Quarantine Procedures

[Levi the Leopard]

I would like to hear about your quarantine procedures.

How do you determine when to quarantine?
How long do you isolate them?
What do you look for, etc...

A more specific question I have is regarding my yearling leopard.

If I brought in new leopard hatchlings that were captive bred and from a trusted source, would they need to be in a quarantine or could they share in my leopards current outdoor pen?

What are your thoughts on this?

But besides my specific question I do hope to glean from the general quarantine answers, should I add female Russians to my male.

Thanks!

 

[theelectraco]

I haven't had to experience quarantine since I have a single tort, but there a few members here that are red foot breeders local to me that I trust their breeding and housing practices and would not quarantine.

 

[WillTort2]

If you trust the source you may wish to use a shorter quarantine period. But, I can not advise eliminating the quarantine period based on what I've read of other members experiences.

I like a minimum of 3 months.

Good luck!

 

[dcwolfe]

I to had a leopard and i did quarenty mine even though it was from a dealer from online. Even though they might be a good dealer u cant stop mother nature and is it worth the risk to your current yearling. What i did was get a Tupper wear and put it inside of my leopards enclosure and put the new leopard in it, that way i didnt have to worry about contact. I waited about two weeks to make sure the new leopard wasn't sluggish and that he ate well then i introduced the two.

 

[wellington]

I too have not had to do this. However from what I have learned on this forum, it is not worth the risk. By the time you know something is wrong, it might be too late. better safe then sorry. I agree with Will, three months if it were a wild caught tort, I would wait six months.
As for adding female Russians to your male, only if you want to breed. Then you will need a very large area for them with lots of sight barriers. 2-3 females to one male and even then the male could still need to be housed separately.

 

[Yvonne G]

We've talked a lot about quarantine here on the Forum. Here's just one in depth thread on the subject, but if you use the "search" feature you'll find many more:

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-66974.html

 

[Levi the Leopard]

If you trust the source you may wish to use a shorter quarantine period. But, I can not advise eliminating the quarantine period

Even though they might be a good dealer u cant stop mother nature and is it worth the risk to your current yearling.

By the time you know something is wrong, it might be too late. better safe then sorry. I agree with Will, three months

So you think the new CB hatchlings could pose a health risk to my yearling?

If they don't have worms and don't have respiratory infections, what would I be watching for in the 3month quarantine?

This is the specific question I can't seem to understand.

Thanks for the link Yvonne. I have searched a bit and already understand the importance of quarantine for newly acquired tortoises in general. Its the hatchling question I haven't seen answered yet. I'll see if anyone addresses it in that one.

 

[tortadise]

My procedures are pretty rigorous. But I have many animals and all sorts of species both Wild Caught and Captive bred. In the respect of a year old leo that you have. You already know his situation. Nice healthy active specimen. For a hatchling from a reputable place thats a good sign. The only thing I would be worried about in the beginning would be the size difference. A well started hatchling is going to be quite smaller than a yearly. I would place the hatchling in its own environment for the benefit of just observations/quarantine respects. That said It would also give the little guy more time to get bigger and withstand possible injury or bullying from the bigger one. It is a better safe than sorry respect. In this case its not dealing with WC specimens but that doesn't mean a breeder doesn't know that their animal has nasty viruses that show no immediate signs. Also some virus and infectious organisms require diagnosis through bloodwork, nasal flush, bacterial panels grown at labs that won't even show signs of unless these measures are taken. More than likely you won't see this issue with a hatchling. But IT IS POSSIBLE. That I think is the word to be cautious over. So in a way of size and age differences that in this scenario I think plays a larger role. At the same time gives the opportunity to see if at possible something does end up not right with the new animal.