Chapter 7 of 12 · Manny's Care Guide

Quarantine and health

Disclaimer: I'm not a veterinarian and I don't hold a degree in animal science or animal care. This is a guide I compiled and use with my own ball pythons. For a sick animal, a reptile vet is the authority.

Quarantine

Every new animal is assumed to be carrying something until it proves otherwise. The protocol:

  1. A set quarantine period, in a separate room from the established collection [2][4]. Merck recommends three to six months, and ReptiFiles says three to six and suggests up to twelve for pythons because of nidovirus [1][3]. Our practice: 60 days for adults from known breeders, with a nidovirus swab and a fecal before release; animals with unknown history get longer.
  2. Separate everything: its own tongs, tubs, water bowls and spray bottle, labelled so they never cross over [1][4].
  3. Quarantine animals are handled last, after the established snakes, and you wash up and change afterward [1].
  4. Paper towel on the floor so every stool, mite and regurgitation is visible [1].
  5. Weigh on arrival and keep weighing; a written log of every feeding, shed and stool [2][4].
  6. A fecal exam at the vet for anything with an unknown history. ReptiFiles calls a fecal screen the absolute minimum [1][2].
Our practice: weights every two weeks during quarantine. The interval is ours. Snake mites get their own chapter: Mites.

The checks we do at every feeding

Clear eyes, smooth skin with no retained shed, a clean vent, no specks in the water bowl, eating on schedule, weight trending the right way [6][2]. Ten seconds per snake, written down.

When it's a vet visit

Respiratory infection. Open-mouth breathing, mucus or bubbles at the nose or mouth, stringy saliva, clicking, wheezing or gurgling when it breathes [7][8][9]. This is a vet visit, not a husbandry tweak; a vet reference calls respiratory distress an emergency [9]. The usual triggers are a cold enclosure, wrong humidity, poor ventilation and dirty conditions, so fix those too [7][8].

Scale rot. Red, inflamed belly scales, then blisters, then ulcers. Caused by wet or dirty conditions [5][8]. Dry the enclosure and see a vet as soon as there are blisters [5][10]; we move the snake onto paper towel until it's healed.

Mites. Black specks that move, specks in the water bowl, a snake that soaks all the time. See the Mites chapter.

Retained shed and eye caps. See Shedding.

Anything that isn't improving. A snake that's losing weight, not eating for weeks, or just looks wrong goes to a reptile vet. Find one through ARAV.

Salmonella and you

Healthy reptiles carry Salmonella. Wash your hands after handling any snake or anything from its enclosure, keep snakes and their gear out of the kitchen, and keep children under five, adults over 65 and anyone immunocompromised from handling them [11][12].

Sources for this chapter

  1. ReptiFiles, How to quarantine reptiles
  2. WikiVet, Lizard quarantine (the protocol applies to snakes)
  3. Merck Veterinary Manual, Management and husbandry of reptiles
  4. Zen Habitats, How to set up a quarantine enclosure
  5. Merck Veterinary Manual, Disorders and diseases of reptiles
  6. PetMD, Ball python care sheet
  7. Stahl, S. J. (LafeberVet), Respiratory disease in snakes and the 2024 outline (PDF)
  8. Merck Veterinary Manual, Bacterial diseases of reptiles
  9. PetMD, Respiratory infections in reptiles; ReptiFiles, Ball python respiratory infection
  10. VCA Animal Hospitals, Common diseases of pet snakes
  11. CDC, Reptiles and amphibians: healthy pets, healthy people
  12. ARAV, Salmonella and reptiles: veterinary guidelines

Last revised November 2, 2026.