Disinfected cage concern

There is really no way to know at this point as far as I am aware. Just move the snake and make sure if you have any other reptiles it is as far away from them as you can get it until you do know.
You should probably take it to a reptile vet. They can test for crypto but I don't know how long it takes after infection to show up in tests.

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Originally Posted by Discoverlight

My concern is, has it been infected in that week it's been in there

At this point your baby snake is eating and healthy and I'd be happy about that if I were you! (Congrats!).

However, Kayla does have a point and you should just ensure you keep it away from other reptiles and make sure you wash your hands before handling anything else or as soon as you're done handling your little sneaky one. You should also read those articles that Dollysmom so thoughtfully provided links to, as they will otherwise inform you on the myths and fats of this creepy-crypto! For example, I believe that the only way it can get transmitted is through eating an animal that already has it or through its waste (defecation) though to read those articles would be your best bet. Besides, if your snake has it, a vet can't DO anything except euthanize it humanely and you aren't at that point yet and hopefully won't get there. Inform yourself of the symptoms and be aware that sometimes there just aren't any.

Most of all, if I were you, I'd transfer my snake to a different, cleaned-out & disinfected viv and enjoy it while being aware and practicing optimal infection control! Can't go through life worrying about "what if" all the time, no? (My dad, in times like this, would say, "What IF? Yeah, what if birds had pianos up their asses, there would be music in the air!" Think I inherited anything from him?)

One thing I caution people on is reading and then posting opinions without clearly labeling them as opinions. I recommend sticking to scholarly articles written by scientists, vets and other reptile professionals. That's why I posted links.

In my opinion, I would agree that removing the animal from that caging and practicing quarantine is called for. I would read up on disinfection protocols for crypto and use those to keep decor and other things in the new housing as clean from any presumed oocysts as possible. From what I've read exposing decor to heat and sunlight to thorougly dry it could be useful. The UV in strong sunlight wouldn't hurt this effort as my research leads me to believe that UV is useful in combating crypto oocysts.

From what I've read, and in my opinion, dessication can kill crypto oocysts, but it needs to be total dessication (drying). I'm not that sure overnight qualifies. There seems to be differing information as to the efficacy of cholorine. Without knowing how strong a solution of bleach was used from what I read 4 hours was definately on the very short side. In some cases with some methods, crypto oocysts can be rendered non-infective without actually killing them.

Let's hope for the best. In my opinion, reusing housing and decor that has not been disinfected using a known effective method and then drying thoroughly for a much, much longer time than this equipment was is like playing Russian roulette. Many do recommend discarding everything to be on the safe side.

From my reading and in my opinion, Oocysts can be killed or at least rendered non-infective on inanimate objects. They are not impossible to kill. It is just that they are not normally killed quickly or easily wth the normal disinfection methods we as keepers commonly use.

Edited to add: from my reading, especially the CDC recommendation for controlling human crypto in daycare settings I would agree with the 3% hydrogen peroxide.

http://www.cdc.gov/parasites/crypto/...e_outbreak.pdf

Update, the snake threw up the mouse, but It might have been a temperature issue. I'll amp up the heat and try to make it warmer, and try feeding it again in the next few days.

There are multiple factors to this regurg, 1. possible crypto already(?) which would break my heart. 2. I had to take this snake from one city to another in 30+ celcius weather and the mouse may have thawed out and when i refroze it it just had bad bacteria or wasn't good, so a bad mouse maybe

and 3. possibly heat. The heat pad gets to about 80F but it seems weaker in the cage because of the substrate and I live in Canada, so adding a heat lamp may increase the temperature to something more ideal.

Oh no. I'm so sorry that happened. Here is the sticky with the regurge protocol:

http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=28342

Let's keep our fingers crossed and hope for the best. Personally, I wouldn't assume crypto at this point. The observation, moving to a known clean enclosure, and quarantine are precautionary. It is even possible that if the cage had sat dry for a while like several weeks, before you used it, any crypto oocysts were already dead. In this case you know a gecko with crypto had lived there, but how many people buy used tanks and have no idea what was in them before? The thing that keeps them from getting crypto is dessication.

This was the cage that was 'disinfected'


And this is the new quarantine tank.


I'm scared such a small tank will stress it out being moved from something so large, so hopefully it eats for me in the next few days after the regurg. The heat lamp will be on and off to ensure the proper temperatures since it fluxuates in my house and i have to adjust accordingly.

Do not feed the snake for 10 days, and then offer it a much smaller than normal meal otherwise it's just going to regurge again most likely.

Also, yeah... always ALWAYS handle this snake last. NEVER wash its water bowls or tank with a sponge that you plan on using for any other animal. NEVER put anything from its cage into the cage of another reptile.

I fed my snake again, the smallest pinkie I could get my hands on at the store, and it looks like it went down without coming back up. I haven't checked the whole cage yet so I have yet to find any avidence for vomiting which i will probably do tomorrow, but I also amped the heat up on one side and added a lamp for ambient temperature.

She seems to like it when I lightly mist the cage, which i only do about once a week right now, she likes to come out and explore and pop her head out when the droplets come down, anybody else have this happen? It's rather cute.