Re: steps to take with new snakes

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Posted by oldherper on April 03, 2003 at 09:43:10:

In Reply to: steps to take with new snakes posted by TexIndigo Gal on March 16, 2003 at 16:07:40:

:Please pardon cross-posting.

:This isn't really a question for beginning snake keepers. Rather, it is a question regarding basic procedures for adding a new snake to an existing collection.

:Is there already in existence a guide covering issues that I need to deal with when I bring a new snake (CB or WC)home?

:These are the issues I'm thinking of:
:1)check a new snake for general health
:2)check a new snake for presence of parasites
:3)how to quarantine properly --how long, special considerations
:4)other issues

:I haven't seen a guide like this. Please point it out, if there's one out there already.

:If there's not one handy, I'm willing to compile one from your input (contributors will be listed as the authors, I will be listed as the editor or as "compiled by").

:Beatrice

I don't know of a guide specifically addressing the issues you raised. There is some coverage in some of the herpetology/husbandry books that are available now.

For me it's like this:

Quarantine is the most important aspect. When I quarantine an animal, it is in a room separate from the rest of my collection and for a period of about 3 months. I don't necessarily quarantine every animal I bring home. If it comes from a collection that I'm familiar with and I know the person that I obtained it from uses reasonable husbandry techniques, then I may skip the quarantine. If I have any doubt, I quarantine.

Before I bring an animal home I look for external parasites such as ticks and mites. If an animal is infested it does not come home with me. I also make sure that when I come into contact with a animal that is infested with external parasites, as soon as I arrive home, I change my clothes and shower and my clothes go directly into the washing machine with bleach. Mites can kill snakes and they can be a royal pain to get rid of.

WE are the biggest vector animal for parasites. We can easily transmit parasites from one cage to another on our skin and our clothing. I keep bottles of Germ-X in my reptile rooms and use it every time I finish working in a cage. It's cheap insurance.

I do a fecal float and direct smear fecal exam and look for the presence of nematodes and trematodes as well as flagellates and amoebic or protozoan bugs. Some parasites (or eggs) are easier to find with a direct smear, some are easily found in a float. If you don't have a high quality microscope and the staining and fixing and floating reagents and solutions or don't know how to perform floats/smears, or know how to look for parasites or eggs (most folks probably don't), then take a fecal sample to a vet and have him or her do it for you. It's about $20.00 in most places for this service...a lot cheaper than losing an entire collection.
There are some infestations that you can't look for even if you have this equipment. Things like paramixavirus, Body Inclusion Disease, etc. These can only be detected in most cases by observation. I watch the animal carefully for unusual behavior during the quarantine period. Look for motor coordination problems, unexplained refusal to feed, bloody or extremely mucousy stools, gaping, "star-gazing", nasal discharge, etc. If the animal exibits any of these symptoms, DO NOT put it into the general collection until it has been explained and cured. Some of these viruses may be airborne. Usually if there is an infestation, it will present symptomatically within 30 days or so. Be especially vigilant about disinfecting your hands after working with quarantined animals.

I use Roccal-D to disinfect my cages. A Chlorine bleach dilute will work well also. However, cages have little nooks and crannies that may not get thoroughly disenfected. My quarantine cages are ONLY used for that purpose. I never re-use a cage that has been used for quarantine in my general collection. If an animal has been found to be infected with some dangerous pathogen during quarantine, then I destroy the cage it was housed in. This has been said before many times, but bears repeating. NEVER use any products such as Pine-Sol to disinfect reptile cages.

The temptation is strog, especially during the breeding seasons, to bring an unknown animal home and introduce it directly to your collection. Say you have 2 big female Hondurans that have been cooled and are ready to breed, but you don't have a male. It would be very tempting to buy that big, pretty just-out-of-brumation Honduran male you just found on the internet for $25.00 and toss him in with your females. Go ahead and buy him if you want, but wait until next season if you have to to breed them. It's just not worth the risk.

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