quarantined

[EKS56]

How long should a new healthy snake be quarantined?

[guidofatherof5]

I use 90 days unless issues are seen then I extend the time.

[joeysgreen]

Quarantine is always a management of risk. 100% risk of disease transmission if you introduce a diseased animal to 0% risk of never introducing any animal. Proper quarantine can reduce your risk closer to 0%, but there will always be some level with any introduction.

The first aspect of proper quarantine is as you mention, time. It is a time for observation of illness before you introduce a new animal into your collection. The second aspect is just that; observation. Time alone won't reduce risk. The next thing to understand is that there are varying qualities of observation. Watching to see that it is eating and pooping normally is a simple, and important part of observation. But you have the option to do more. Hands-on examination and close inspection for ectoparasites, injuries/healing, hydration status, body condition score, and discharges from the mouth, nares, cloaca give you a much better idea if your snake is healthy or not. Closer inspection of the stool by means of microscopy can tell you if internal parasites are a concern. Further, doing all of this once only gives you a snap shot of the animal's health. If you are quarantining for 90 days, I might suggest daily "look-ins", weekly weighing and hand's on exam, and monthly fecal analysis. Many diseases have incubation periods or only show up sporadically when the normally asymptomatic animal is stressed.

This is where most hobbyists end the extent of quarantine, but there are further ways to target risk reduction. Of course, extending your time period reduces risk by allowing longer observation. Selected cultures, blood tests etc for targeted diseases are available for diseases that may be of concern. For instance if you have a collection of boids and want to get another, you may want to test it for the Goldengate virus to avoid introducing Boid Inclusion Body Disease. For turtles, herpes and mycoplasma are big ones. For you, you may be worried about Chrysosporium fungus, or Paramyxovirus...

Now I'm only discussing everything under the sun to bring out the point that it's about risk management and what you are comfortable with. You can test for every disease known to mankind and still have risk of introduction simply because we (mankind) don't know everything!

On last note for quarantine is not risk management but on quarantine itself; the barriers. If your quarantine consists of the new animal being in a separate cage across the room you don't have much of a barrier. If you don't wash your hands inbetween animals, you might as well consider that you have no barrier. Ideally there should be no movement of air from your quarantine room to your collection room; ie, it's in a separate building. If this isn't possible, a separate floor of the house or even just a separate room is better than nothing.
You should minimize handling of your quarantine animals and not return to your collection after being in the quarantine room. Think of an animal laboratory as the gold standard and do everything you can to emulate it. They have to shower in and shower out of their quarantine rooms. Nothing leaves the quarantine room without sterilization. This is everything from uneaten food, garbage, caging, tools, and clothing. To relate, if you handle your snake and it has mites, go wash your hands and then enter your reptile room; what do you think your chance of bringing mites are with you? Do you want to take that chance? Back to risk management.

I hope this helps. EKS, I"m sure it was more that what you were looking for but I'm sure other's are reading this thread too. For what it's worth, I quarantine for 90 days for most animals. One year for tortoises and 6 months for boids. Remember that the timer starts over again if an illness or parasite is discovered and only after it has been treated.

Ian

[EKS56]

I have every reason to believe this snake is coming from a healthy environment but it is a common practice to keep a new snake separated. 90 days sounds good to me. Thanks... :)

[guidofatherof5]

I wear blinders when it comes to who is sending a snake. 90 days no matter who sends them. It's certainly no offense to the sender/seller but more protection to the snakes I keep and the ones coming in.