Blood python rescue

[Doortech9]

Well we've done it again, another long drive to look at a prospective new addition to our snake roster only to meet a sad, sick, horribly mistreated snake. He was advertised as a borneo but we aren't positive, he's a blood of some sort.

He was kept in a 55gal glass tank OUTSIDE In a camper for a Month with no heat before being 'rescued' by the girl we got him from only to be mistreated for another month afterwards. He had a piece of foam rolled up for a hide that was saturated with water and no heat, hadn't been eating for who knows how long, and was very whistley and gurgley. She said if she didn't sell him she would have to put him down, cut his head off with a shovel or run him over or shoot him, because she was scared of him. I ended up convincing her to let us take him for nothing because of his obvious health conditions.

Well I picked him up and he's the sweetest snake I've ever held. She left a rat to rot in his viv because she was scared to take it out. Go figure.

I would hazard a guess that he's got an RI with the way he's breathing/whistling/bubbles. He seems a little saggy (underweight) and has some scales poking out concerningly, and his lower lip sticks out a bit on one side, but still seems to have a fair bit of strength and is somewhat alert. I would say he is around the 5' mark and a good 15 pounds or better.

Unfortunately where I live there aren't any herp vets for hundreds of miles BUT I do have a vet that is willing to do some research and get in some meds to treat him. He's unexperienced with snakes but is willing to help us as much as he can.

I've stuck him in the biggest tub I could find with an UTH at 85 degrees and quarantined him from the rest of my collection until we get him sorted out.

I guess what I'm looking for is the best advice from the population out there about what I can do in the mean time before the vet can help us out. I've done tons of digging and found little, some home remedies with a fogger and eucalyptus oil and vicks but don't know if that's worth a shot or would be detrimental for him at this time.

I offered him a mouse/rat in hopes he would eat but he wasn't into it.

If there's anything I can do to help him in the meantime please let me know, we have really grown fond of him in the short time we've had him in our care. And also if there are any Resources for me or the vet to get ahold of as to the meds and dosage for weight of the snake please point me in that direction.

Sorry if this has been a long rambling post, it is feeding day and we've been up all night feeding cleaning and assisting a problematic rat birth haha I'm spent. Thanks.

[devildog_dk]

He's probably underweight from not eating cause he was kept in such bad conditions.

From what you said it sounds like it really does have an RI, so at least tell the vet that injectable baytril would be the best choice for medication. I wouldn't even bother offering food until the RI is under control as that is the more pressing issue.

And 85 on the high side might be a little high for a blood but if the ambient temp at the cold side of his tub is lower I would probably leave it to allow him the choice, a slightly higher temp can be good for helping him get rid of the RI.

[bwt501]

If you have to tell the vet what to do, then find a new vet. Injectable meds will probably be an instant death sentence for this snake right now. It needs a stable stress free environment with on point husbandry to get better. Thats all you can do. For a Dehydrated blood with a possible RI, 85 degrees on the hot end is fine. No more. Keep the substrate simple. Paper, or nothing, along with a thin film of water in the tub and clean The enclosure daily with soap and water or Chlorhexidine or F10 if you have. Do not attempt to treat the RI with eucalyptus or Vicks.
Keep us updated.

[Kara]

I would not try fogging him with anything, and especially not eucalyptus oil, which could irritate the respiratory tract even more. Right now, focus on setting him up correctly: ambient temps 82-84 (a little higher than the normal 80-82, since he's under the weather) humidity around 65%. If your tub is large enough & you can offer a small basking spot that won't affect the overall ambient temp in the enclosure, you can try offering a hot spot of 86-88 degrees or so & see if he makes use of it.

Without seeing pics of this snake and knowing how snotty/bubbly/gurgly he is, it's hard to determine the extent of his respiratory issue, especially considering that bloods are very vocal and huffy to start with. Your vet should at least perform cultures & sensitivity tests to determine what medications are appropriate here...baytril is ok in some situations but there are other medications that may be more appropriate, depending on what is causing the infection (if there is one).

[Doortech9]

Thanks for The replies, I will take all things into account. I will give his tub a good scrub today and attempt to get. Some good shots of his open mouth for reference.

We can get to a herp vet but its a few hours trip and would possibly be an overnighter. His trip home with us was 2 hours as well, and knowing how travel can stress a snake we aren't willing to just hammer this guy with it until we have brought his husbandry up to snuff and exhausted our local options for treatment.

