Thanks, Lori. I'll absolutely be testing my Ball bf adding another python or boa to my home and testing the new addition during quarantine. I'm seriously considering a rescue BCI, so I'll probably not have the best background info on it. This is a super important step, IMO.
This is really informative and a great resource that should be shared everywhere! I have tested all my pythons, but one previously used as a breeder, I tested more than once as I know you can sometimes can get false negatives and I'm leery of any animal kept in crowded conditions with intimate exposure to many other pythons. I'm still conscious of how I handle him and not to cross contaminate anything, despite him repeatedly testing negative. I have watched and even private messaged a breeder before that discovered Nido in his collection, was making videos about it and no one had ever explained basic biosecurity to him. Could you make a video on that as well? I'm often shocked about how many folks don't understand how viruses can spread, like basic modes of contamination (for example, I use separate tongs for snakes I babysit than I do for my own animals.) Also, what disinfectants work to kill what. Like Crypto for example, cannot be killed so easily? And things like how you can get a negative test result, but that doesn't necessarily mean the animal is in the clear? (parasites might not show depending on the life cycle of the parasite?)
@@LoriTorrini Does the University of Florida offer tests to the public like Fishhead & RAL? I'm sure my guy is fine, but peace of mind isn't a bad thing.
How long of a quarantine period would you recommend? I typically hear 3 months, but I'm not sure if that's sufficient. And how long does it take before symptoms first appear? I can't seem to find the answer to that, although my guess is that it depends.
Quarantine is really to keep the new snake away from your other snakes until you are certain they do not have internal or external parasite, a bacterial, fungal, or viral infection, or you determine if they are carriers of a virus or not. Snakes can be carriers of nidovirus and not become symptomatic (have clinical signs) but may still be able to infect other snakes. The veterinarian I work with after consulting with the University of Florida infectious disease lab recommends testing for Nidovirus 3 times about 6 months apart and not assuming they are free of the virus until there are 3 negative tests. We have taken in snake at our animal sanctuary who have tested positive, are definitely carriers and have had the strains they carry sequenced but who are not and have never been sick. They are maintained in a separate building and room from snakes testing negative.
I just learned about this virus today. Its existence stresses me out now that I’m a snake owner. I’ve been told that it can be transmitted via snake mites as well. Is that common?
It is transmitted via body fluids from one snake to another. One snake one have to ingest, inhale or absorb body fluids from another snake via contact with blood, feces, urine or urates, saliva, etc. this can be via direct contact or through surfaces or airborne particles.
Do you have any tips on helping out against blister disease/scale rot? I have an otherwise healthy adult corn snake who has it and I’m giving them a bath in betadine in water every day to help them as well as putting Colloidal silver afterwards. I’ve been keeping them in a sterile well cleaned tank with paper towels as bedding (it’s easy to change and is clean). I’m pretty sure I’ve caught the disease early and hopefully these treatments will be affective. And I’m definitely keeping my snake dry btw besides the baths.
Has he been to a veterinarian? That is my recommendation. The vet can check for the root cause like a virus or bacteria or fungus via skin and salon a samples. This way it can be properly treated with something specific to the condition.
@@LoriTorrini I have not taken them to a vet quite yet. I read in a snake care book specifically for corn snakes that the condition should trigger a faster shed cycle to repair the damage done to the scales. So far from what I can tell the infection looks less noticeable then when I first started treatment. But rest assured that if when my snake sheds the scales look worse instead of better I’ll be taking them straight to the veterinarian ASAP. The only thing is that the betadine is just making my snake a slightly more orange color hue. Luckily their behavior looks mostly unbothered as well (besides in the baths since snakes don’t tend to like those) and she has been eating like normal. I do really appreciate the advice and I plan to take a look around my town for the best veterinarians.
@@Carnosaur290 Please note I'm not an expert! I agree with Lori's suggestion and your idea to take them to a vet if it gets any worse. I do not have experience with scale rot/blister disease and I live in a climate too dry for corns to naturally survive in, so my pet corns haven't had to worry much about that. But, I have heard that excessive humidity is what causes that condition. I would imagine that betadine and colloidal silver (im not sure what the latter is, but again i trust the experts over my assumptions) manage to kill any remaining bacteria in the tap water (not to mention most tap water is fairly bacteria-free to begin with) but maybe you could look into if continuing to bathe every day is a good idea still? My gut assumption would be to stop bathing if one of my snakes developed scale rot, but I also say that as someone who regularly bathes one of my corn snakes who is a little old man who seems to actually enjoy swimming and struggles to shed on his own. He's the only snake I ever bathe unless I'm really worried about the others - I have heard some people don't think bathing is the best go-to method to fix things like mild constipation or bad sheds, namely for snakes who don't like the water. But obviously, a chemical bath to treat a medical condition is a lot different than that. Definitely give her something big to grab onto in her baths if you can and haven't yet! I have a snake who freaked out when I bathed him once (was trying to get a stool sample, didn't work very well...) and once I gave him something big enough to wrap his whole body around he calmed down pretty quick. As long as she's eating like normal I wouldn't be too concerned if she hasn't shed yet - if after a shed cycle or two it hasn't cleared up, or like you said if it gets worse, I'd suggest going to a vet. I think it's possible that the specific mixture you're using might not have an effect (some people say betadine is all placebo iirc?), but hey, if it works - placebo or not - there's no reason to change it until it stops working!
