Quarantine for New Pets: Periods, Setup and Tests by Species

This page is for anyone bringing a new bird, rabbit, rodent, fish or reptile into a home that already has animals of the same kind. It covers how long to keep the newcomer apart, how to set up the room so disease doesn’t travel on your hands or in the air, and which tests to ask the vet for. Once quarantine is over, the introductions guide covers the bonding steps.

Quarantine periods by species

Group	Period	Main diseases you’re screening for	Tests to ask about
Parrots, budgies, cockatiels, finches	30–45 days in a separate, isolated room (VCA)	Psittacosis (Chlamydia psittaci), beak and feather disease (PBFD), polyomavirus, Salmonella (VCA; Merck)	Full exam with weight, plus screening for chlamydia, Salmonella, polyomavirus and PBFD (VCA)
Rabbits	30 days, “about one month” (VCA)	Rabbit haemorrhagic disease (RHD, also called RVHD), Pasteurella (“snuffles”) (VCA; RWAF)	Vaccination history; check for nasal or eye discharge (VCA)
Guinea pigs	No fixed period: keep apart until you’re sure the newcomer is healthy, and give it a couple of days to settle (PDSA)	Stress-related illness after moving home (PDSA)	Health check if any signs appear (PDSA)
Rats	No set period; ask your vet how long	Respiratory mycoplasmosis, which spreads by direct contact and through the air (Merck)	Ask the vet to listen to the chest
Aquarium fish	At least 30–60 days for valuable fish (Merck)	External parasites, some gut parasites (Merck)	Visual exam early in quarantine; for valuable fish, weight plus gill, skin and fin biopsies (Merck)
Reptiles	3–6 months (Merck)	Viral disease such as inclusion body disease in boas and pythons, which snake mites can help spread (Merck)	Viral PCR assays and serology are available (Merck)

The bird and reptile periods are long because both groups carry infection without looking ill. CDC notes that infected birds with no signs still shed Chlamydia psittaci in droppings and respiratory secretions. Merck says adult budgies and parrots can carry polyomavirus “without appearing sick”. For PBFD, Merck recommends diagnostic screening and “long quarantine periods for new birds”. Species pages for the budgerigar, cockatiel and ball python give species-specific risks.

Setting up the quarantine space

Separate room, separate air. VCA specifies a separate, isolated room for birds. Psittacosis is caught mainly by breathing dust from dried bird droppings and secretions (CDC), and rat mycoplasma spreads through the air (Merck). So “across the room” isn’t quarantine for these species. Keep the door closed. Where the house shares forced-air heating, choose the room furthest from your resident animals.

Separate kit. Merck’s fish protocol gives quarantined animals their own nets, buckets and siphons. Apply the same rule to water bottles, bowls, perches, hides and cleaning brushes for every species. A basic fish quarantine tank is a 10-gallon (38 L) tank with a sponge filter, a small air pump and a heater. Seed the sponge in a healthy established tank first so it arrives with filter bacteria (Merck). See aquarium setup for cycling.

Handling order. Handle quarantined animals only after you’ve finished with all the others for the day (Merck). In practice:

1. Feed, clean and handle resident animals.
2. Then go to the quarantine room. Put on an apron or overshirt that stays in that room.
3. Clean the quarantine enclosure last. Damp-clean droppings rather than dry-sweeping, because inhaled dust is the main psittacosis route (CDC).
4. Wash your hands with soap and water before touching anything else.

Species quirks. Encephalitozoon cuniculi passes from rabbit to rabbit in urine and from mother to young before birth (VCA). A newcomer’s litter tray and hay must never be shared, and a clean 30 days doesn’t prove a rabbit is free of it. In young hamsters, “wet tail” is mainly proliferative ileitis, caused by Lawsonia intracellularis. Merck calls it the most consequential intestinal disease of 3- to 10-week-old Syrian hamsters, with high mortality, and advises keeping sick hamsters away from healthy ones. Tyzzer disease (Clostridium piliforme) is a separate bacterial cause of diarrhoea, usually triggered by stress such as overcrowding. It spreads through contaminated faeces, so clean the cage and all supplies thoroughly (Merck).

Merck also suggests disinfectant footbaths at entry points to fish quarantine areas. For rabbits, the RWAF notes that RHD spreads mainly on clothes and shoes, so change both after visiting a show, a rescue or anywhere with other rabbits.

What “passing” quarantine looks like

Release on evidence, not just the date:

• Birds: eating and maintaining weight, normal droppings, and clear screening results from the avian vet (VCA).
• Fish: eating, with no external parasites visible, since those are what quarantine detects best (Merck). Any fish that dies in quarantine should have a post-mortem, because that is how otherwise undetectable diseases are found (Merck).
• Reptiles: feeding and shedding normally through the full 3–6 months (Merck).
• Rabbits and rodents: normal appetite and droppings, no sneezing or eye or nose discharge (VCA; Merck).

If anything appears, restart the clock once the animal is treated. For recovered lizards Merck advises at least 3 more months.

Mistakes that spread disease

• Quarantining a bird in the same room as your flock. Airborne dust carries psittacosis (CDC), which defeats the point.
• Sharing one fish net between tanks. Merck’s protocol depends on separate nets and siphons, and a shared net carries parasites straight across.
• Releasing a healthy-looking parrot without tests. Carriers of psittacosis and polyomavirus look normal (CDC; Merck).
• Treating reptile quarantine like a 30-day mammal one. Merck recommends 3–6 months because incubation periods for many reptile diseases are unknown.
• Bringing RHD home on shopping. The RWAF suggests leaving plastic-wrapped purchases for 2 weeks and cloth for 3 months, or washing fabric at 60–90°C (140–194°F).