Quarantine procedures are mainly used to prevent the introduction of pathogens into a pre-existing population of animals while allowing the health of a new one to be accessed and treated if necessary.
It doesn't matter if its CB or WC or even a LTC reptile that you bring into your collection, its important to quarantine a new-to-your-home critter IMHO. Failure to do so can put the reptiles you already own at risk.
If the chameleon has been in a petstore, a reptile store or at a reptile show, it could have been handled by people who have not bothered to wash their hands in between handling different reptiles. Handling one reptile and then moving on to another (especially WC's which may carry more/different bacteria to begin with) spreads the bacteria and may even spread parasites. Petstore/show employees could have handled more than one reptile/species without washing their hands in between handling each also spreading germs, etc. from one to the other. Even a breeder could have handled reptiles without proper hygiene practices....so its important to quarantine all new purchases as well as make sure that even when you go home with no new critters you wash your hands well to prevent bringing anything in to your collection.
I recommend quarantining new arrivals for several months...and even then it can sometimes be a risk when you move a new one into an area where you have your previously acquired reptiles. Its possible for the new arrivals to be carriers of a virus, for instance, that isn't affecting them but may affect others in your collection when they are exposed to it.
While they are in quarantine, I recommend looking after the reptiles that have been with you and are already out of quarantine first and then do the "new arrivals"...and I recommend not going back into the room where the one's that are out of quarantine are after you deal with the "new arrivals". Do not use equipment used for the ones in quarantine for the ones that are out of quarantine without disinfecting them first.
BTW, even when I work with ones that have been with me for quite a while (that are no longer in quarantine) I wash my hands when moving from one cage to the next.
I recommend keeping the set-up simple for the newly acquired so that its easier to observe them while you look for signs of infection, poor health, check the feces, see if the chameleon is eating and drinking.
Much of the following applies to WC chameleons although CB's can have some of these problems too.
Generally, I like to leave the internal parasite treatment until after the new arrivals have had some time to settle in (unless the chameleon is apparently suffering from them). This gives them and the parasites time to settle down/decrease in numbers before the treatment. If the parasite load is heavy, treating it can kill the chameleon. The vast amount of dead parasite bodies that the chameleon's system has to deal with all at once can result in a kind of toxic shock and death. Until the chameleon is parasite-free and the cage and furnishings cleaned out, its important to be careful that you don't touch anything that could have feces on it without precautions to prevent parasite transfer. Even allowing the chameleon to walk on you could transfer feces.
Its important that testing be done to see what parasite(s) the chameleon has rather than just using a shot-gun approach. If you just use any anti-parasite medication (shot-gun approach) you may be using it unnecessarily or you may not be treating the kind of parasites that the chameleon has or all the parasites that the chameleon has.
However, any external parasites (not usually found in chameleons) should be dealt with quickly so that they don't spread to the rest of your collection.
If there are abcesses or mouthrot or other issues (mostly in WC's) that could progress and compromise the chameleon's health (or further compromise the chameleon's health) they will also need to be dealt with ASAP. If the mouthrot is in the very early stages it might be able to be treated without a vet. If it is more serious, the "pus" should be removed from the abcess/mouthrot by a vet and the area flushed out. A culture and sensitivity test should be done to determine what antibiotic the chameleon should be put on to kill the bacteria.
Most other issues should be dealt with through a vet visit too.
One other area that might be of concern re: contamination is the eggs that come from a WC female...
I have read that salmonella can penetrate eggs and it hasn't been excluded that adenoviruses can penetrate them either...so these might be passed to the hatchlings.
--------------------------------------------
Advice from a well-known vet...
http://seavs.com/reptiles/lizards/chameleons/
"Bacterial and parasitic problems are common in chameleons. Also, concurrent unidentified viral infections may complicate both infectious and non-infectious problems. To minimize the spread of infectious disease, new chameleons should be quarantined in a separate room for a minimum of 60 days (preferably 90 days). During quarantine, several fecal samples should be collected and checked for parasites. Specimens should be observed to see if they are feeding and defecating normally (watch for signs of illness as well). The longer the new specimens are isolated, the greater the chance of identifying a problem and keeping diseases from spreading through an existing collection."
