05-05-2011, 08:29 PM
Quarantine procedures as they apply to the Dart Frog Hobby:
What is Quarantine?
Quarantine is compulsory isolation, typically to contain the spread of something considered dangerous, often but not always disease. Quarantine is as much about OBSERVATION as it is about treatments and administrating medication. The word comes from the Italian (seventeenth century Venetian) quarantena, meaning forty-day period. Quarantine can be applied to humans, but also to animals of various kinds. Isolation and Separation are synonyms.
Why should I use Quarantine?
Because it is an easy REASONABLE first step to observing and ensuring your frogs are in decent health and condition. Say you are un-boxing a shipment of frogs that you paid for and received cross country. The first thing you want to do is to make certain that the transaction has been completed properly and that the frogs are in good health. The best way and most reasonable method is a simple quarantine enclosure to observe the animals. This procedure, accompanied with numerous photographs is also the BEST way of safeguarding your transaction and documenting the condition of the newly acquired frogs. The reverse of this, is that you DON’T perform an adequate quarantine procedure, when so many responsible hobbyists do, and then you are left looking like someone who takes short cuts and under values the health and well being of the animals, not to mention, you have MUCH less of a legal leg to stand on should a problem develop further down the road.
The main reason for quarantine is that once you place animals into a fully constructed vivarium, there’s no turning back. Any issues, problems, discovered diseases or parasites are going to mean that the whole shebang is contaminated or infected and will have to be torn done. If you have to obtain fecal samples or begin a regime of treatment and medication, a fully prepared vivarium is not the place you want to consider doing it. Think about the potential horror story of having to rip apart a large Exoterra that has a ton of great stuff, wood and water features and full plantings!
When to use a Quarantine procedure?
Quarantine methods are utilized in two main ways:
1. For all newly acquired frogs, no matter where, or from whom, they came. Even if you are told that the frogs are kept in impeccable conditions and the breeder / seller has never had a single instance of any parasite or problem – it’s still always best to consider quarantining all animals.
2. For frogs that have been in your collection for a period of time but appear to have developed an illness, disease or possible injury also for a particular frog that appears to not feed adequately, is otherwise too timid around other frogs or perhaps the opposite – too aggressive. It’s always best to err on the side of caution and Isolate / Separate any frog if you perceive a problem that you are unsure how to deal with or correct. Do NOT wait and allow the problem to magnify and the animal to go downhill.
How do I use a Quarantine procedure?
A quarantine container / enclosure should be simple – something easy to clean and disinfect. It should be of “medium size” and not too small or too large. A good size for a single frog would be a 10 gallon glass fish tank or one of the large size plastic critter carriers.
The contents should also be simple, easy to clean or discard and comfortable for the animal to hide in. A generous amount of Pothos is an excellent plant choice as it’s cheap, easy to obtain, hardy and can be thrown away. Live plants like broad leaved Pothos not only provide excellent hides, shelter and comfort in an otherwise bare environment, but they also have the added ability to help retain moisture and provide a wet microclimate for the frog. Some dried and sterilized Magnolia leaves for bottom leaf litter are good to use as well as these baked, boiled and otherwise pre sterilized prior to being placed in the quarantine enclosure. Finally a few layers of moist plain, non-colored paper towel should be used as a substrate – on the bottom of the enclosure. Paper towels are easy to make sure of being at the proper moisture level – sight, as well as easy to discard and replace with new.
USE CLIPPED PLANTS / POTHOS. NO SOIL OR 'DIRT'. JUST CLIPPINGS
Items you do not want to place in a quarantine tank would be: rocks, gravel, wood features, dirt, standing pools of water. These items are very hard to disinfect and clean.
Length or duration of Quarantine?
@ 40 Days ?
Here is an example of a Quarantine procedure that revealed hookworms and the treatment regime that took place in the quarantine enclosure: * Note* This is an example of a particular owners decision and regime. It is NOT a template to be followed to the "T" and replicated. It is only an example. A dart frog experienced VET is always the best choice for medical advice on your particular frog species and issues.
Day 1 - Place frogs in QT and observe
Day 2 - Feed Calcium dusted FF and observe
Day 3 - Observe
Day 4 - Feed Vitamin dusted FF and observe
Day 5 - Observe
Day 6 - Observe
Day 7 - Feed Calcium dusted FF and observe
Day 8 - Observe
Day 9 - Feed Vitamin dusted FF and observe
Day 10 - Collect fecals (3-5 poops per viv), Overnight fecals to vet for examination. Observe
Day 11 - Feed Calcium dusted FF and observe - Results should come this day if you send to Dr. Frye he does same day results. Follow his guidelines for treating. Most likely it will be Panacur dusted FF ones a week for four weeks.
