The most common method of spreading a disease or mite infestation among a reptile collection is through cross contamination. Despite this, many keepers don’t fully understand the risks of cross contamination in reptiles or how to minimize the risk of it occurring.
The main issue here is that by the time you realise there is a problem, the issue has spread to multiple animals. At this point, preventative measures to prevent cross contamination are too late and you are left to deal with multiple cases of disease or mite infestation as opposed to an isolated incident.
Cross contamination usually isn’t a result of poor reptile husbandry or lack of care for your animals. In most instances, this occurs simply due to bad habits or the owner doesn’t understand the risk of cross contamination.
You do not have to have 100 reptiles to be at risk. Cross contamination can occur within your collection if you have 2 or more reptiles. While it is impossible to eliminate risk, basic hygiene and preventative measures will go a long way to reducing any risks.
It goes without saying that you should check your cages daily and spot clean when necessary. You should also replace and sanitize water bowls on a regular basis. A deep clean of each enclosure should be conducted every month or so. This includes washing and sanitizing all cage furnishings and replacing the bedding.
Feeding your Reptiles
Good practice during feeding is also very important in preventing cross contamination in reptiles. Think about it! How often have you fed one snake with a thong’s and then picked up another rodent and offered it to your next snake? This routine task could be all it takes to transfer illness or mites from one animal to another.
Simply wiping the thong’s between snakes or spraying it with a reptile friendly disinfectant could go a long way to preventing the spread of anything nasty. This is simply just a good habit you should try to implement into your feeding procedure which only takes a couple of seconds.
Even if your husbandry is spot on and all your cages are cleaned regularly, don’t assume that your reptiles are risk free. Bacteria, Microbes and Mites can be transferred into your collection through the food that your reptiles eat. Most insect or rodent suppliers have very large breeding facilities where contamination can spread quickly.
When feeding insects to your reptiles, you should also wash your hands, tweezers or forceps when moving from one enclosure to the next. You should also never put uneaten bugs back into their tub to be offered again. If the bug picked up a parasite, it could quickly spread to all the bugs in the container and your entire reptile collection could soon be infected.
Preventing and containing Parasites
Internal Parasites can be difficult to diagnose. Often there are no visible signs and the only way to know if your reptile has internal parasites is to get a vet to do a faecal parasite test. Even if you don’t think a reptile in your collection has parasites, there are steps you should be taking to prevent and contain the treat of contamination.
First of all, you should source your reptile food from a reputable source. Resist the temptation of offering them wild caught insects. It is much more likely that your animal will catch parasites from these wild caught insects.
You may be thinking, reptiles eat wild caught insects in the wild so what’s the problem? Well the problem is that many of these wild reptiles are infested with internal parasites, which is exactly what we are trying to prevent here.
Other measures you can take here to prevent cross contamination in reptiles is to wash your hands between handling different reptiles, their bedding or cage furnishings. If you are putting a reptile into a cage that previously belonged to a different reptile or swapping furnishings, it is important to do a deep clean beforehand.
Other methods of Cross Contamination in Reptiles
There are many other ways cross contamination can occur, and it is impossible to eliminate the risk. The best that you can do as a reptile keeper is to minimize the risk as much as possible.
Bathing multiple reptiles together can be another common method of spreading parasites or mites. You should switch to bathing reptiles individually while disinfecting the tub before and after each reptile’s bath.
The same can be said if you feed your snakes in a separate enclosure or tub. If this feeding tub is used for multiple snakes, cross contamination can be a serious risk. You should disinfect the tub before and after each feed with a reptile safe disinfectant to minimise the risk of contamination.
When breeding reptiles, you also run the risk of cross contamination. You should examine all animals thoroughly before placing them together. Any new reptiles you add to your collection should be placed in quarantine. This will allow you to monitor their health before placing them in the vicinity of your other reptiles.
If you liked this article, fell free to check out some of the other ones we have put together. We have listed some of them below.
Black and Yellow Snakes
Differences Between Turtles and Tortoises
How to Build a Wooden DIY Reptile Enclosure
How to Breed Poison Dart Frogs
Snake Mites – Everything you Need to Know
Why do Snakes Yawn
