Gregg

I have a serious question. (Actually, this thread should be in the Husbandry/Basic Care section, I suppose.)

I am guilty of not quarantining any of my new snakes. Instead, I've lulled myself into believing that everything will be okay if I 1) place the snake into it's own separate tank, 2) spend an additional $50.00 bucks for a qualified herp-vet to check it out, and 3), not handling the snake until a safe time period has passed. If I do handle it, as I have to do when I take it to the vet, I wash my hands before and after handling it. So, am I playing Russian Roulette?

As for the mice--pinkies, fuzzies, adults--I get them live from a single source who raises them and assures me that they are safe (yeah, right). Of course, I feed them dead, if they are old enough to pose a threat to my snakes. I feel that, if the mice I get are infected--and this is true regardless of the source--then I have little opportunity to know this until it is too late. By then, it's possible that all my snakes would be infected and that would be a real bummer. Taking the mice to a qualified vet before feeding them to my snakes wouldn't be cost effective.

At some point, I just have to be willing to trust, understand, and accept Life, and believe that my snakes are strong, i.e., healthy, enough to fend off most diseases, just like I do with my son. With periodic check-ups, most problems can be detected early. What would be the difference between keeping my new snake in a separate tank inside the same room as my other snakes, vis-a-vis, keeping it in a separate room, if I happen to handle the new snake and then handle one of my other snakes with or without washing my hands first and afterwards? The obvious answer is: Don't handle the new snake for at least 90 days, during which time, it should be checked out by a vet. Also, how many life threatening snake diseases are air-borne? If I do not handle the new snake, then is it possible for mites, and so forth, to pass through the screens and jump from one tank to another? I don't think so. But then again, I'm only talking about 15 to 20 snakes, not 200 or 3000, and the life's blood of a world-wide business.

If I had a world-wide snake business and was dependant upon each and every snake in my care, you're damn right I would quarantine any new purchase in a separate room (or building) and leave it untouched for 90 days and have it checked out by a vet. I prefer to err on the side of caution, that's why I spend extra to have my new snake checked out by my vet, but reason and logic must also be the order of the day.