Your experiences with incubation periods for a RI?

[Ulfric]

The quick question: If a snake has been exposed to another snake with RI, what is the incubation period for the infection? I can't find any info online and vet isn't sure! Am happy even just to know your own experiences.

The long story (for those who are bored haha):
I've really gotten into snakes in the past two years and am now have 5 bps! It's addictive! Everything has been going great until this past summer... I got a new bp from the breeder I've been buying from for the past two years. I brought my new girl home, and she was great. Very small for her size, but she seemed to be very shy (in her hide a lot) and a bit of a fussy eater so I figured that was why.

Fast forward a month or so, and on feeding day, I notice she's yawning a lot and something about her body language just LOOKS off. I contacted the breeder, and they told me their collection has had an outbreak of RI. One of her clutch mates was actually sick at the time I bought my new girl (they didn't know at the time and caught it a few days later) and they were kept next to each other on the shelf. Pretty choked because I feel they should have told me this as soon as they found out.

I got my girl to the vet right away and put her on antibiotics, and she was been moved to a separate room in the house. She has been great after her antibiotics- great appetite suddenly and super perky, which makes me think she might have been sick this entire time from when I got her. I am now leaving her apart from the others for 3 months to make sure she's okay.

But now the bad part... Unfortunately, I offered food she didn't take to two of my other snakes before I realized she was sick. And now one of these snakes has signs of RI. We've gone back to the vet, and she is now on antibiotics and in her own room. The third snake is fine, but is it just incubating in him still? Or is there a chance he's ok? I'm watching him like a hawk, but I wish I knew how long until it might pop up. The vet isn't sure and I can't find any info online.

Since this happened, I've learned about quarantine periods bringing in a new animal and will stick to it to the letter! And I won't be dealing with that breeder anymore... They were great to deal with the first year, but this is the second questionable thing that's happened and they've been super hard to get a hold of now.

[Bogertophis]

Wow, very unfortunate circumstances...and this is why I recommend that food is not re-offered to other snakes. It's not such a big risk if you've had all
of your snakes for a long time and all appear healthy, but with a new snake- never. Many people DO re-offer rejected feeders & I've seen it mentioned in
posts all the time, but that doesn't make it a good practice as you've found out the "hard way".

Of all people, your vet would have the best info as to how long before symptoms of an RI show up in exposed snakes, but I think it depends on several things:
for one thing, on the individual health of each snake (how well their own immune system functions to resist getting sick), and secondly, on the virulence of
the pathogens themselves. We're coming on flu season for humans & every year, some get sick, some get sicker than others, some get sick faster than others,
and some never do...there's just too many variables to predict this very well. I think it's much the same for snakes?

The bright spot in all this is that your snake has responded well to the first antibiotic chosen, so hopefully any others that go on "sick call" will likewise do well.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

and they told me their collection has had an outbreak of RI

That to me would be VERY alarming, I would have that animal tested for Nidovirus

[bcr229]

A refused feeder from a snake in QT should be tossed, never offered to a snake in your established collection.

A few years back I bought 2 ball pythons from the same source and put them in QT together. At day 42 and 43 each started showing RI symptoms, which is why my QT is a minimum of 90 days.

[Ulfric]

That to me would be VERY alarming, I would have that animal tested for Nidovirus

Thank you. I will mention it to the vet and ask about this.

I will say... I was alarmed by the breeder's set up and husbandry though, so I wouldn't be surprised if this 'outbreak' he's having is because of that. I touched on it a bit in the post, but it seems like the breeder has been slipping for the past year. The rooms his snakes are in seem dirty compared to how they were when we met, and I was surprised that he has started smoking around his snakes. He pulled out a different snake to show me when I went to get my new girl, and she had spilled her water and had old feces in her tub, and he seemed totally unconcerned. My friend who got me into reptiles has also had some questionable experiences with him this past year and doesn't want to work with him anymore. I feel like he's going through some personal issues, but I don't know him well enough to ask. I'm not going to be buying from him anymore, that's for sure.

[Bogertophis]

I feel sorry for his snakes...and you're right, no one should be smoking around their snakes. It's bad enough for humans, but even worse for snakes.

[Ulfric]

Wow, very unfortunate circumstances...and this is why I recommend that food is not re-offered to other snakes. It's not such a big risk if you've had all
of your snakes for a long time and all appear healthy, but with a new snake- never. Many people DO re-offer rejected feeders & I've seen it mentioned in
posts all the time, but that doesn't make it a good practice as you've found out the "hard way".

Thank you, for this and your other comments! I wish I had known this to begin with. I will be doing this going forward.
I've fallen so hard for reptile keeping because I like minding the husbandry and keeping them clean, so I had hoped this would never happen to me. I never imagined a breeder would sell a snake that could be sick, or in this case, not warn me when they knew there was a chance a snake I bought could get sick. I know it's buyer beware, but these are living things and I thought breeders would care more. Big wake up call.

[Ulfric]

A refused feeder from a snake in QT should be tossed, never offered to a snake in your established collection.

A few years back I bought 2 ball pythons from the same source and put them in QT together. At day 42 and 43 each started showing RI symptoms, which is why my QT is a minimum of 90 days.

Thanks. Definitely will be putting new snakes in quarantine when I get them and won't be offering food like I did. And good to know your timeline! The girl who has gone through meds and seems better will be in her own quarantine for 90 days, counting down from her last round of meds. I've got the second one with RI symptoms in her own quarantine in a different room, and will count down 90 days after she finished her meds. Fingers crossed these are the only two who end up needing quarantine.

[Bogertophis]

Thank you, for this and your other comments! I wish I had known this to begin with. I will be doing this going forward.
I've fallen so hard for reptile keeping because I like minding the husbandry and keeping them clean, so I had hoped this would never happen to me. I never imagined a breeder would sell a snake that could be sick, or in this case, not warn me when they knew there was a chance a snake I bought could get sick. I know it's buyer beware, but these are living things and I thought breeders would care more. Big wake up call.

In a "perfect world" all animal breeders would care & do their best by their animals...sadly we cannot count on that. But at least YOUR priorities are in the right place-
glad you have you with us, loving & keeping reptiles.