Septicemia/Systemic Infection?

[dex]

Hello all. I am writing this post about one of our BP's, whom I've had for several years. About a month ago, I noticed that he seemed to not be keeping his weight on despite eating as voraciously as my other snakes. I bumped up his feedings to two smaller prey items twice a week and he seemed to be doing fine if not altogether gaining weight. I made a note to take him in if the situation didn't improve but since he seemed to be doing well otherwise, I wasn't overly concerned about it. I'm now very upset that I didn't take him in sooner and feel like a horrible POS for not seeing that he needed help before.

Fast forward to this week. I was out of town last week and had a relative watching my house. I noticed when I came home that my snake has a crusty bump on his tail and it appeared that there was some hemorrhaging going on beneath the scales in that area. There was also a long, fluid-filled blister on his side, a little less than third of the way up from the back. In addition, he had a bit of skin left on his neck from a very recent shed. I made an appointment with a vet for the next day as it was later in the evening already and he seemed to be alright (he even ate that night). In the meantime, I treated the area with hydrogen peroxide, Betadine and a triple antibiotic ointment. The next day when I woke up and went to flush out the wound, I noticed he seemed very lethargic and weak and it seemed like the blister had spread a bit. I panicked and called to get into the vet as an urgent care case.

The vet seems to think he has a systemic infection of some sort and honestly told me that it didn't look too good. The hemorrhaging area in particular concerned him. He thinks he either got some sort of a puncture wound from something in his tank (the wooden shelter is the only thing I can think of as I use newspaper substrate and don't feed live). Or alternately, he thinks he might have had something going on internally before I even noted that he wasn't keeping on weight. He aspirated the blister area and removed some of the fluid. The fluid showed both red and white blood cells which he said indicated him fighting off some sort of infection. He gave me injectable Baytril to give every 48 hours as well as an oral antibiotic (I can't think of the name offhand as I am at work - it began with a "C") to give every 24 hours which he instructed me to feed him in a small amount of prescription food slurry. He also instructed me to give him warm water soaks daily for 5 - 10 minutes as a way of removing the shed skin but also as a mechanism to allow him to absorb fluids.

He was very lethargic when I got him home yesterday. I kept watch on him throughout the night and at one point noticed him sitting up gaping. I thought for sure that was the end but he closed his mouth and went back to the floor again. This morning I gave him the slurry and he seemed slightly more active than he had been the night before (but still not normal). I also reapplied Betadine to the affected, blistered area.

I apologize for the length of this post but I wanted to give the background and ask if there is anything else I can do for my little guy? Is this a hopeless case or is it worth fighting for? (I just don't want him to suffer unnecessarily) Has anyone else ever experienced anything like this with their snakes?

I feel like I should be giving him fluids as well but the vet never mentioned that. I just called home to see how he's doing and my DH said that he's still with us and he seems to be attempting to soak in his water bowl (I moved him to a smaller, bare bones tank with a small water dish for drinking but not soaking). I hate even being here at work but I couldn't get the whole day off. I should probably also mention that again, he did eat this week and I observed him drinking water just before I took him to the vet. He also hasn't retained any more fluid since the vet aspirated the area. I'm trying to cling onto anything hopeful I see, I guess.

Thank you in advance for any help you may be able to provide. I get the sense that the vet may be a little stumped as well.

[Freakie_frog]

Best of luck with all of that. I have been told that if you mix the water with Pediliet (unflavored/nosugar kind) at a 50/50 it with help rehydrate them and give them alittle extra bump. Check with your vet before you do.

[dex]

Thanks, I'll ask him about that. I've used Pedialyte with dogs before with success. I just feel like he might need the extra fluids with the antibiotics. I want to give him the best shot I can.

[mlededee]

i had a young snake that developed a systemic infection as a result of her skin tearing during a shed. she had issues prior to the skin tear (issues that caused her skin to become weak enough to tear) and likely some sort of immunodeficieny, but that's what set off the systemic infection. she developed several fluid filled blisters like you describe, and the tears in her skin leaked pink fluid (the blistered/puffy areas were filled with this same fluid).

because of the eating issues it sounds like something was going on with your snake prior to the infection--something that possibly weakened him, causing the injury and infection. systemic infections are serious so make sure to follow your vet's instructions closely. did he happen to give you silvadene cream for the wound on your snake? that is a very good salve for burns and other injuries.

also, have you had a fecal done on the snake to rule out internal parasites?

[dex]

Thanks to the both of you for your help. Unfortunately, my guy died late last night. He started twitching everywhere and vomited a fluid that smelled somewhat like fecal matter. It was slight brown tinged and thick in consistency. It reminded me of when I had one of my dogs had an intestinal blockage after eating a necklace (she did survive after surgery). He was suffering and that was the worst part. I took him out to see if I could bring him somewhere to have him put to sleep to end his suffering but it was obvious he wasn't going to make even a short car ride. Shortly afterwards, he died in my arms.

I'm so upset about his passing and him having to suffer for even a minute. I'm also worried about my other snakes and I'm wondering if I should just bring them in to the follow-up appointment I had scheduled this upcoming week for my guy just to make sure they are alright. They haven't been in contact with him recently but who knows?

I wasn't able to do a fecal as he had just eaten and hadn't passed any stool yet. That was next on the agenda as my vet had asked me to bring in a sample as soon as I got one.

[JLC]

I'm SO sorry to hear of his passing. I know that must have been very hard on you. I'd be devestated.

If it's not too late...you might want to consider having a necropsy done. This may answer a lot of questions about what was wrong with the little guy and if it is something that might endanger your other animals, or something that you could learn from. Maybe it was a genetic deformity. Maybe it was a communicable disease. Maybe he'd ingested something that caused a blockage.

If considering a necropsy, store the body in the fridge and not the freezer. Freezing it will destroy cells and make it more difficult to determine the cause of death.

I know these aren't pleasant thoughts, and not at all easy in the wake of your loss.

[mlededee]

i'm so sorry for your loss. the snake of mine that had the systemic infection died too, the night i brought her home from her vet trip. i think it's just too much for their bodies to handle. you did everything you could, sometimes it just isn't meant to be.

a necropsy is always a good idea--to find out exactly what happened and whether or not something might have been present that could affect your other snakes. the infection itself isn't contagious, but if the snake had parasites that weakened his system or something similar you will want to have your other snakes checked.

[littleindiangirl]

That is so incredibly sad. I'm sorry for your loss. I hope you do find out what happened with him in the end. It's so hard to lose an animal.