Info on typical RI prescription PLEASE!

[kc261]

I have 2 snakes that may have RIs, so they are going to the vet today. What is worse is that I believe it was caused by the flexwatt not heating properly, so I'm concerned the other 7 in the same rack may get sick as well. Ugh!!

Anyway, I want to be as knowledgeable as possible when I arrive at the vet, because I'm not sure how knowledgeable he is about reptiles. He is an "exotics" vet. I would normally go to Dr. Stahl, since I'm lucky enough to live near him, but with possibly needing to treat 9 snakes, I needed someone who would work with me on the price, and Dr. Stahl's office seemed unwilling (did not talk to the Dr. himself).

I know baytril is most commonly prescribed, and I also know I should get a culture done to be sure what bacteria we are dealing with. I have also found a few places that recommend a a dose of 10 mg/kg, which when using the 2.27% injectable, comes out to about .44cc/1000g (Ralph Davis recommends .4cc/1000g).

So on to the questions:

1) - Is it necessary to culture each snake? Or can I reasonably assume they are all sick with the same thing and just culture one?

2) - My next question is how often does the dose needs to be given, and for how long? Like every other day for 10 doses, for a total of 20 days? I've found conflicting information on this.

Hope all that makes sense... I'm really stressed about this right now.

[2kdime]

Honestly, each drug should be given for a full month.

Some drugs are every day, some every other day, some are every three days.

Best to just Culture and go from there.

As far as assuming that the other snakes have the same thing, yeah it's possible, but that'd be a vet question again.

Baytril typically is every other day for what its worth. In resistant infections though, every day is sometimes done.

[kc261]

Thanks! Wow. A whole month huh? I like these 3-day or even 1-day antibiotics they have for people now days.

[2kdime]

haha yeah reptiles heal much slower.

[kc261]

Well, I'm back from the vet. He seemed ok, definitely at ease handling the snakes, sounded knowledgeable, etc., but I'm a little uncertain about the prescription he gave me. He said it was because the snakes have an extremely mild case of RI, and so they didn't need more. I sort of wondered if he didn't think they were sick at all and just gave one of those "make the customer happy" prescriptions. But I know my snakes, and although it is slight, they are making slight wheezy, whistly, and popping sounds that aren't normal, as well as the worst one is occasionally sitting with her mouth open, but of course she didn't cooperate and demonstrate that for the vet.

What he gave was oral baytril, which I'm supposed to give daily, and it is only enough for 5 days (if I'm reading the notation on the bottle correctly, but there isn't enough volume for it to be significantly more than that). Is that enough to do any good at all?

He also said that if my other snakes from that rack do get sick, he can't prescribe anything without seeing them, but he would only charge me for a 'brief exam', rather than a full office visit, which is going to make it very reasonable. That's a relief at least, but it doesn't help much if he doesn't prescribe something that will get them well.

So I'm going to be a nervous wreck for a while, wondering if these 2 are going to get all the way better, and if any others are going to get sick, and whether this vet that I can afford is good enough, or whether I should go to Dr. Stahl, but then I won't be able to afford it if all 9 get sick. Argh!

[kc261]

Oh, one thing I forgot to mention... about having a culture done. The vet said he doesn't do cultures on snakes with RIs, because to do so you have to put them under anesthesia, and so it is cheaper and better to just try different antibiotics until you find one that works, rather than putting the snake under anesthesia with the costs & risks involved.

Do snakes really have to be put under anesthesia to get an RI culture??

[mpkeelee]

i just got a culture done a lil over a week ago and they didnt have to give her anything. they also took x-rays and didnt give her anything. my girl is very freindly and doesnt care what u do to her so that may have something to do with it. i had oral baytril and it didnt work good. i started injecting it into her prey every week and that seems to help better. good luck. keep us updated

[dr del]

No.

They normally take a swab where they would expect to find the bacteria (the opening of the trachea for example ) which then gets applied to a growing medium.

Once the bacteria has been cultured it can be tested for sensitivity with various drugs.

Basically it is like rubbing a q-tip on your cheek to get a dna sample.

As far as I am aware at any rate.


dr del

[kc261]

Thanks for the responses guys. I was pretty sure that was wrong. *sigh* Who would think I would know more than an exotics vet about how to treat a snake with an RI?

I haven't checked on the snakes yet today. I'll post an update later on how they are doing.

[kc261]

Well, the snakes seem to be doing ok. I'm relieved that the other 7 that were possibly chilled due to the flexwatt failing seem to be doing ok. Some of them did show just some slight hints of wheezing or popping sounds, but I haven't heard any of it from them in several days, so I think I'm in the clear with those 7.

That leaves the 2 that were worse and I took to the vet. They do appear better, so I guess the baytril is working. Now I'm just worried that they'll get sick again as soon as the 5 days is up. Ugh.

Giving them the medicine is interesting. The vet gave me 2 little tiny syringes (1 for each snake), and a bottle of medicine. I put the medicine in the syringes, then have to put the syringe all the way down their throat. One of the snakes is pretty good about it. The other one fights it like crazy. Even with my husband holding her and me trying to give her the medicine, we are having some trouble. One time when I had the syringe in her mouth but not down her throat yet, she jerked her head real hard and scraped the top of her mouth. Last night, she figured out a new trick. Even though we were trying to hold her neck straight so the syringe could go in easily, she managed to kink her neck enough that the syringe just wouldn't go any further. It was almost all the way in, so I figured it would be good enough and we'd just hold her head up longer than usual to be sure gravity had pulled the medicine down far enough. Unfortunately that didn't work, and some of the medicine came back out her mouth. It also got in her nostrils and she was blowing bubbles all over the place. I felt horrible, because asides not getting the full dose, I'm sure the liquid getting in her nostrils and possibly some of it into her trachea is NOT what a snake with RI needs.