Giving medicine and force feeding

[Mochelem]

My snake has a slight resperitory infection, the vet said it wasnt real bad but gave me a prescription of BAYTRIL, Im supposed to give her half a pill every 24 hrs, he showed me how to do it but also warned me not to lodge the pill in the wind pipe or my snake will die.

Does anyone have a picture of what this wind pipe looks like?


Also the snake hasnt eaten in 3 months and the Vet said its time to force feed

Anyone have a link to a guide on force feeding?

[rabernet]

I think you need to find a new vet. Was this a herp vet, or one that primarily sees dogs and cats? Even when vets have prescribed oral baytril for snakes, it's usually in liquid form. Injectible baytril is far more effective.

How much does your snake weigh? I've had a snake fast for 8 months and I never considered force feeding.

Try these links to find a qualified herp vet:

http://www.arav.org/Directory.htm

http://www.anapsid.org/vets/index.html#vetlist

[Freakie_frog]

your vet gave your oral baytril???

[Mochelem]

Yes oral Baytril, and finding a new Vet isnt an option, I had to drive 2 1/2 hrs to this guy because he is the only vet that deals with exotics in my area.

He put her on 11.3mg every 24 hrs, and the snake weighs 893 grams....

[rabernet]

Where do you live?

And at 800+ grams, you don't need to consider force feeding. I don't think that oral baytril in pill form is going to help your snake get rid of the RI.

[Freakie_frog]

Yes oral Baytril, and finding a new Vet isnt an option, I had to drive 2 1/2 hrs to this guy because he is the only vet that deals with exotics in my area.

He put her on 11.3mg every 24 hrs, and the snake weighs 893 grams....

The problem is that your animals digestion system is so slow that oral meds have been shown to be less effective even noneffective.

But I wish you the best of luck

[Mochelem]

I live in Pensacola, Fl

This is why I posted in another thread if I absolutly had to go to the vet.

I can order what ever the snake needs from a vet supply I just need to know what to get, how much to give her, what size needle and where to inject.....

[Stewart_Reptiles]

I would suggest you to keep monitoring your snake's weight treat the RI, address any possible husbandry issue you might have (double check everything temps, humidity etc).

Once you have done all that and your BP is healthy try offering food.

Force feeding should be considered as a last resort when everything else has failed.

Force feeding is very stressful and right now stress is the last thing that your BP needs.

[rabernet]

Gina Forgey, Nat McKerley
Safe Harbor Animal Hospital
820 Creighton Road
Pensacola, FL 32504
(850) 476-5571

[Mochelem]

Gina Forgey, Nat McKerley
Safe Harbor Animal Hospital
820 Creighton Road
Pensacola, FL 32504
(850) 476-5571

Cool thx, I gave her a call she is going to call me back in a couple of hours because she is in surgury.... Im asking her over the phone what she thinks I should do.....

Dont know why they wernt in my phone book........