at a show and brought them home to my snakes. I never thought of myself being a carrier but guess what? hat was the worst month of my reptile life trying to get them little black free loaders out of my house.

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You said it buddy, those things are the worst! Killing those things off is exhausting.