Reptile & Amphibian Forums

If housing snakes in racks, do you need to quarantine a snake before adding to the rack? If one of the snakes in the racks becomes ill or something do you need to remove it from the rack and quarantine it?
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1.0 Ball Python "Aragorn"
1.0 Kenyan Sand Boa "Gimli"
0.1 Australian Cattle Dog/Pointer "Kira"

Of course! You risk your others getting sick if you don't. I already have 2 corns and a milk. When I bought a jungle carpet python I put it in the same room as my others. Only to find out a few days later she had mites! So I moved her out of that room. Tore her tank apart and cleaned everything. Got rid of the bark that I thought had the mites and soaked her to get the mites off her. After all that I then moved her to another room. I think I caught the mites early. I haven't seen no more on her or my others so I moved her back into my room, after a couple weeks. Next time I get a new comer I'm going to isolate it right from the time I bring it into the house.

Glad I asked. I figured the answer might have been yes, but I didn't realize the quarantine would have to take place in a different room. Is this true no matter what housing you use for your snakes (glass tanks, vision cages, racks, etc). For example: I plan to get some Boaphile cages. Later I plan to get a rack. When I add my first snake to the rack (no others will be in the rack at the time, just in the Boaphiles), do I still need to quarantine that snake in a different room even though the other snakes will be housed in Boaphiles?

Thank you for the info!
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1.0 Ball Python "Aragorn"
1.0 Kenyan Sand Boa "Gimli"
0.1 Australian Cattle Dog/Pointer "Kira"

Mites are probably the most transmissible thing. You can actually pre-treat the cages of new snakes with something like provent-a-mite to stop the problem before it starts. Most of the really bad snake diseases aren't airborne, but a rack is a bit close for comfort. I usually quarantine in the same room, but another room is the ultra-safest thing to do. But then you still have to be careful about changing the water and such.
And I HAVE had new snakes drop dead from mysterious diseases, so it happens... I'm still worried sick although I'm almost 100% sure now that none of my main collection has been infected.
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Peter: It's OK, I'll handle it. I read a book about something like this.
Brian: Are you sure it was a book? Are you sure it wasn't NOTHING?