Why I Quarantine - Cryptosporidium

I mentioned a bit about parasites a while back in Parasites - Bleh. I treated these frogs accordingly and when we went back for a recheck the Popas and remaining Cayo de Agua came up clean, but the doc said the 2011 Cristobal male had Cryptosporidium. Crypto is not often seen in amphibians, and there is some question as to whether it is pathogenic in amphibians, but for many animals it is a death sentence and in my case it seemed to be. You can read a bit more about it on Avian Biotech and Dart Den as well as in Amphibian Medicine and Captive Husbandry.  I contacted the seller so that he could check any animals that had come into contact with this one. In the next few weeks I watched this animal go downhill quickly like nothing I've seen before. It was an absolute heartbreak. I am very thankful that I have strict quarantine methods despite being told by some, who were more experienced than I, that quarantine was unnecessary and detrimental to the animal. I imagine the stress of quarantine led to a faster decline in this animal, but had I not quarantined and run tests I could have risked the rest of my collection.

http://animal.discovery.com

There is a good thread about quarantine on Dart Den called Quarantine Procedures for the Dart Frog Hobby.  I'll add that I like to start with a simple enclosure, with substrate, microfauna, and plants, observe for a few days, test fecals, and then move to paper towels if treating for parasites is necessary.