Quarantine question...

[ArkansasKelly]

I just thought about this and was wondering if someone could give me a plausible answer.

Why is it necessary to quarantine for 6 months?

If the animals in question are healthy, fecal samples negative, appitite is normal along with alertness and finesse why not say 2 months quarantine period?

Just curious.

ARKelly

 

[Yvonne G]

If you want to do it right, you have to take in fecal samples of the existing tortoises and fecal samples from the new tortoise. You want to do this several times over the months. It would also be good to do blood tests. There is a test now that lets you know if your tortoise has or carries the mycoplasma that causes Upper Respiratory Distress Syndrome. I have heard of people losing their whole colony of tortoises because of adding a new tortoise without the quarantine period. Some folks even quarantine for a whole year. This gives the new animal time to clean out its system and get more "in tune" with the existing group.

Yvonne

 

[Jacqui]

There is no magical amount of time, but the longer you can do the quarantine period, the better your chances of those seemingly invisible germs/virus/ect to show up. Like Yvonne said there are many tests you can do, but they need time often for the answers to come back, or as in the case of fecals one negative doesn't mean no parasites, only that none were in that sample.

It also gives you a chance to get to know the animal before it gets placed into a group setting, where individuals tend to blends into the group. Helps you to spot potential trouble spots even before they arise.

 

[ArkansasKelly]

Okay, that all makes sense to me. I have never heard about the blood test though. Is it fairly new?

Thanks guys,

ARKelly

 

[agiletorts]

I agree there is no magical time. If you know the history of the tortoises, i.e. they are cb's and been raised by one person that you know pretty well, I don't think the quarantine time should be long at all. If it's wc from pet store, then do it at your own risk.