quarantine discussion every opinion counts

[distaff]

What you are advocating has a strong basis in human immunology. The joke is to prevent childhood allergies and boost immune systems is to give children puppies, let them play in the mud, and put them in a daycare where they get exposed to every cold virus known to man. BUT... exposure to deadly or virulent pathogens does not boost an immune system, rather its detrimental to the organism and can/does cause death. Thats why we vaccinate humans, to prevent death and disability from virulent common pathogens, like Flu, which kills thousands of very old, very young and very sick people every year. Thats why we dont advocate exposing people to HIV, hepatitis viruses, shigella, pseudomonas or vibrio to boost their immune systems - in the process of developing an immune response the host can experience eventual death or significant disability.

Most laypeople aren't in a position to culture and identify all the bacterial flora in their enclosures to determine a "balance", or cultivate and properly maintain such a balanced microbiome. As such, for the average lay owner you should focus on hygiene and clean husbandry first and foremost.

Agree, Polio, tetanus, etc are problems, and the best solution to some of these may be vaccines. However, I think Judy's theory has validity even if we don't have all the specifics nailed down. I was listening to a vet interviewed on HerpNationRadio several months ago (wish I could remember his name). His position seemed to be that snakes aren't sterile themselves; they carry most of these pathogens at low levels all the time. They get sick when one takes over, but the bacteria/virus wasn't necessairly new to the animal. That said, I still think quarantine and related practices are good habits; but, if snakes in an isolated collection fall ill, it may not be because something from outside snuck in.