It doesn't matter if its CB or WC or even a LTC reptile that you bring into your collection, its important to quarantine a new-to-your-home critter IMHO. Failure to do so can put the reptiles you already own at risk.
If the chameleon has been in a petstore, a reptile store or at a reptile show, it could have been handled by people who have not bothered to wash their hands in between handling different reptiles. Handling one reptile and then moving on to another (especially WC's which may carry more/different bacteria to begin with) spreads the bacteria and may even spread parasites. Petstore/show employees could have handled more than one reptile/species without washing their hands in between handling each also spreading germs, etc. from one to the other. Even a breeder could have handled reptiles without proper hygiene practices....so its important to quarantine all new purchases as well as make sure that even when you go home with no new critters you wash your hands well to prevent bringing anything in to your collection.
I recommend quarantining new arrivals for several months...and even then it can sometimes be a risk when you move a new one into an area where you have your previously acquired reptiles. Its possible for the new arrivals to be carriers of a virus, for instance, that isn't affecting them but may affect others in your collection when they are exposed to it.
While they are in quarantine, I recommend looking after the reptiles that have been with you and are already out of quarantine first and then do the "new arrivals"...and I recommend not going back into the room where the one's that are out of quarantine are after you deal with the "new arrivals". Do not use equipment used for the ones in quarantine for the ones that are out of quarantine without disinfecting them first.
BTW, even when I work with ones that have been with me for quite a while (that are no longer in quarantine) I wash my hands when moving from one cage to the next.
I recommend keeping the set-up simple for the newly acquired so that its easier to observe them while you look for signs of infection, poor health, check the feces, see if the chameleon is eating and drinking.
Much of the following applies to WC chameleons although CB's can have some of these problems too.
Generally, I like to leave the internal parasite treatment until after the new arrivals have had some time to settle in (unless the chameleon is apparently suffering from them). This gives them and the parasites time to settle down/decrease in numbers before the treatment. If the parasite load is heavy, treating it can kill the chameleon. The vast amount of dead parasite bodies that the chameleon's system has to deal with all at once can result in a kind of toxic shock and death. Until the chameleon is parasite-free and the cage and furnishings cleaned out, its important to be careful that you don't touch anything that could have feces on it without precautions to prevent parasite transfer. Even allowing the chameleon to walk on you could transfer feces.
Its important that testing be done to see what parasite(s) the chameleon has rather than just using a shot-gun approach. If you just use any anti-parasite medication (shot-gun approach) you may be using it unnecessarily or you may not be treating the kind of parasites that the chameleon has or all the parasites that the chameleon has.
However, any external parasites (not usually found in chameleons) should be dealt with quickly so that they don't spread to the rest of your collection.
If there are abcesses or mouthrot or other issues (mostly in WC's) that could progress and compromise the chameleon's health (or further compromise the chameleon's health) they will also need to be dealt with ASAP. If the mouthrot is in the very early stages it might be able to be treated without a vet. If it is more serious, the "pus" should be removed from the abcess/mouthrot by a vet and the area flushed out. A culture and sensitivity test should be done to determine what antibiotic the chameleon should be put on to kill the bacteria.
Most other issues should be dealt with through a vet visit too.
One other area that might be of concern re: contamination is the eggs that come from a WC female...
I have read that salmonella can penetrate eggs and it hasn't been excluded that adenoviruses can penetrate them either...so these might be passed to the hatchlings.
--------------------------------------------
Advice from a well-known vet...
http://seavs.com/reptiles/lizards/chameleons/
"Bacterial and parasitic problems are common in chameleons. Also, concurrent unidentified viral infections may complicate both infectious and non-infectious problems. To minimize the spread of infectious disease, new chameleons should be quarantined in a separate room for a minimum of 60 days (preferably 90 days). During quarantine, several fecal samples should be collected and checked for parasites. Specimens should be observed to see if they are feeding and defecating normally (watch for signs of illness as well). The longer the new specimens are isolated, the greater the chance of identifying a problem and keeping diseases from spreading through an existing collection."
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