BP RI: Humid hide or not?

My poor snake has come down with a RI, caught it very early and took her to the vet and he gave me oral antibiotics for her but also suggested I keep her hides at 100% humidity.

I'v heard so many thinks about humidity and RI's that I'm not sure if I should follow these instructions.

Also usually after giving her the antibiotics she will have quite a bit of mucous come out of her nose/mouth

Her temp is 93 warm

80-83 cool side

65% tub humidity.

I would give one humid hide so your snake can choose to use it or not. I hope your little one feels better soon.

Spread some damp sphagnum moss around the enclosure and put a big clump in each hide. Good luck

Where do you buy sphagnum and what's the cost and what brand ?

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Originally Posted by southwind

My poor snake has come down with a RI, caught it very early and took her to the vet and he gave me oral antibiotics for her but also suggested I keep her hides at 100% humidity.

I'v heard so many thinks about humidity and RI's that I'm not sure if I should follow these instructions.

Also usually after giving her the antibiotics she will have quite a bit of mucous come out of her nose/mouth

Her temp is 93 warm

80-83 cool side

65% tub humidity.

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Go back to the vet and ask to get a culture done.
Oral antibiotics does nothing for reptiles because their metabolism is so slow. Ask to get injectable antibiotics. And by getting a culture done, you can choose an antibiotic that will target the specific type of RI. There are different types of RI and many types of bacterial RI, which is the most common form. Some antibiotics are not effective towards certain types of RI. Many default antibiotics like Baytril, for example, are ineffective because most bacterial strains are resistant to it. So that's why it is important to find out the exact type of infection so you can choose an affective antibiotic accordingly.

Bump up the hot spot to 95.
My vet tells me not to have any humidity because moisture + heat = breeding grounds for bacteria. However, I have heard some vets suggest high humidity for RI. If you choose to go humid, make sure your air circulation is good. Stagnant air is more likely to harm your snake than good air flow.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by satomi325

Go back to the vet and ask to get a culture done.
Oral antibiotics does nothing for reptiles because their metabolism is so slow. Ask to get injectable antibiotics. And by getting a culture done, you can choose an antibiotic that will target the specific type of RI. There are different types of RI and many types of bacterial RI, which is the most common form. Some antibiotics are not effective towards certain types of RI. Many default antibiotics like Baytril, for example, are ineffective because most bacterial strains are resistant to it. So that's why it is important to find out the exact type of infection so you can choose an affective antibiotic accordingly.

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Arg, that sucks, he gave me that Baytril as oral antibiotics and charged me $80 for the visit+meds and an hour drive there and back, ill give them a call and see if I can just bring in a mucous sample.

Either case I'll get a culture done

High humidity is a good thing, it helps to keep the mucous in the lungs soft. If the humidity drops then the mucous becomes thick and your snake will have a harder time trying to get it out of its lungs.

Secondly, I have used oral baytril before for a snake that I purchased with a RI. I did get a culture though, and Baytril was found to be the correct antibiotic. Anyhow, that snake is now older, and in great health. It was on baytril for 30 days. So despite what has been said, unless it was just a random fluke... oral baytril can and does work (provided it is the correct medication, determined by a culture)