My Ball Python tested positive for Nidovirus

[Hugsplox]

I remember that "hot mess", & much of this seems to come down to how much is not yet known about Nido, & how to interpret tests done. New snakes are under so much stress (shipping & whole new environment) & that naturally lowers the ability of their immune system to function well. This goes back to what I always tell people when they get a new snake of any age: treat it like a patient in ICU (intensive care unit in the hospital) or like a newborn human baby for a while- it needs rest & good food, with a low-stress environment & optimal conditions, while it's body recovers from all it has been exposed to. I can see where even if breeders test for Nido, the snakes they ship out could have tested negative for it & potentially then later, under stress, test positive for it. What a nightmare for everyone.

Exactly. This is actually one of the issues we had at my company when we started talking about bringing people back into the office prior to the covid vaccine being widely available. The concern was we could have employees test negative before coming back, but testing negative today doesn't mean you don't get exposed tomorrow. There's just no guarantee that if I test my stock monthly or whatever, that someone still won't get a sick snake. There's also those people who might have it in snakes they already own, and try to blame the breeder of a new snake they just got, when in reality it was already in their collection. Taking advantage of the lack of information.

Hopefully though as the hobby continues to gain popularity we'll learn more. Kinda like parvovirus in dogs, we identified that what in the 70s? Now we have decontamination methods and vaccines.