dback death :( ????

J.C., sorry to hear that she didn’t make it. I couldn’t tell you for sure what might have caused her death but I have my theory. Diamondbacks are by nature quite robust animals but I have seen high mortality rates in wild-caughts and captive born hatchlings. The one thing that most wild-caughts and hatchlings have in common is their possible exposure to foreign pathogens not usually found in their native or captive environment. Unlike the typical hobbyist/breeder, most establishments that sell herps in commercial numbers do not practice good husbandry techniques or take proper precautions to isolate/quarantine animals from each other. An example scenario would be diamondbacks sharing the same tub that just last week housed a group of wild-caught Nile softshells. Let’s say the Nile softies had the West Nile virus (God forbid) but were immune to them, but the diamonbacks aren’t. What do you think the chances are that the diamondbacks will contract the disease and not have the proper defenses to overcome it? If so, they could go down quite rapidly just like your female did. I think that’s why you will rarely encounter a mortality from hatchlings that have been raised by private breeders like Jonathan, Rick, Scott and Vickie. Those that have mixed species know enough not to cross-contaminate; especially with animals of an unknown origin or exotic locale. I know Vickie quarantined her second group of macrospilotas for ~2 months before mixing them with her original group. Jonathan is doing the same with his pilaetas and littoralis. Commercial distributors neither have the time or the space to do this. In addition, most employ staff that are not necessarily as well educated or experienced in animal husbandry as the average breeder. That’s just something I have been formulating in my head – opnions, rebuttals are welcome. Chun — In diamondbackterrapins@y…, “bornjc1971”