@@baasparkopenings for now I’ve stopped using the silver because online the results are a little inconsistent. Might ask a vet about it though. I have been providing a rock for my snake to hold onto in the baths… but they just don’t like water much. I too live in a more arid environment (south west US) so I think that I must have been doing too infrequent of bending changes. Bacteria built up somehow over time and it’s definitely been a wake up call. Unfortunately I believe this has all stemmed from an error on my part. I’ve had the snake for 10 years and sometimes over time you get to be “ehhh I’m sure it’ll be okay they’re in good health if I miss this or that then it’s good”. But even when life gets busy that should never be the status quote. Every snake is different and yeah some like baths better than others, but generally only do it if necessary (at least what I’ve heard). The betadine is supposed to be anti-bacterial and I’m making sure to rinse the snake off in normal water afterwards. She then gets to explore a towel, which calms her down and dries her off. Just to be safe I when I go into volunteer at my local natural history museum I’ll be asking which snake vets they recommend. I do appreciate your concern and you’re opinion!
I have a question can nido virus form in your collection even if all snakes are negative and have been if so what are ways u prevent it from forming nido virus ?
Serpentoviruses (including Nidovirus) are transmitted from one snake to another through contact with each other or through inhalation, ingstions, or absorption of body fluids, blood, feces, urine, urates, etc. that are on surfaces. If no snake in your home has a virus and the virus has never been present in your home it cannot spontaneously appear. It would have to be carried there by you (on hands, shoes, clothing, etc.) or a snake you bring in. The virus is not airborne.
Thank you Lori!
Very good Lori ,,,,, I did enjoy and was educated up on '
Thank you Lori, I am a new Python keeper so this is very good information. Love your hair btw
Important information, thank you Lori. A video on bio security would be super helpful!
Thanks, Lori. I'll absolutely be testing my Ball bf adding another python or boa to my home and testing the new addition during quarantine. I'm seriously considering a rescue BCI, so I'll probably not have the best background info on it. This is a super important step, IMO.
thanks lori!
This is really informative and a great resource that should be shared everywhere! I have tested all my pythons, but one previously used as a breeder, I tested more than once as I know you can sometimes can get false negatives and I'm leery of any animal kept in crowded conditions with intimate exposure to many other pythons. I'm still conscious of how I handle him and not to cross contaminate anything, despite him repeatedly testing negative. I have watched and even private messaged a breeder before that discovered Nido in his collection, was making videos about it and no one had ever explained basic biosecurity to him. Could you make a video on that as well? I'm often shocked about how many folks don't understand how viruses can spread, like basic modes of contamination (for example, I use separate tongs for snakes I babysit than I do for my own animals.) Also, what disinfectants work to kill what. Like Crypto for example, cannot be killed so easily? And things like how you can get a negative test result, but that doesn't necessarily mean the animal is in the clear? (parasites might not show depending on the life cycle of the parasite?)
False negatives are very common with Python Nicole virus testing, especially when using labs other than the University of Florida.
@@LoriTorrini Does the University of Florida offer tests to the public like Fishhead & RAL? I'm sure my guy is fine, but peace of mind isn't a bad thing.
Ty for the info. Im always a smidge paranoid about that haha
How long of a quarantine period would you recommend? I typically hear 3 months, but I'm not sure if that's sufficient. And how long does it take before symptoms first appear? I can't seem to find the answer to that, although my guess is that it depends.
Quarantine is really to keep the new snake away from your other snakes until you are certain they do not have internal or external parasite, a bacterial, fungal, or viral infection, or you determine if they are carriers of a virus or not. Snakes can be carriers of nidovirus and not become symptomatic (have clinical signs) but may still be able to infect other snakes. The veterinarian I work with after consulting with the University of Florida infectious disease lab recommends testing for Nidovirus 3 times about 6 months apart and not assuming they are free of the virus until there are 3 negative tests. We have taken in snake at our animal sanctuary who have tested positive, are definitely carriers and have had the strains they carry sequenced but who are not and have never been sick. They are maintained in a separate building and room from snakes testing negative.
@@LoriTorrini thank you for the detailed answer. It looks like I need to make a vet appointment.
