Ugh..

[SatanicIntention]

So the 150g female Ball I have here has been being treated with Baytril and nebulized Amikacin since 9/1. She's been staying steady, not getting any better, not any worse.

My vet did a culture and we sent it off last Monday. What came back was really fun.. Ok.. not.

She has gram negative nonfermentative bacteria. Which is resistant to mostly everything. YAY... *sigh*

It's susceptible to a few things, like marbofloxacin(which costs an arm, leg and your first born child), as well as Trimethoprim Sulfamethoxazole and Ticarcillin.

Marbofloxacin is out of the question, it's over $200 for a tiny bottle, and Becky ain't got that kinda money.

I do have some 800mg + 160mg(I think) of the Trimethoprim sulfa antibiotic, but I would have to get it compounded and into a TEENSY dose. The dose for that is 30mg/kg.. Wow.. It would also have to be given orally via a RRFT.

Ticarcillin is also out of the question because it's a human drug(it IS injectable though.. Damnit).

So.. Anyone have any suggestions? Since the Trimethoprim sulfa drug is the only thing that is going to work and be effective, will it work well enough since it's going to be given orally? She's being kept pretty warm and humid so it should absorb pretty quickly.

Thanks in advance!

OH! And if I ever want to buy a snake from Zookeeper in Austin again, tell me NO! NO NO NO!

[SarahMB]

Oh no

That's just horrid news, Becky. I was hoping for something better!

Still haven't gotten the call from my vet that I've been dreading.

[KJE]

I'm sorry to hear about your test results. We can only do what we can do. I wish you and your snake the best. I know how hard this is.

[Rapture]

Would Ceftazidime do anything?

[SatanicIntention]

So from my research, this apparently is a very new bacteria that is resistant to mostly everything. Cephalosporins can't touch it, and it's only susceptible to newer antibiotics(equals expensive) or antibiotics that are combinations(like the sulfa drugs).


From reading, I am informed that the bacteria comes is water and soil born, so this snake was either exposed to wild caught animals(or a cage they were in) that had this bacteria or was allowed to drink water in africa. It is usually confused with Pseudomonas.

What she has is called: Achromobacter xylosoxidans

She's still doing ok and will be getting another injection of Baytril as well as being nebulized with the Amikacin.

All of these reports will be going with me when I get back to Austin. I want the pet store to know what they have so they can stop getting wild caught animals in. They are usually a very clean, reputable store.

[lord jackel]

Becky...how contagious is it to your other animals? It would seem if it is soil/water based there would be a higher incident of it in snakes (amoung other animals)...especially if resistant to most antibiotics?

[SatanicIntention]

It's found mostly in humans, usually people with cystic fibrosis and other respiratory related illnesses. I could not find ANYTHING at all about incidence in animals/reptiles.


I don't share anything of hers with other animals, and I mean anything. She's in the very bottom of one of my baby racks with about 4 shelves in between her and the next snake. I would take her out to the school, but if I do, then I can't give her the shots(I don't want the vet to have to do it). I spray Parv-O-Way or chlorhexidine on the floor around where her tub is, and I also wipe down the shelves she has been in contact with(as well as the scale, it gets a good bleaching). I can put her in the bathroom if that would be better.

I can get the antibiotics the bacteria is susceptible to, very easily. It is called Tucaprim powder(made for horses). The vet already ordered it and it should be coming in soon. I was just worried about administration since we all know that oral AB's aren't absorbed as well.

If I need to preventatively treat everyone, I sure can. I have tried to be as careful as I can, doing everything for her last, being very tedious about cleaning. It's been since 9/1, so I would figure that others would be showing signs if they had been exposed.

I just want her to get better, and quickly. She's such a nice, laid back little girl, I couldn't stand to lose her.

[SatanicIntention]

Well if anyone has any info on how well meds are absorbed via oral administration, please let me know. It's not like I have a choice, but still.

Also, how can you clean out their nostrils? I rinsed out her whole mouth last night with a 12ml syringe and some saline. Really blasted all of that junk out of there. Then I turned her over and attempted to get the roof of her mouth(which is nice and pink, no probs there). Her nostrils are just stopped up with snot, poor thing. I tried to flush them out but it's really stuck. Got most of it with a Qtip though.

Thanks again.

[juddb]

Good luck!!!!

[lord jackel]

Also, how can you clean out their nostrils? I rinsed out her whole mouth last night with a 12ml syringe and some saline. Really blasted all of that junk out of there. Then I turned her over and attempted to get the roof of her mouth(which is nice and pink, no probs there). Her nostrils are just stopped up with snot, poor thing. I tried to flush them out but it's really stuck. Got most of it with a Qtip though.

Thanks again.

Wow Becky...you must have the master touch...if I tried that with some of mine I would have to pry them off me and just try and count all the little holes I got.