Hi guys,

Mods: Feel free to move this if I put it in the wrong sub-forum.

I've had two snakes develop abscesses in the last several months. The first somehow managed to slice his gum which got infected (fed f/t , we're guessing a rat's nail or tooth got hung while he was swallowing). The second, has a swelling on the underside of his jaw (somewhat "pimple" shaped).

I scoured the local area for vets that would even see reptiles and could only find one that was 45 minutes away. We took the first snake there over the summer ( a CA motley boa) and she cleaned the gash on his gum and prescribed Baytril shots... a course of 3, given 3-5 days apart. She refused to let us administer the follow up shots, so we did the 45 minute drive 3 times. She gave the injections in the lower third of his body. She said nothing about giving him probiotics or anything. After treatment, his mouth improved... We waited 2 weeks after last treatment to feed and he fed OK and has showed no negative signs. he does now have "shiney" areas of scales on his back near where the shots were given, but I'm not sure if that is related or not.

When the vet prescribed Baytril without doing a culture, that made me a little nervous, but the treatment worked, so I felt OK going back to her again. At that point, I had not read any of the negative side-effects of Baytril, so I wasn't worried.

Second incident happened a couple weeks ago when I noticed some slight swelling on the underside of my hypo BCI's jaw. This grew and we made an appointment. We took him in yesterday and the vet, once again, prescribed the same treatment. She looked in his mouth and finding no signs of injury inside, said that she thought it was an external abscess and that these can randomly happen.. That we would do the same treatment and watch for signs of it getting better or worse. If the swelling continued, I would have to bring him in for them to keep, aspirate, and clean the abscess. She said that sometimes these abscesses don't go away and just stay the same size permanantly.

So at this point, I've done a little more reading on Baytril, injections, etc. and it seems that the common practice is to give injections to the upper third of the body, to do a culture first, and to preferably use something other than Baytril because Baytril can have harsh side-effects. All that said, I'm in a bad position here, as she is the only exotics vet within driving distance, she apparently knows what she's doing (the local vet school has her do internships and she's had clients come from out of state to see her), and she is pretty much my only option for treatment.

This brings me to my three questions:

1. I need to know if what she is prescribing and how she is doing the injections is truly incorrect and how negative it could be (especially giving the injections in the lower third of the body)?

2. What do I need to look for in terms of negative side effects with the Baytril and what can I do to offset those? I know I read somewhere about probiotics, but have no idea what to get or how to use them.

3. If I have to go to her for treatment again with a different issue, what are some things I can request, without p'ing her off, that will lead to better treatment for my animals (i.e. ask for certain tests, other antibiotic options you'd suggest to request, etc.)?

Thank you for your time and help!