Sufficient quarantine distance.

[Kylegep]

There is a thread on Fauna's BOI about a girl who didn't practice proper QT and lost many snakes due to IBD. The thread is "Beware SakaraGT..." it's a long read but it's worth it IMO: I think everyone should read through the BOIs threads.

If you got all your snakes at the same time then I would have just monitored them all together but sanitize between every snake. Any new snakes you get though I would keep them separate from the ones you have now (basically your "established collection" because those are the only other ones you have currently).

I've only had one sick snake (with an RI) and she is with all my other QT snakes and none of them have gotten an RI. I keep reading that RIs are very easy to pass to other snakes so maybe I've been lucky, but sanitizing is key!

What is IBD?

[The Serpent Merchant]

What is IBD?

Read this

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inclusion_Body_Disease

[WingedWolfPsion]

After doing all my research on the nasty viral diseases that turn up and wipe out peoples' collections, I can no longer repeat the advice to quarantine for 3 months.

It is not enough time. Some of the bad ones incubate for far longer...up to 11 months.

I now quarantine for 12 months. It's a long time. It's completely worth it. If you aren't protecting your collection against the worst diseases, you're not protecting them at all.

More important than distance is sanitation--never transfer anything between quarantine and your collection, and disinfect everything regularly. At the very least, quarantine needs to be a separate room, and you need to deal with your collection first, and quarantine second--and then wash your clothes, and shower, before you go back to your collection again.

[snake lab]

Considering that most harmful things are contracted from contact and not airborne its not necessary to quarantine at great distances. I have a quarantine rack in the same snake room as most of my collection. With that said i handle the quarantined animals with gloves and change gloves everytime i handle i different quarantined animal. I never share anything. I have never had an issue in 15 years of new animals affecting my existing collection. Also its important to know who your getting your animals from. If your getting your animals from clean breeders and people you know have good husbandry practices then you can ensure a good healthy animal. I personally dont deal with anyone i dont already know

[kitedemon]

I agree with snake lab and Winged Wolf. IBD is exceeding rare in pythons and has a very long dormancy (potentially 7 years) it is a bit of a boogyman but virus can live a long time away from the host. It isn't so much a physical distance but a mental one. NOTHING must contact an animal that is in Q contact another snake from the collection. If tools are shared they need to be hard surfaced and disinfected long enough to kill virus (if you looked up the disinfectant used and check times and dilutions to kill something like MRSA it should be fine) Remember few if any chemical disinfectants work on contact most require some time to work generally 20-30 min with the chemical damp is long enough.

[Skittles1101]

Just wondering.. Have there been cases in the past where people did not follow QT properly, or at all, and suffered losing their whole collection? How easy do snakes carry sickness to one another? In my current situation, I couldn't really QT because I got all of my snakes in my rack within the same a month and a bit. and I had no previous "established colony". Should I have housed them all seperately in different rooms? Is it sufficient to use seperate equipment in my case? The most economical way for me to house my first three new snakes was to buy a rack, but thinking back now, I might not have been considering qt as a main priority.

Without naming any names, I know someone who lost everything due to one seemingly "normal" snake not being quarantined. They all started dying very slowly and very painfully, and they put countless hours into their treatment and nothing worked. After I was told about it I have since realized it's absolutely necessary. And honestly, IBD is the least of my worries. There are many more severe, more common, and deadly viruses that can kill just as easily.

[mattchibi]

Without naming any names, I know someone who lost everything due to one seemingly "normal" snake not being quarantined. They all started dying very slowly and very painfully, and they put countless hours into their treatment and nothing worked. After I was told about it I have since realized it's absolutely necessary. And honestly, IBD is the least of my worries. There are many more severe, more common, and deadly viruses that can kill just as easily.

All of this scares me a lot. I dont think I was very diligent this past two or three weeks with QT. What can I do at this point? I have three pairs of tongs but I may have mixed them up during my cleaning process, and same as when I do my cleanings :s. I have been cleaning all of their water bowls and hides in the same sink, with a bleach solution in spray bottle and a sponge to scrub. I made sure to remember which hide and bowl is who's.

I have kept everything disinfected and clean since theyve gotten here, but I honestly didnt know to wash hands before dealing with different snakes in QT. So I pretty much screwed up my QT completely.

What should I do at this point? Just be dilligent about it now and hope that nothing has been transferred? Would it be beneficial to bring the snakes to the vet for a complete checkup to check for RI's, MSRA, IBD or any other deadly viruses?

To OP: Sorry for hijacking!! I didnt want to start a new thread since this was all relevant.

[Skittles1101]

I wouldn't kick your own butt over it now. Worry about it if the time comes. Just do your best to follow decent QT procedures from now on and enjoy your collection

[Annarose15]

All of this scares me a lot. I dont think I was very diligent this past two or three weeks with QT. What can I do at this point? I have three pairs of tongs but I may have mixed them up during my cleaning process, and same as when I do my cleanings :s. I have been cleaning all of their water bowls and hides in the same sink, with a bleach solution in spray bottle and a sponge to scrub. I made sure to remember which hide and bowl is who's.

I have kept everything disinfected and clean since theyve gotten here, but I honestly didnt know to wash hands before dealing with different snakes in QT. So I pretty much screwed up my QT completely.

What should I do at this point? Just be dilligent about it now and hope that nothing has been transferred? Would it be beneficial to bring the snakes to the vet for a complete checkup to check for RI's, MSRA, IBD or any other deadly viruses?

To OP: Sorry for hijacking!! I didnt want to start a new thread since this was all relevant.

First, take two deep breaths. If your snakes aren't exhibiting any symptoms, then it is unlikely a vet will find anything, even if it is there. In fact, taking them to the vet could stress them and make them more susceptible to problems. Just start being diligent now, and keep a close eye on them. It wouldn't hurt to reset the clock on their QT time, just as a precaution. As many above have said, there is a lot of risk in skipping QT, but there are fewer stories of devestation than there are of no issues at all. I am not saying this to downplay QT. I QT in another room for 30-45 days. If there are no issues, I move into the snake room to the opposite side of the room, still using dedicated tools, for another 15-30 days (total of 60 days before moving into a shared rack). In my mind, this helps me gauge how the new addition reacts to change - all clocks reset if there are any issues at any stage.

[snake lab]

Just be ocd with everything. Keep everything clean, get some nitrile gloves and just be plain ocd lol.