I just learned about this virus today. Its existence stresses me out now that I’m a snake owner. I’ve been told that it can be transmitted via snake mites as well. Is that common?
It is transmitted via body fluids from one snake to another. One snake one have to ingest, inhale or absorb body fluids from another snake via contact with blood, feces, urine or urates, saliva, etc. this can be via direct contact or through surfaces or airborne particles.
Do you have any tips on helping out against blister disease/scale rot? I have an otherwise healthy adult corn snake who has it and I’m giving them a bath in betadine in water every day to help them as well as putting Colloidal silver afterwards. I’ve been keeping them in a sterile well cleaned tank with paper towels as bedding (it’s easy to change and is clean). I’m pretty sure I’ve caught the disease early and hopefully these treatments will be affective. And I’m definitely keeping my snake dry btw besides the baths.
Has he been to a veterinarian? That is my recommendation. The vet can check for the root cause like a virus or bacteria or fungus via skin and salon a samples. This way it can be properly treated with something specific to the condition.
@@LoriTorrini I have not taken them to a vet quite yet. I read in a snake care book specifically for corn snakes that the condition should trigger a faster shed cycle to repair the damage done to the scales. So far from what I can tell the infection looks less noticeable then when I first started treatment. But rest assured that if when my snake sheds the scales look worse instead of better I’ll be taking them straight to the veterinarian ASAP.
The only thing is that the betadine is just making my snake a slightly more orange color hue. Luckily their behavior looks mostly unbothered as well (besides in the baths since snakes don’t tend to like those) and she has been eating like normal. I do really appreciate the advice and I plan to take a look around my town for the best veterinarians.
@@Carnosaur290 Please note I'm not an expert! I agree with Lori's suggestion and your idea to take them to a vet if it gets any worse. I do not have experience with scale rot/blister disease and I live in a climate too dry for corns to naturally survive in, so my pet corns haven't had to worry much about that.
But, I have heard that excessive humidity is what causes that condition. I would imagine that betadine and colloidal silver (im not sure what the latter is, but again i trust the experts over my assumptions) manage to kill any remaining bacteria in the tap water (not to mention most tap water is fairly bacteria-free to begin with) but maybe you could look into if continuing to bathe every day is a good idea still? My gut assumption would be to stop bathing if one of my snakes developed scale rot, but I also say that as someone who regularly bathes one of my corn snakes who is a little old man who seems to actually enjoy swimming and struggles to shed on his own. He's the only snake I ever bathe unless I'm really worried about the others - I have heard some people don't think bathing is the best go-to method to fix things like mild constipation or bad sheds, namely for snakes who don't like the water. But obviously, a chemical bath to treat a medical condition is a lot different than that.
Definitely give her something big to grab onto in her baths if you can and haven't yet! I have a snake who freaked out when I bathed him once (was trying to get a stool sample, didn't work very well...) and once I gave him something big enough to wrap his whole body around he calmed down pretty quick. As long as she's eating like normal I wouldn't be too concerned if she hasn't shed yet - if after a shed cycle or two it hasn't cleared up, or like you said if it gets worse, I'd suggest going to a vet. I think it's possible that the specific mixture you're using might not have an effect (some people say betadine is all placebo iirc?), but hey, if it works - placebo or not - there's no reason to change it until it stops working!
@@baasparkopenings for now I’ve stopped using the silver because online the results are a little inconsistent. Might ask a vet about it though. I have been providing a rock for my snake to hold onto in the baths… but they just don’t like water much. I too live in a more arid environment (south west US) so I think that I must have been doing too infrequent of bending changes. Bacteria built up somehow over time and it’s definitely been a wake up call. Unfortunately I believe this has all stemmed from an error on my part. I’ve had the snake for 10 years and sometimes over time you get to be “ehhh I’m sure it’ll be okay they’re in good health if I miss this or that then it’s good”. But even when life gets busy that should never be the status quote.
Every snake is different and yeah some like baths better than others, but generally only do it if necessary (at least what I’ve heard). The betadine is supposed to be anti-bacterial and I’m making sure to rinse the snake off in normal water afterwards. She then gets to explore a towel, which calms her down and dries her off.
Just to be safe I when I go into volunteer at my local natural history museum I’ll be asking which snake vets they recommend.
I do appreciate your concern and you’re opinion!
I have a question can nido virus form in your collection even if all snakes are negative and have been if so what are ways u prevent it from forming nido virus ?
Serpentoviruses (including Nidovirus) are transmitted from one snake to another through contact with each other or through inhalation, ingstions, or absorption of body fluids, blood, feces, urine, urates, etc. that are on surfaces. If no snake in your home has a virus and the virus has never been present in your home it cannot spontaneously appear. It would have to be carried there by you (on hands, shoes, clothing, etc.) or a snake you bring in. The virus is not airborne.