Help me out here guys

[Elliot]

Well... I hate to say this, but I totally disagree with that evaluation, unless your snakes were caught together in the same hide, within a week of so of each other.

Lots of things can infect one wild animal and not get to the other from the same area.

Well I guess I see your point, I didn't think of it that way.

[KITKAT]

Well I guess I see your point, I didn't think of it that way.

The problem is captivity... when an animal is sick in the wild, other animals can avoid it. Rain and sunshine can kill the pest or organism that is making the one animal sick.

But in captivity, they are forced to be together intimately. They share the same substrate, food dish, and water dish, and these items are not "cleaned" by fresh sunshine, rain, and temperature fluctuations, etc. And even though you clean the viv weekly or bi-weekly, wash the dishes and change the substrate, the pest or organism that is making the animal sick can concentrate there to infect the viv-mate.

So you want to be sure that the new animal is healthy (as well as the old animal) before having them share quarters.

Back when I was new to keeping reptiles, I rescued a collared lizard from a bad pet store. He was so sick that his skin had turned hard and black but had not shed. In the course of about one month, I was able to get him healthy.

After about two months, I thought he was lonely, so I got him a female from a reputable breeder. I did not quarantine her, and I got lucky and they were both fine. Several months passed...

Next, I thought to add a second female to my little family. I bought another female from the same breeder. By this time, I was getting advice about quarantine, so I did quarantine the new female for two weeks... despite being warned by people that I should quarantine for 4 - 6 weeks.

But after two weeks, I grew tired of caring for both vivs, and she seemed healthy, so I introduced her to the pair.

Two weeks after the introduction, all H E double hockey sticks broke out! The new female began wasting. She was treated with wormers, but she still died. I cleaned out the viv and gave a worming to the other two... but four weeks later, my other female died... and two weeks after that, I lost the male!

Live and learn... I will always quarantine for the full 6 weeks now!

[Elliot]

Wow that sucks, I'll be keeping mine in qurantine for a good long time now too.

[GarterGuy]

Have to agree with the above advice....best to quarantine you new snake for at least a month before introducing it to an established captive. Very good idea to get fecals done as well. Also you'll want to be very observant about how the snakes "get along" once introduced to each other. You'll want to make sure there's no problems with food bullying or anything like that. Good luck with them!
Roy

[Elliot]

Have to agree with the above advice....best to quarantine you new snake for at least a month before introducing it to an established captive. Very good idea to get fecals done as well. Also you'll want to be very observant about how the snakes "get along" once introduced to each other. You'll want to make sure there's no problems with food bullying or anything like that. Good luck with them!
Roy

Will do, thanks!

[Elliot]

Well I got some pictures of the new snake, it isn't cooperating but I got a pic of the tail so you guys could give your input about it being a male or female.

[Elliot]

The very tip of its tail is missing, but it probably wasn't more than half an inch.