I have a question about Snake quarantining?

[i_luv_sneks]

I have a ball python who is in my room on his own. And a couple of weeks ago I purchased a corn snake and a western hognose. I was wondering if 2 weeks is enough time for quarantine. I understand that it is best to quarantine new snakes for 3+months. But I thought that the snakes being of different species it would be OK. Or should I continue the quarantine process until the period is over?


Thanks in advance for your answers.

[Dylan_]

I have a ball python who is in my room on his own. And a couple of weeks ago I purchased a corn snake and a western hognose. I was wondering if 2 weeks is enough time for quarantine. I understand that it is best to quarantine new snakes for 3+months. But I thought that the snakes being of different species it would be OK. Or should I continue the quarantine process until the period is over?


Thanks in advance for your answers.

From what i have heard a bare minimum of 30 days. I could be wrong on this one.

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[Armiyana]

I would continue at least for as long as you can. Keep in mind that different species of snakes can all still spread diseases or mites to one another.

The life cycle of a snake mite is 21 days. You may not even see an infestation until the the 3rd week if the snake was carrying mite eggs to hatch and grow. Or sometimes when the snake is going into shed, the mites that had burrowed under the scales will show up in force.

Reptile metabolism is so slow as well, they can be brewing up an infection during the stress of adjusting to a new home.

I would go 2 months if they were my own. 3 or more for if they were similar species for breeding purposes later on.

[Armiyana]

Also adding on...
If the situation you had gotten the animals from was questionable, I would do the longer phase. A pet store or Craigslist find. Reptile shows, even if they're from a reputable breeder. I would go a longer qt. Never know what the little ones get exposed to.

[Dianne]

I wouldn’t go less than 30 days, though more is preferable. At the very least, if you don’t have more than one room, I’d keep the cages across the room from each other and don’t use any tools or materials between the cages. Also be sure to wash your hands thoroughly between each animal. I would also pretreat the cages for mites as a precaution. I’ve had to do this with this year’s purchases because I only have one room whose temperatures I can control well for my snakes.

Edit: As a side note, even though mine are in the same room, I’m very diligent in checking the cages for any signs of mites or disease in the animals. I use cotton sheets or fabric as my substrate, and all new snales are on white or very light background colors so that mites or problems stools are immediately identifiable. When I had my old setup with a separate room, different home, they were quarantined no less than 60-90 days.

[Bogertophis]

I have a ball python who is in my room on his own. And a couple of weeks ago I purchased a corn snake and a western hognose. I was wondering if 2 weeks is enough time for quarantine. I understand that it is best to quarantine new snakes for 3+months. But I thought that the snakes being of different species it would be OK. Or should I continue the quarantine process until the period is over? Thanks in advance for your answers.

2 weeks for quarantine is a "mere drop in the bucket". But it's a judgement call that varies greatly among keepers: those with a serious investment or any that choose to
error on the side of caution may quarantine for 6 mos. to a year+, but I'd guess that most pet keepers do much less. There's many variables to consider: parasites and
diseases don't care what species they infest or infect, so that's a fallacy that you're safe because they aren't the same kind of snakes. Just as in human infectious diseases, the incubation period is quite variable...2 weeks won't help much at all. In fact, those who quarantine the longest do so because some of the more serious communicable illnesses can take quite a long time, or because it just isn't even known yet, so they try to play it safe.

You may have heard or read some about IBD: that is thought to affect pythons (BPs) very quickly if they are exposed, while boas may seem to remain healthy for a much
longer time before they show signs of illness. And other kinds of snakes (such as colubrids) are suspected of being carriers while not showing illness themselves...I think
this is still being researched & hopefully there is more known since I last read up on it, but it's also associated with snakes where mites are present (suggesting that they
too can transmit the fatal disease among snakes). I'm just using IBD as an example...there's plenty of serious diseases being shared, so consider where you got your snakes from: a private breeder with a great reputation should be the safest (but no guarantee), while a pet store has the most risk of exposure, be-
cause their animals come from wholesalers where they are exposed to many others, not all of them healthy.

Even if they don't spread diseases to your snakes, mites are really awful to deal with: it's bad enough if ONE new snake has them, but treating all 3 wouldn't be fun. I
think 3 months is a good idea as a quarantine period for you. One last thing to consider is how much experience you (or any other) keeper has: snakes are some of the
most difficult creatures to diagnose illnesses in, simply because they are so stoic. The more experience you have keeping snakes, the easier it is for you to pick up on
the subtle signs that a snake is unwell...catching it at the beginning rather than when the snake is critically ill, & catching it before you've exposed your other pets.

Not trying to make you paranoid, but since you asked...

[Craiga 01453]

Well, it is recommended to do 90 days for a reason.
14 days isn't even 20% of that.

There is no benefit to stopping quarantine early, so why bother? There simply isn't a good reason not to go the full 90 days.

Species is irrelevant. They're your animals, so do what you want, but it's also your responsibility to do all you can to keep them healthy.

Do the right thing and follow proper quarantine procedures. There in place for a reason.
Keepers with years of experience with thousands of animals probably know what they're talking about.

[bcr229]

But I thought that the snakes being of different species it would be OK.

Cryptosporidium serpentis, which is 100% fatal, and other internal parasites are not species-specific.

Ninety days is the MINIMUM quarantine in the US.

[dr del]

Also, when you add a second snake to your quarantine area it resets the timers on ALL snakes in the area. So even if you have had a snake in quarantine for 2.5 months then add a second BOTH have to go back to 90 days to be certain.

Over the years we have, sadly, seen people who lost entire collections through forgetting this.