Quarentine practices

[fyrefocks]

Id like to know how everyone else goes about dealing with QT-ing their animals? Im sure this has been brought up many a time, but i havent read anything here about it, so im going to bring it up again.

Before i explain how i QT, id like to note that this is how i do things and these things work for me. Most people will disagree with me, and tell me im wrong, but i go by what i know best.

I do not QT. Not in the normal sense, anyway. No, i dont bring home a new animal and immediately put it into someone elses enclosure. Thats just silly. But i dont have a dedicated rack in a separate room either. I house all my corn snakes individually, but in the same room. I use the same tools for all the animals, and dont wash my hands in between snakes.

Fun fact- washing your hands too often will lead to a weaker than normal immune system.

The reason i dont feel the need to do anything extra special is because i rarely, if ever, purchase snakes from people that i havent met/spoken with on more than one occasion. I prefer to purchase snakes that i can see in person. Its rare that id use the internet for snake purchasing. However, some of you are making some pretty neat stuff. Drizzt, expect an email soon.

I do, however, encourage everyone that i sell my animals to, and anyone who frequents the internet, to practice good QT. Especially if you use the internet. Im sure all, or most, but id like to believe all, the members of this forum wouldnt try to deceive anyone for a quick buck, but other people will.

My standard QT advice is this-

Keep the animal in a tub or cage that is stand alone. I do not encourage QT racks. If something is transmittable then a rack will only help spread the problem, assuming that one pops up. Its nice if you have a separate room for QT-ing, but not a lot of people do.

Clean, feed, and handle QT animals last. And its nice if you have dedicated tools for each animal in QT. These tools, and your hands, should be washed after every use. (this does not cancel my "i dont wash my hands often" bit.) I wash in between NEW animal handling, but not when i go from snake to snake, assuming ive had the snakes for longer than 6 months.

I believe a good QT time is 6 months. Longer for pythons and boids. Ive had terrible luck with pythons.

If i missed anything, or said something REALLY dumb, which i dont think i did, let me know.

 

[Nanci]

Some people don't re-feed refused mice at all. I will, within the established collection, but I would not feed a refused mouse from a quarantined snake to any other snake.

Also, when using previously-owned hides, vines, vivs, water bowls, etc. I always bleach and wash with hot soapy water before passing on to another snake. I bake wooden items to sterilize them as much as possible.

 

[fyrefocks]

Some people don't re-feed refused mice at all. I will, within the established collection, but I would not feed a refused mouse from a quarantined snake to any other snake.

Also, when using previously-owned hides, vines, vivs, water bowls, etc. I always bleach and wash with hot soapy water before passing on to another snake. I bake wooden items to sterilize them as much as possible.

Good calls. I try not to use pre-owned stuff, but it happens sometimes. Ill either bleach, or, if its wood, i might bake it in the over.

I also re-offer food within the established animals, but never to new animals.

Thanks for adding on to my list. Corn snakes n00bs (typed in the NICEST way possible), heed our advice!!! (i wish i had a way to make myself appear as the wizard of oz to all of you)

:angry01:

Success!

:crazy02:

 

[wstphal]

I keep the new ones in a different room from the established ones. I wash my hands in between. I have separate tongs for each room. If somebody has hung out in the "new snake" section long enough, I move them. And I don't reuse mice except within the same group. Icabod is usually happy to have a snack so if one of the established colony refused, Icabod gets a snack. If one of the group I got in July refuses, Benchley gets a snack because he's part of the July arrivals.

I am a big fan of bleach, baking & alcohol based hand gels. So far, so good.

Edit: I won't buy snakes from people I don't know and know something about their husbandry. So the July group is from Susan, PJC & TCP, and I have high confidence in them. I can't always keep track of which 2010 is which so I think they have all been exposed to one another already, but look at the sources!

 

[Nanci]

By pre-owned, I mean in my household. Those hatchlings grow up and eventually have to move into bigger hides! The way I do vines now, though, they can take them with into their 66 qts.

 

[Hypancistrus]

We have started doing a formal quarantine. We have a 10 gallon with a screen lid and a rheostat controlled UTH in our bedroom. The only other snake in there is our VBB and they are not in direct contact with each other (seperate tanks). Ideally, of course, we'd like to have the QT be the only herp in the room, but we live in a small townhouse so this is the best we can do.

I was never so glad that we had begun QTing formally as when we purchased our rosy boa from Repticon this May. A couple weeks later the poor guy had a serious mite outbreak. We were able to treat him and the QT cage and no one else got infected. If he had gone right into the spot in the rack that we had open for him, we would have had 8 other snakes infected.

The snake, for the record, was visually fine at the show, but must have been carrying a few mites that began reproducing rapidly afterwards.

 

[fyrefocks]

We have started doing a formal quarantine. We have a 10 gallon with a screen lid and a rheostat controlled UTH in our bedroom. The only other snake in there is our VBB and they are not in direct contact with each other (seperate tanks). Ideally, of course, we'd like to have the QT be the only herp in the room, but we live in a small townhouse so this is the best we can do.