I'll do what I can to keep him comfortable and warm with good humidity. So far he won't hang out on the warm side, spending all his time in his water dish. The warm side isn't much warmer though, as our house is anywhere from 75 to low 80's throughout the day and his warm side is 80-85.

[Otolith]

Poor fella good on ya for the rescue and GL (:

[Doortech9]

Turns out the vet we have helping us has contacted one the leading reptile vets In alberta and has come down with a dosage schedule of (ceftiofur). We are giving him a 4cc shot daily for a 2 week Course to begin with, as well as irrigating his mouth with diluted chlorohexadine to try and clean up his mouth which is a bit inflamed.

The vet gave Him his first shot tonight which he took like a champ, I just hope he does as well (I hope I do as well) when its my turn.

Its very hard to keep his mouth open long enough to swab out the infected looking area without him thrashing around. He is about 5' long and we wighed him at 12 pounds today, so he is not a monster by any means, but is larger that I am used to subduing.

Any suggestions on restraining him without hurting him or stressing him out too much? I'm sure there are some tricks out there, anything to make life easier for him, aNd me.

[Doortech9]

So tonight was our first home treatment night with Samson and it went quite well.

It took me a little bit of gearing up to administer the shot but it was fairly quick and he didn't seem to get Too bent out of shape about it.

We used a q-tip and diluted chorhex to swab the plaque-ish spot on the front of his right hand side jaw, but had little success removing any of it. Any reading I have done has led me to believe that the antibiotics will loosen this buildup and make removal easier for all of us.

We ended up cradling him in a towel and rolling the ends and holding tightly and that seemed easier than just two handing him.

We were lucky with the level of co-operation from Samson tonight regarding his mouth treatment. When I pushed the q-tip into his mouth he held it open for me and allowed me to clean it for quite a while so I imagine he was getting some sort of relief from it.

We have been using a clorhex solution to clean his tub and accessories, as well as give him a wipe down/ spot swabbing seeing as he has some swollen looking scales as well as some very early stage scale rot on his belly and some sore looking spots Under his chin.

I will try and get some pictures next round, so far we haven't had him out too Much except for cleaning and treatment and we are usually too busy to snap any.

Thanks to everyone who has given me advice and to any I receive in the future. anyone who has done this I'm sure can relate to the stress of caring for a sick animal and trying to get into the swing of doing home treatments for the first time. Updates to come, wish me luck.

[devildog_dk]

One of my gf's adult female BP's came to us with an RI so we ended up doing injections and swabs like you are. As far as controlling her for the swab what I did was sit in a chair and let her wrap her lower body around my calve while i used my thumb and forefinger to grab her right behind both sides of her jaw to open her mouth for the swabbing, and my GF did the swab with the chlorex. Once you have your fingers in the right spot they can't really close their mouths again. And as long as she had my calve squeezed she didn't spaz out too bad, and if she tried to move i could grab her with my thighs. A blood might not act like that though, as they really seem to not like being above ground level at all.

For the injections it will really come down to knowing how the snake will react once hit with the needle. Our girl would flinch the opposite side of her body (you should be doing the injections on alternate sides and moving up) and slide slightly forward, so i knew to expect that and had a loose hand on the syringe because i knew she would be moving. Once she did the flinch I would finish the injection quickly and pull it out while keeping a loose hand in case she suddenly twitched. We did the injections with her head in a pillowcase too, just to keep her as calm as possible, which from the feel if it kept her more mellow and made the whole process smoother for her. I can't really say if that would work for a blood as they can have very different temperaments from snake to snake.

In all it sounds like you're moving in the right direction though, so keep us updated.

[Tim Mead]

If you have to tell the vet what to do, then find a new vet. Injectable meds will probably be an instant death sentence for this snake right now. It needs a stable stress free environment with on point husbandry to get better. Thats all you can do. For a Dehydrated blood with a possible RI, 85 degrees on the hot end is fine. No more. Keep the substrate simple. Paper, or nothing, along with a thin film of water in the tub and clean The enclosure daily with soap and water or Chlorhexidine or F10 if you have. Do not attempt to treat the RI with eucalyptus or Vicks.
Keep us updated.

Lon, DITTO, Incorrect environment/stress is what caused this, lack of stress is what could cure it along with sanitary practice..