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Quarantine? Adding a new snake.

ArvadaLanee

ArvadaLanee

New member
We have had our first snake, Nightmare, for a little over a year now. He was hatched in October of 2014. My boyfriend has now decided that he would like to have his own snake, and we just purchased a little female hatched in September of 2015. We have a seperate viv for her, in a different room, away from Nightmare, but are there any other things we should know about a quarantine period? Obviously, good hand washing will be practiced. I'm going to go back, and find the article on acclimating a new snake, so my boyfriend can read it, and learn how to care for his new baby properly, but so far we have only ever had one snake, and I want to make sure we keep both animals safe and healthy. At some point, will we be able to have both snakes out at the same time near each other, or will it be best to always keep them separated? My boyfriend also had a good question. He asked if we should buy the new baby her own feeding container. He was worried that even if we wash it, she might still smell Nightmare on it, and we don't know if that could affect her feeding habbits. If we ever do want to be able to have both snakes out at the same time, do we need to make any kind of gradual introductions? Any advise on becoming a multiple snake household would be greatly appreciated. I'm very happy my boyfriend has come around and decided to join my kids and I, in this wonderful hobby.
 
For the quarantine the snakes should not share containers nor other elements like tweezers/caves/hides without disinfection. Not because they may smell each other, but for the risk of contagion. So yes, a separate feeding container and tweezers would be advised. Also, it's recommended that the quarantined snakes are handled last, after all the established collection to make risks even less. As for the duration, it depends on the people, but at least some 2-3 months should be ok. Others prefer to have a 6 months or more.
When this time has passed and you are sure your new snake doesn't have parasites or diseases you can house them on the same room, but I'd not share elements either: each snake with its own feeding tank, etc (but just my opinion). Others may say you can share and do so.
If you're going to handle both snakes at the same time I wouldn't let them too near each other, either. In an instant anything could happen even if you carefully supervise them.
I only own one, so wait for others that have a collection to better advise you. If you don't have a book yet you could get Don's or Kathy and Bill Love's one. They address this topic, as well, and could be a good read for both of you.
 
Thanks. Sounds like we are doing alright then. Do you know the names of those books, and if you can find them on amazon? I was already planning to order up a couple more decorations for the new viv, so it would be nice if I could find them there.
 
Sure, you can find them on Amazon.
Kathy and Bill's one is called "Corn Snakes: The Comprehensive Owner's Guide".
Don's is "Corn Snakes in Captivity".

What morph is your new critter?
 
Here is Kathy Love's book on Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/Corn-Snakes-C...772527&sr=1-1&keywords=Kathy+Love+corn+snakes

And Don's book.

http://www.amazon.com/Corn-Snakes-C...=1-1-fkmr0&keywords=Don+Soderburg+corn+snakes

I have both and though there is of course some overlap in what they say, I do find them both useful.

Quarantine was covered well. Handle the new snake last, separate room of the house and don't share any items between them, at least without being well disinfected are all best practices. Same room can be done if you have to but if you can do seperate, that's best. 3 months minimum is usually recommended but lots of people say go for 6 or 9. By that time you should be well sure that the new snake doesn't have anything, disease or mites, etc. that can be passed to the established resident(s).

You can eventually have them out together but I'd definitely watch and probably wouldn't let them get within touching distance. Aggression is not very much of a concern in this case, but rather unwanted breeding/breeding too young for the female to safely lay. And that can happen surprisingly fast! Especially if it's something you don't want!
 
I actually just found both of those, and added them to my list.

There actually seems to be some debate about the morph of our new darling. She was labled as bloodred, but I shared a picture of her on the corn snake Facebook page, and popular opinion seem to be that she is just a pretty red classic. We are waiting to get some belly pics sent later this evening, but my understanding is that from the picture I do have, it doesn't look like she has the traits of a bloodred.
 
Maybe post some pics on here as well? Someone will be able to help you for sure. Also, the bloodreds are selectively bred, and thus can have various degrees of bloodred-ness.
 
2lbjfd1.jpg


This is the only pic we have right now, but we are getting more later, so we can see her belly. We weren't looking specifically for a bloodred or anything. My boyfriend had no idea corn snakes came in so many colors, so I basically just showed him pictures, until he said, that's the one. If it turns out to be anything different, he won't be disappointed. He thinks she's beautiful. I just don't know enough about the morphs, and I had no reason to doubt her label. (I checked the boi, and found positive feedback.) No matter what, I think she will do just fine, and be a happy addition to our family. She looks pretty sweet to me. ;)
 
I can see a bit of diffusion to her sides. The belly shots will let you know for sure. Not sure I'd have picked her out as diffused if I hadn't been told she was but I wouldn't rule it out either. She might just be not a "good" example of bloodred. Which doesn't matter if your bf likes the looks of her!
 
Yep! All that really matters, is that he loves her, and hopefully loves her enough to let me get another one some day. Haha. We already have Nightmare, the anery, but technically, he belongs to the kids, so now that my boyfriend is getting his own, I might just have to get my very own one day. We will see how it goes. ;)
 
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