Day 12 - Observe
Day 13 - Observe
Day 14 - Feed FF dusted with ground up Panacur. Grind up the Panacur granule and dust FF with the fine powder. Observe
Day 15 - Move frogs to a new CLEAN QT and observe
Day 16 - Feed Vitamin dusted FF and observe
Day 17 - Observe
Day 18 - Feed Calcium dusted FF and observe
Day 19 - Observe
Day 20 - Observe
Day 21 - Feed FF dusted with ground up Panacur. Grind up the Panacur granule and dust FF with the fine powder. Observe
Day 22 - Move frogs to a new CLEAN QT and observe
Day 23 - Feed Vitamin dusted FF and observe
Day 24 - Observe
Day 25 - Feed Calcium dusted FF and observe
Day 26 - Observe
Day 27 - Observe
Day 28 - Feed FF dusted with ground up Panacur. Grind up the Panacur granule and dust FF with the fine powder. Observe
Day 29 - Move frogs to a new CLEAN QT and observe
Day 30 - Feed Vitamin dusted FF and observe
Day 31 - Observe
Day 32 - Feed Calcium dusted FF and observe
Day 33 - Observe
Day 34 - Observe
Day 35 - Feed FF dusted with ground up Panacur. Grind up the Panacur granule and dust FF with the fine powder. Observe
Day 36 - Move frogs to a new CLEAN QT and observe
Day 37 - Feed Calcium dusted FF and observe
Day 38 - Observe
Day 39 - Feed Vitamin dusted FF and observe
Day 40 - Observe
Day 41 - Observe
Day 42 - Feed Calcium dusted FF and observe
Day 43 - Observe
Day 44 - Feed Vitamin dusted FF and observe
Day 45 - Collect fecals (3-5 poops per viv). Overnight fecals to vet for examination. Observe
Day 46+ - Repeat from Day 11 on if frogs still have something that requires treatment, otherwise keep feeding every other day or so and send off new fecal every 2 weeks until you get 3 clean fecals returned.
What is Quarantine?
Quarantine is compulsory isolation, typically to contain the spread of something considered dangerous, often but not always disease. Quarantine is as much about OBSERVATION as it is about treatments and administrating medication. The word comes from the Italian (seventeenth century Venetian) quarantena, meaning forty-day period. Quarantine can be applied to humans, but also to animals of various kinds. Isolation and Separation are synonyms.
Why should I use Quarantine?
Because it is an easy REASONABLE first step to observing and ensuring your frogs are in decent health and condition. Say you are un-boxing a shipment of frogs that you paid for and received cross country. The first thing you want to do is to make certain that the transaction has been completed properly and that the frogs are in good health. The best way and most reasonable method is a simple quarantine enclosure to observe the animals. This procedure, accompanied with numerous photographs is also the BEST way of safeguarding your transaction and documenting the condition of the newly acquired frogs. The reverse of this, is that you DON’T perform an adequate quarantine procedure, when so many responsible hobbyists do, and then you are left looking like someone who takes short cuts and under values the health and well being of the animals, not to mention, you have MUCH less of a legal leg to stand on should a problem develop further down the road.
The main reason for quarantine is that once you place animals into a fully constructed vivarium, there’s no turning back. Any issues, problems, discovered diseases or parasites are going to mean that the whole shebang is contaminated or infected and will have to be torn done. If you have to obtain fecal samples or begin a regime of treatment and medication, a fully prepared vivarium is not the place you want to consider doing it. Think about the potential horror story of having to rip apart a large Exoterra that has a ton of great stuff, wood and water features and full plantings!
When to use a Quarantine procedure?
Quarantine methods are utilized in two main ways:
1. For all newly acquired frogs, no matter where, or from whom, they came. Even if you are told that the frogs are kept in impeccable conditions and the breeder / seller has never had a single instance of any parasite or problem – it’s still always best to consider quarantining all animals.
2. For frogs that have been in your collection for a period of time but appear to have developed an illness, disease or possible injury also for a particular frog that appears to not feed adequately, is otherwise too timid around other frogs or perhaps the opposite – too aggressive. It’s always best to err on the side of caution and Isolate / Separate any frog if you perceive a problem that you are unsure how to deal with or correct. Do NOT wait and allow the problem to magnify and the animal to go downhill.
