Quote Originally Posted by Bogertophis View Post
There's another angle too: one reason that Fish & Game considers reptiles to be un-releasable once in captivity is that there is a danger of them carrying exotic pathogensto the local wildlife that they have no previous exposure to...that can result in unintentionally wiping out native species. We sure don't want that either. Say for example you have a new snake & you have no idea it has a few mites or ticks*, but you take it outside & some of your snake's parasites go wandering off...next thing you know, maybe our native species get decimated if those mites or ticks happen to carry IBD or some other exotic diseases that spread.
That's a good point; a snake shouldn't be taken outside for sun & exercise until it's cleared QT and free of internal and external parasites.