Quote Originally Posted by JenHarrison View Post

One thing that I keep wondering is that you yourself said you have purchased animals from Wyatt -- and there is no proof as to how long this virus has been in his collection. How do we know that your animals aren't asymptomatic carriers? Or anyone else that has purchased from him in the past? If there is such a big risk with my remaining animals that have never been symptomatic, wouldn't there be a similar risk with your animals from Wyatt?
Because in the three years since he entered my collection - no one prior has complained about Wyatts animals killing off their animals so it's unlikely that he's had it that long. As you can clearly contest this isn't something that would be able to hide in a collection without something else getting sick - my snake has been bred, he has been put in tubs with others during cleaning and moving and the kids take a bunch of them out at a time to play with them - if there was an opportunity for cross contamination I'd have sick snakes - yet I haven't a single sick animal - I am 100% certain he's clean. Other people that bought from Wyatt in the past didn't just have a bunch of animals die on them - that is where the difference lies. Yeah it's possible that someone that has recently bought from him might have an asymptomatic carrier but if the snake I bought three years ago were a carrier - it would be even more reason for you not to be releasing any further animals into the community wouldn't you think?

If you want to keep the animals you have - your only choice is to not breed - not bring any other animals into your collection and not let any out. Give it some time - and by time I don't mean 60 days I mean like a year or so - then if you decide you want to try breeding again - buy a few animals - don't vaccinate them - incorporate them into your collection and wait and see if they get sick - if they all are healthy after a period of time - you have a better chance at convincing people that you are trying to do the right thing by your animals and the community - then jumping back into it before you even know what you have on your hands.