Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i dont want to say anything bad about kelly this had nothing to do with him this is just a safety precaution i have heard quite a bit of good reports on Kelly but Arik you need to be a little bit more carefull my friend you just got your female back with a clean bill of health and then you put a new snake in the same pool with her me personally i dont care how reputable the breeder i buy from is each new reptile i bring into my home goes through a 6 week quarantine period and has no contact whatsoever with my established collection like i said no offense to Kelly but its better to be safe rather than be sorry all it takes is one sick snake to kill off a whole collection just giving you a bit of advice for the future man i dont care if a reptile comes from my own brother its going into a 6 week quarantine

I agree with you. I am taking a risk with doing what I did. It was a risk I was willing to take however. I would have had to deal with the results if anything happened. I also take risks by letting my girl crawl in the grass. (mites, parasites, etc.). I have the vet appointment set up but I have to wait to get a fecal sample.
Also I wonder how much of a risk there is with two snakes swimming in water when neither one urinates of defecates in it. I could see mites being transfered but internal parasites I think would be hard to transfer during a 15min swim in a pool with clean water. Anyone else have a thought on this?
Again it was a risk but I did it anyway.lol
Arik

I appreciate Arik for being so trusting.

Kelly

Kelly you must work somewhere on a night shift. Every email or post I see from you is always about the same time at night. Just an observation.
Arik

What's your take on the risk of two snakes sharing parasites within a clean kiddie pool without one of them defecating or urinating in it? I know there is a risk but I would think that it would be minimal.
How many of the known internal parasites are actively shed(expelled) outside of a bowel movement or urination. I could possibly see worms making their way out on their own but how likely is it? Aren't most of the parasites actually pushed out during a bowel movement? I'm pretty dumb when it comes to the actual parasites and their properties and am just curious.
I'm not trying to say what I did was completely safe, like I said earlier, I just wanted some more information.

Arik

sounds like kelly has a stalker {cough arik cough} eny who i always quarinten my animals and spray them for mites and other nastys when i get them. a couple of years ago a friend gave me an anole next day my entire house was infested with mites. i lost my iguana a couple of garter snakes and a bunch of house geckos and anoles it was really bad.
CrazyCody

Arik,
Most internal parasites require one or more intermediate hosts to complete their life cycle and are unable to move from one snake to another, (ie: flukes, tapeworms, some protozoan). This greatly limits their chance of spreading in a captive environment. However, there are some parasites that have a direct life cycle and can infect one snake directly from another, (ie: coccidia, amoebae, some round worms). So, with the right parasite, under the right conditions, it would be possible to infect a snake in the manner you describe. The concern would be the possible presence of parasite eggs, or oocysts that were picked up on the skin of the snake and washed off in the water, and subsequently ingested by the other snake.

Kelly

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