I was never so glad that we had begun QTing formally as when we purchased our rosy boa from Repticon this May. A couple weeks later the poor guy had a serious mite outbreak. We were able to treat him and the QT cage and no one else got infected. If he had gone right into the spot in the rack that we had open for him, we would have had 8 other snakes infected.

The snake, for the record, was visually fine at the show, but must have been carrying a few mites that began reproducing rapidly afterwards.

It came from Ians table, didnt it? Yeah, we've met before. Surprise!

I count my lucky dragon scales every night that i dont end up with those kinds of issues.

 

[cobained]

Thanks OP for starting this thread as I'm curious as well about the responses. And sorry for the long post!

I too haven't been great about QT (I bought almost all of my collection within a few months, so technically they were all in QT together. ha), and honestly the more I research the kinds of problems we're likely to run in to, the less I see the reason to QT as I don't feel like *most* people are able to truly quarantine in a way that will likely prevent the spread of an infectious agent. Cysts from many snake parasites (including Crypto) can live FOREVER (practically) in a normal household environment and can even be resistant to disinfectants, and they can even be in your tap water. Many parasites can be present in a snake for months/years without any symptoms, and in my experience most of us probably don't have access to a vet that can reliably diagnose/cure these things. Mites are easily transmitted on clothes, etc., even from just handling a snake at a show. And have you ever considered the fact that some parasites are not species specific and can be transmitted from you, or your dog or cat. Hm.

Unless you have a separate scrub brush for every water bowl, wash your hands between every snake (and make sure they don't touch you anywhere else), separate feeding bin for each and of course you couldn't STACK the bins when not in use, you probably can't really prevent issues. My snakes are my pets, and I want to actually *handle* them!

I have definitely become more aware of the SOURCE of my snakes in the last few months, and have not purchased any in the last 4 months. The one snake who has issues is a hatchling who I bought OOE, always housed alone, got from a reliable source here on CS, and kept for 6+ months before her issue arose. At this point I suspect she has a tumor or some sort of congenital issue as she is my only *sick* snake and has not changed in 3 months, but I've done quite a bit of reading on snake health issues.

So while I definitely ADVOCATE QT, I personally will be extra careful about the source of my animals, will not handle animals I'm not interested in at shows, will not allow just anybody in to the snake room and require handwashing before handling any snake.

 

[Hypancistrus]

...honestly the more I research the kinds of problems we're likely to run in to, the less I see the reason to QT as I don't feel like *most* people are able to truly quarantine in a way that will likely prevent the spread of an infectious agent. Cysts from many snake parasites (including Crypto) can live FOREVER (practically) in a normal household environment and can even be resistant to disinfectants, and they can even be in your tap water.

This is true, with regards to crypto. I don't worry about crypto so much anymore... I feel like you, that it's nearly impossible to quarantine against it.

But the mites are a more pressing issue and easily prevented with a basic QT set up. Even a cage across the room from the rest of your collection is better than in the same rack or shelf unit, with regards to mites.

We've also started treating the bedding in the QT tub prior to the new snakes arrival with Miticide, just as a preventative, to prevent it from getting to the point where the snake is submersing.

 

[wretchedprocess]

It came from Ians table, didnt it? Yeah, we've met before. Surprise!

Man, why didn't anyone tell me this guy was notorious in advance??!

Not that I have mites. At least.

 

[fyrefocks]

Man, why didn't anyone tell me this guy was notorious in advance??!

Not that I have mites. At least.

Ian isnt a bad guy, per say, but he does flip a lot of WC and beat up looking animals. You never know whats living inside some of his animals.

 

[wretchedprocess]

Ian isnt a bad guy, per say, but he does flip a lot of WC and beat up looking animals. You never know whats living inside some of his animals.

Honestly, that does say "bad guy" to me. A total lack of concern for the welfare of animals who are, even temporarily, under his care seems pretty inexcusable. He may not ALSO go around beating up homeless children or whatever, but "bad guy" doesn't have to mean "reprehensible in all areas". To me, being that irresponsible with scores of lives that go through one's hands is sufficient.

 

[TripleMoonsExotic]

Ian and his employees don't have the best reputation. Shipping deformed, sickly animals and then getting nasty with upset customers is their calling card...But that is best left for the BOI...

Quarantine Procedures

I learned my lesson on not quarantining and treating for mites a long time ago when a really bad mite infestation spread through my collection from a single purchase at a show...Several animals died before I could get control. I also had a friend bring in crypto from a reputable local breeder in her area that wiped out her entire Cornsnake collection. So yeah, I do think QT is important and isn't stressed enough. Purchasing from a reputable breeder does not negate the need for proper quarantine. All new reptiles should be in a minimum of a 90 day quarantine no matter who you get them from.

 

[snakewispera snr]

I always use PAM with new snakes and vaseline the rub. No paper, nothing for the first few days and stand the rub in a tray of water.... Get past that you little black gits..
You'll soon see if you have anything to worry about.
And as for different tongs......... We don't use them.
We feed everything by hand, so a quick gel wipe and onto the next... Simples.