Quarantine question

[EHBP]

Good evening, I have a Highway Pied female on quarantine that is about 500g that I got about a month ago. She has eaten 3 out of 4 times. She has been in there for about 4 weeks. This morning I was checking her out and noticed some sticky saliva in her mouth when I opened it. She kind of yawned as well and I can see it. Didn’t hear any wheezing or popping, yet! But definitely some visual saliva. I have a couple snakes I’m supposed to be receiving soon. When I get back home in a week or so, if she hasn’t gotten better I will be taking her to an exotic vet by my house. As far as the new snakes, should I just have the breeder hold them until she has been diagnosed? I don’t want to make matters worse if I put the new snakes in quarantine with a snake that possibly has RI. Any info helps!

thanks

[dakski]

Two things.

1. If you think you BP has an RI. Make sure humidity is good to slightly elevated and you can up temps slightly to try to help the situation.

When you take him/her to the vet, make sure they do a tracheal wash and culture it so they know what bacteria (or potentially fungus - although usually bacteria) you are dealing with and can treat effectively. That assumes he/she does indeed seem to have an RI. It seems many vets who claim to know how to treat reptiles never do this and prescribe blindly. That can be dangerous, if not deadly, to the snake.

Additionally, if they are on the fence about an RI and symptoms seem to be better, or not worse, you can always draw blood and test to BP baseline regarding white blood cell count. If not elevated and symptoms seem okay, or getting better, than can often indicate something else or nothing is wrong. My BP was whistling for a few days and I took her in, but she seemed better. It appeared she had some stuck shed or some other type of slight blockage in her nose that had caused the noise. We did draw blood (1 1/2 hour drive to the good vet for me) to ensure that she was healthy and we weren't missing something. It came back fine and she hasn't whistled since.

I do know a thing about RI's however, because my Carpet Python, Yafe, came with one, probably due to being lost by fed ex. It became bad very quickly and the prognosis was questionable. He was 1 year old and 110G and is now 3 1/2 and 850G+. I learned a lot about RI's through that experience.

Additionally, what are temps, humidity, etc. now? I ask because if you want to ensure that other snakes don't get sick as well, make sure you know what temps and humidity is needed for your snakes.

This leads me to Quarantine.

2. My understanding of quarantine is that all animals quarantined, are, well, well quarantined.

Quarantine means that the animals are not near any other animals, paper substrate is used, unique utensils (like snake hooks, feeding tongs, etc.) are used, they are handled last, clothes are washed, hands are washed thoroughly, etc. No quarantined animal should be near - like in the same room as - any other quarantined animal(s). I imagine breeders have a different process that probably cannot involve a different room, and I'll let any breeders speak up, because of number of animals etc. However, the idea is to keep all new animals away from existing animals and ideally other new animals.

Any questions on your snakes health and/or quarantine, just ask.

Good luck and keep us posted.

[Bogertophis]

You would NOT want to put other new snakes near this one at all, until ALL have been quarantined for a sufficient length of time & proven healthy.

If the new ones are coming from the same source, they can be quarantined together, but not near this one nor near any others you may already have.

IF you cannot do that due to lack of space, I would hold off on any additional ones- quarantine is really your most effective option to keep your animals safe, & not sharing pathogens or parasites.

[EHBP]

Two things.

1. If you think you BP has an RI. Make sure humidity is good to slightly elevated and you can up temps slightly to try to help the situation.

When you take him/her to the vet, make sure they do a tracheal wash and culture it so they know what bacteria (or potentially fungus - although usually bacteria) you are dealing with and can treat effectively. That assumes he/she does indeed seem to have an RI. It seems many vets who claim to know how to treat reptiles never do this and prescribe blindly. That can be dangerous, if not deadly, to the snake.

Additionally, if they are on the fence about an RI and symptoms seem to be better, or not worse, you can always draw blood and test to BP baseline regarding white blood cell count. If not elevated and symptoms seem okay, or getting better, than can often indicate something else or nothing is wrong. My BP was whistling for a few days and I took her in, but she seemed better. It appeared she had some stuck shed or some other type of slight blockage in her nose that had caused the noise. We did draw blood (1 1/2 hour drive to the good vet for me) to ensure that she was healthy and we weren't missing something. It came back fine and she hasn't whistled since.

I do know a thing about RI's however, because my Carpet Python, Yafe, came with one, probably due to being lost by fed ex. It became bad very quickly and the prognosis was questionable. He was 1 year old and 110G and is now 3 1/2 and 850G+. I learned a lot about RI's through that experience.

Additionally, what are temps, humidity, etc. now? I ask because if you want to ensure that other snakes don't get sick as well, make sure you know what temps and humidity is needed for your snakes.

This leads me to Quarantine.

2. My understanding of quarantine is that all animals quarantined, are, well, well quarantined.

Quarantine means that the animals are not near any other animals, paper substrate is used, unique utensils (like snake hooks, feeding tongs, etc.) are used, they are handled last, clothes are washed, hands are washed thoroughly, etc. No quarantined animal should be near - like in the same room as - any other quarantined animal(s). I imagine breeders have a different process that probably cannot involve a different room, and I'll let any breeders speak up, because of number of animals etc. However, the idea is to keep all new animals away from existing animals and ideally other new animals.

Any questions on your snakes health and/or quarantine, just ask.

Good luck and keep us posted.

thank you for the help! I won’t be back home for about 4 days but my temps are being monitored while I’m away. I bumped up the humidity and heat. Humidity is at about 75 and heat is at 82 on cool side and 91 or 92 on warm side. If she is not better when I get home, she will be going to a vet for sure and will give you guys an update!

[EHBP]

thank you for the help! I won’t be back home for about 4 days but my temps are being monitored while I’m away. I bumped up the humidity and heat. Humidity is at about 75 and heat is at 82 on cool side and 91 or 92 on warm side. If she is not better when I get home, she will be going to a vet for sure and will give you guys an update!

additionally, the snakes are in a separate room with their own supplies. They are on paper towels only with a hide.

[EHBP]

You would NOT want to put other new snakes near this one at all, until ALL have been quarantined for a sufficient length of time & proven healthy.

If the new ones are coming from the same source, they can be quarantined together, but not near this one nor near any others you may already have.

IF you cannot do that due to lack of space, I would hold off on any additional ones- quarantine is really your most effective option to keep your animals safe, & not sharing pathogens or parasites.

ya that’s what I was thinking! I’m sure the breeders won’t have an issue with holding them for me. I did read that not eating is a sign of RI but she has ate the last 2 weeks, but obviously that doesn’t identify whether she has it or not, not eating just being a symptom.

[bcr229]

Also bear in mind that the 90-day QT period restarts when there is a change. So, if a snake in QT pops with an RI then the QT clock doesn't restart until after the snake has been through the course of antibiotics and stopped showing symptoms.

Bringing in new snakes restarts the QT clock for all snakes in QT if you have to run them in close proximity. Personally I don't buy more snakes if there is one in QT already.