Originally Posted by TaylorS
So when I have a patient in the hospital with "isolation precautions" it's a big deal. We wear isolation gowns... there are strict processes to follow and we have access to big time chemicals which can't even kill organisms with 100% success. My point is this from a microbiology perspective... for the normal hobbyist, there is no way you can truly "quarantine" an animal in a home. Hell, you can't even do it in a hospital.
So I had some follow-up questions...
1. People separating animals in different parts of the house. Some people on here elude to the fact that some BP's have "airborne" diseases? Hello like human TB? Do we need the reptile equivalent of N-95 respirators? I think not. What is an airborne BP disease? I googled and cannot find anything.
Airborne....haven't heard of one yet, but who knows with some of the new bacteria and resistant crap popping up in collections now a days. I think most problems come from direct contact with an animal. Mites and ticks are also vectors of parasitic pathogens, as well as dirty water/dirty cages.
2. Mites. Problematic yes, but immediately recognized and treated. Does this really require a 3-month quarantine?
Not really, but it's best to treat for at least a month as the eggs will hatch. Also, mites can and will travel, so any nearby animals can also be infected without proper quarantine.
3. Internal parasites. Tricky. But again, why do you need a 3 month quarantine if your vet does a fecal check.
Some animals take longer to defecate, this is just ONE part of an animal you need to check when you quarantine
4. What is the "worst" anyone has seen happen to their collection from a new acquisition. Has anyone taken chances by a short quarantine process and have things work out?
People have lost WHOLE collections due to improper quarantining.
Is there anything I'm missing here? Granted I work on a code team and work with dead people all the time, so maybe I don't get freaked out that easily anymore. It just seems like a crap shoot and if your snakes get something it all seems treatable in the end.
Not everything is treatable, I recently had to put down a snake I had that came in with an RI. IBD is also not treatable. You also never know what an animal might have in it's system, sometimes it takes time to show itself. A 3 month quarantine is ALWAYS a VERY smart thing to do.
Thoughts?
Quarantine the animals, buy from trusted people. A lot of people have invested lots and lots of money into their collections. So, WHY SKIMP on something as simple as a quarantine to risk losing everything?
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