Quarantine of Herps

This is the recommended guide line as set down by the Association of Zoos & Aquariums, in their 2007 accreditation standards.

QUARANTINE FACILITY:
A separate quarantine facility, with the ability to accommodate reptiles, amphibians, and should exist. If a specific quarantine facility is not present, then newly acquired animals should be isolated from the established collection in such a manner as to prohibit physical contact, to prevent disease transmission, and to avoid aerosol and drainage contamination. Such separation should be obligatory for reptiles.

QUARANTINE LENGTH:
Quarantine for all species should be under the supervision of a veterinarian and consist of a minimum of 30 days (unless otherwise directed by the staff veterinarian). Reptiles, Amphibians: The 30-day quarantine period must be closed for each of the above Classes. Therefore, the addition of any new herps into a herp quarantine area requires that the 30-day quarantine period begin again on the date of the addition of the new herps.

QUARANTINE PERSONNEL:
A keeper should be designated to care only for quarantined animals or a keeper should attend quarantined animals only after fulfilling responsibilities for resident species. Equipment used to feed and clean animals in quarantine should be used only with these animals. If this is not possible, then equipment must be cleaned with an appropriate disinfectant (as designated by the veterinarian supervising quarantine) before use with post-quarantine animals.
Institutions must take precautions to minimize the risk of exposure of animal care personnel to zoonotic diseases that may be present in newly acquired animals. These precautions should include the use of disinfectant foot baths, wearing of appropriate protective clothing and masks in some cases, and minimizing physical exposure in some species;

QUARANTINE PROTOCOL:
During this period, certain prophylactic measures should be instituted. Individual fecal samples or representative samples from large numbers of individuals housed in a limited area (e.g., lizards or frogs in a terrarium) should be collected at least twice and examined for gastrointestinal parasites. Treatment should be prescribed by the attending veterinarian. Ideally, release from quarantine should be dependent on obtaining two negative fecal results spaced a minimum of two weeks apart either initially or after parasiticide treatment. In addition, all animals should be evaluated for ectoparasites and treated accordingly.

Complete medical records should be maintained and available for all animals during the quarantine period. Animals that die during quarantine should have a necropsy performed under the supervision of a veterinarian and representative tissues submitted for histopathologic examination.

QUARANTINE PROCEDURES:
The following are recommendations and suggestions for appropriate quarantine procedures for REPTILES AND AMPHIBIANS
REQUIRED: 1. direct and floatation fecals for parasites followed by appropriate treatment
2. evaluate for ectoparasites
STRONGLY RECOMMENDED:
1. veterinary examination
2. CBC/blood chemistries
3. Paramyxo-viral t** for all viperids, incoming after being in quarantine for 30 days
4. full post-mortem examination and histopathology on all specimens dying while in quarantine

Although this ref is intended for commercial collections, thought should be given for quarantine procedure to any new arrivals in any collection, as the risks of disease transmission are very real, and can be devistating.