Posted by:
aliceinwl
at Sun Sep 18 20:12:18 2005 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by aliceinwl ]
Were you re-using cages? Crypto is pretty resistant to bleach / chlorine. It takes a fairly concentrated ammonia solution to kill it. I agree that it would be best to get rid of the tank, since there are always little scrapes and nooks that it could be hiding in. It is also easy to transfer by handling an infected snake or its furnishings and then handling another herp, its furnishings or food. Some snakes can be asymtomatic carriers (especially wild caught) so you may want to consider a 30 day freezing of all reptilian prey items before feeding. I'd even do this with the kinked corns you spoke of ordering. I know from friends that corns are very susceptable to crypto and they may unload sick corns in addition to deformed ones as feeders.
Some coccidia and nematode infections can also lead to repeated regurgitations and both are fairly common in wild herps and can be lethal if one herp gets a strain / species that it isn't adapted to dealing with (another reason to stick to ft when feeding wild prey). Both, however, are treatable and detectable in a fecal floatation so you may want to have any other snakes that fall ill tested.
Until then, I'd treat every herp like it has something that is potentially deadly to all your others (if you're not doing so already). Don't play musical food items or transfer any furnishings between enclosures, and wash your hands thoroughly after having any contact with one herp or anything that herp has had contact with before you move on to the next one or handle its food. In terms of placing snakes together of breeding, give each new arrival a minimum 90 day quarentine, this may mean that you have to postpone breeding, but it's better than having your animals die.
I've got a diverse array of wc and cb herps who I'm fairly positive have their own "cooties". But, doing the above and keeping the respecitive enclosures clean has enabled me to avoid any problems. I learned this the hard way a few years back when I got a sick lizard form the petstore, by the time it showed symptoms it was too late and the damage had been done.
I really hope you're over the worst of it,
Alice
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RE: My story on crypto... - aliceinwl, Sun Sep 18 20:12:18 2005