How do I use a Quarantine procedure?
A quarantine container / enclosure should be simple – something easy to clean and disinfect. It should be of “medium size” and not too small or too large. A good size for a single frog would be a 10 gallon glass fish tank or one of the large size plastic critter carriers.
The contents should also be simple, easy to clean or discard and comfortable for the animal to hide in. A generous amount of Pothos is an excellent plant choice as it’s cheap, easy to obtain, hardy and can be thrown away. Live plants like broad leaved Pothos not only provide excellent hides, shelter and comfort in an otherwise bare environment, but they also have the added ability to help retain moisture and provide a wet microclimate for the frog. Some dried and sterilized Magnolia leaves for bottom leaf litter are good to use as well as these baked, boiled and otherwise pre sterilized prior to being placed in the quarantine enclosure. Finally a few layers of moist plain, non-colored paper towel should be used as a substrate – on the bottom of the enclosure. Paper towels are easy to make sure of being at the proper moisture level – sight, as well as easy to discard and replace with new.
USE CLIPPED PLANTS / POTHOS. NO SOIL OR 'DIRT'. JUST CLIPPINGS
Items you do not want to place in a quarantine tank would be: rocks, gravel, wood features, dirt, standing pools of water. These items are very hard to disinfect and clean.
Length or duration of Quarantine?
@ 40 Days ?
Here is an example of a Quarantine procedure that revealed hookworms and the treatment regime that took place in the quarantine enclosure: * Note* This is an example of a particular owners decision and regime. It is NOT a template to be followed to the "T" and replicated. It is only an example. A dart frog experienced VET is always the best choice for medical advice on your particular frog species and issues.
Day 1 - Place frogs in QT and observe
Day 2 - Feed Calcium dusted FF and observe
Day 3 - Observe
Day 4 - Feed Vitamin dusted FF and observe
Day 5 - Observe
Day 6 - Observe
Day 7 - Feed Calcium dusted FF and observe
Day 8 - Observe
Day 9 - Feed Vitamin dusted FF and observe
Day 10 - Collect fecals (3-5 poops per viv), Overnight fecals to vet for examination. Observe
Day 11 - Feed Calcium dusted FF and observe - Results should come this day if you send to Dr. Frye he does same day results. Follow his guidelines for treating. Most likely it will be Panacur dusted FF ones a week for four weeks.
Day 12 - Observe
Day 13 - Observe
Day 14 - Feed FF dusted with ground up Panacur. Grind up the Panacur granule and dust FF with the fine powder. Observe
Day 15 - Move frogs to a new CLEAN QT and observe
Day 16 - Feed Vitamin dusted FF and observe
Day 17 - Observe
Day 18 - Feed Calcium dusted FF and observe
Day 19 - Observe
Day 20 - Observe
Day 21 - Feed FF dusted with ground up Panacur. Grind up the Panacur granule and dust FF with the fine powder. Observe
Day 22 - Move frogs to a new CLEAN QT and observe
Day 23 - Feed Vitamin dusted FF and observe
Day 24 - Observe
Day 25 - Feed Calcium dusted FF and observe
Day 26 - Observe
Day 27 - Observe
Day 28 - Feed FF dusted with ground up Panacur. Grind up the Panacur granule and dust FF with the fine powder. Observe
Day 29 - Move frogs to a new CLEAN QT and observe
Day 30 - Feed Vitamin dusted FF and observe
Day 31 - Observe
Day 32 - Feed Calcium dusted FF and observe
Day 33 - Observe
Day 34 - Observe
Day 35 - Feed FF dusted with ground up Panacur. Grind up the Panacur granule and dust FF with the fine powder. Observe
Day 36 - Move frogs to a new CLEAN QT and observe
Day 37 - Feed Calcium dusted FF and observe
Day 38 - Observe
Day 39 - Feed Vitamin dusted FF and observe
Day 40 - Observe
Day 41 - Observe
Day 42 - Feed Calcium dusted FF and observe
Day 43 - Observe
Day 44 - Feed Vitamin dusted FF and observe
Day 45 - Collect fecals (3-5 poops per viv). Overnight fecals to vet for examination. Observe
Day 46+ - Repeat from Day 11 on if frogs still have something that requires treatment, otherwise keep feeding every other day or so and send off new fecal every 2 weeks until you get 3 clean fecals returned.
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