Ron's Ball Python Blog

Quarantine is a word and practice that is seldom implemented by many ball python and reptile keepers alike. It’s also an ignored practice that has unfortunately cost the lives of many ball pythons due to a disease or parasite infestation brought in by a new ball python that was not quarantined properly.

Ball pythons from the RCReptiles.com facility are captive born and bred and are 100% disease and problem free, which is one of the reasons why we have so many customers that are completely satisfied with the quality of our ball pythons and our customer service alike. Unfortunately, many ball pythons and snakes in general that come from pet stores (in addition to unscrupulous breeders’) harbor dangerous and deadly diseases that can infect and ultimately kill your existing collection of established ball pythons.

Zoos are all too familiar with the importance of quarantining new animals because they don’t know if the animal is healthy or not. Well known Zoos trade, buy and sell animals’ amongst each other and despite the fact that they may all be well known institutions, they still adhere to strict quarantine procedures. You too should incorporate a quarantine process when you bring new ball pythons (or snakes in general) into your home.

Place new ball pythons in quarantine!

My New Snake Looks Fine Though
It doesn’t matter if you acquired an animal from a pet store, from your friend that no longer wants her ball python or even from RCReptiles.com for that matter, you still need to place it into quarantine. Despite the fact that our ball pythons are 100% healthy, parasites-free, virus-free, disease-free, etc., you still need to put them into quarantine. You may be thinking, “Why do I need to quarantine them if I purchase them from you?” The answer is very simple. Most people look at quarantine from the “outside in” opposed to the “inside out”!

What this means is that you could have mites or ticks on your existing ball python and have yet to realize this. You could have visited a pet store, handled one of their ball pythons and brought the deadly IBD (inclusion body disease) virus back with you on your hands or mites could have crawled from the snake onto your clothing. The disease or mites could have been transmitted to your ball python when you picked it up without thoroughly washing your hands prior to handling or if mites fell off your clothing and into your ball pythons’ tank when you opened it. Now you have a serious problem with your existing ball python that you knew nothing of so you think your ball python is 100% healthy when in fact it’s not, its been COMPROMISED!

Lets say you receive your new ball python from RCReptiles.com and you don’t place it into quarantine but put it in the tank right next to your existing ball python, or the same tank for that matter (a big NO, NO!). Your new healthy ball python from RCReptiles.com is now susceptible to catching the deadly IBD virus or having mites attack it from the other tank by crawling from the infested tank to the new tank!

The same holds true if you have a happy and healthy ball python in your collection and acquire a new ball python from a pet store or from your friend that decided she doesn’t have the time for her ball python. That new ball python can bring disease or parasites into your collection if you don’t quarantine it!

How to Quarantine Properly
When you receive a new ball python from any place other than RCReptiles.com, you need to take the snake to the vet ASAP and have them check it out. They will perform a fecal exam, health check, and etc. to make sure the new ball python is okay. Ask your vet to check it for mites and ticks as well. Despite a clean bill of health from the vet, you still need to implement a strict quarantine process when you get home.

The new snake should be housed a minimum of one room away from your existing collection of ball pythons or ball python, the further away from your established collection the better. You should use white paper towels as the substrate instead of mulch (aspen, cypress, repti-bark, etc.) as this will help you tell if there are mites on the animal. Products such as provent-a-mite, black flag, no-pest strips, etc. are effective for treating a mite infestation. You can search the Internet for vendors that sell these products in addition to the “articles and reports” section of our website for further information.

Mites can travel to your ball python, change your clothes if you can

Wash your hands thoroughly and if possible, change your clothing after handling the new ball python before you handle your established ball pythons from your collection. Never offer a rodent to an animal in your established collection if you offered the same rodent to the ball python in quarantine. For example, you offer a rodent to the ball python in quarantine and it does not feed. Do not take that same rodent and offer it to one of the ball pythons in your established collection if it was placed in the same cage or near an animal in quarantine.

How Long to Quarantine?
You should keep animals in quarantine for a minimum of three months. You can then move the animals from quarantine into the room where you keep your other ball pythons if you choose to.

Repeat this procedure for new ball pythons and snakes in general that are introduced into your collection. A happy ball python is a healthy ball python so implement a quarantine process to make sure your ball python remains happy and healthy. Feel free to visit our ball python forum to discuss this topic in greater detail.