Do you all take any of your breeders to the vet for a check-up prior to breeding season? Wondering if there is a consensus on this at all or just opinion and preference. I try taking first-time males and most females for a wellness check prior to pairing after almost losing one of our dear corn snakes her first year breeding.
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I think it’s an admirable habit that, ideally, everyone would follow. But I generally have not heard of breeders taking their BPs in for wellness, all the ones I saw were companion animals.
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Thanks for the feedback!! It doesn’t seem common, so I was wondering if there was a reason it wasn’t common, but we have our wellness check for the BP’s next Wednesday to hopefully start pairing in October!
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In a perfect nonpandemic world I’d be taking my snake in for a yearly wellness check up regardless of breeding or not.
As it stands, I will only be able to see an emergency vet FOR an emergency, and we’ll be lucky if we can get in at the one Exotics vet I know of in this state who will see snakes. (Western US state, not East coast state. So, six to eight to twelve hours to reach anywhere else that’s not a truckstop.)
This is one of the biggest reasons I won’t be breeding snakes.
I’d have to have better access to a vet because a lot of snake medical emergencies are breeding related, whereas with just two little pet snakes I can do a lot for them at home with minor issues like stuck sheds should those happen.
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It seems pretty uncommon for breeders but I’d like to take my animals, at least first time males and females, for their checkups prior to breeding. I’m in South Carolina and we have an incredible exotics vet about 20-25 minutes away from our home, so we go to her for everything our reptiles need 
I never take any snake to the vet, unless it’s a emergency. Two reasons: unless it is a reptile(exotic) specialist vet. (Which there are not very many in most locations) the dedicated hobbiest probably knows more then the regular vet. No disrespect to vets but I still think exotic animals are definitely in the rear seat of the animals the general public cares about. Second reason, if husbandry is on point and you started with a healthy reptile to begin with, they really don’t have many health issues.
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Thanks! We do have a fantastic exotics vet about 20 minutes out so that’s really handy. I think I’m being a little over cautious, but they charge really reasonably for wellness checks
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We have over 100 snakes. I’d be really impressed if someone came on here and said they take all 100 of their snakes to the vet for regular check-ups. I take my snakes to the vet if something is wrong, but not one of them has ever had a wellness check.
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totally understand for that big of a breeding operation only going for actual medical appointments! As long as we are only doing a few pairings a year I think we’ll try taking our first-timers for a check-up, but that makes sense on such a large scale for sure. thanks for your input!
Yes, that makes sense. I should say, we are very proactive about taking our animals in to the vet at the first sign of trouble. Early intervention has allowed our vet to save a couple of important animals from more serious medical problems. One of our future breeders underwent surgery this year to treat an abscess, and it wasn’t cheap, but I definitely feel it was money well spent.
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How I have my collection setup is I get everyone coming in tested. I then test my entire collection every 8 months. I have two exotic vets I can call or email if I have questions about something, and they don’t mind if I email photos or videos of whatever I’m asking about. Most of the time I’m not charged, but if I send in an email and it becomes a chain I think I get charged a basic exam fee. I’ve ever had to take two snakes into a vet, and both times it was because the snake arrived and had horrible excess amounts of eye caps stuck. Besides that, I would like to think most people have a routine setup and would know when to call or reach out to a veterinarian when the time came.
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