Very serious and sad topic... euthanize

I have a collection of bps. I have been fighting with a severe case of RI for a few months now. And i feel it is time to let go. I am an animal lover at heart and i will do anything to keep an animal alive. I gave him all his antibiotics and shots and meds. He actually got better and slammed two rats. I was overjoyed i thought he was finally better. But its sad to say my joy spree came to a quick end. I now see that he has bubbles at his mouth again and its back! I feel that he has had his rounds. I personally believe he was sold to me sick and me being very inexperienced in the hobby at the time jumped into a bad deal. He is a proven breeder VPI Axanthic. I feel that he is just suffering and the RI is back and stronger. I know from school that bacteria grows resistant to antibiotics and now that its back its stronger. And in the end i feel deep down we are going to lose the battle. I think i need to euthanize him. I cant risk the infection spreading. Now with all this said how do you guys suppose i go about this? It will hurt to put him down anyway but i will do what i have to do. Please i need ease and. i dont really want to throw him in a freezer either.

I DONT!

You started the other thread stating you thought it was back and we chimed in with our opinions and ideas but you never responded. :confusd: Now you start this thread stating you are basically giving up on your snake.

If the meds seemed to make the snake better but the RI is back or was never gone and actually just more advanced it most likely means your husbandry is off. Pit asked for a setup run down but got nothing. We cant help you if you don't allow it. Help us help you so you can help the snake.

I don't think you are going to find anybody telling you to give up now, you just need to get things right.

If you are not willing to do what it takes then rehome the snake to somebody that will bring it back to health.

Have you tried any home remedies? Have you cleaned and disinfected his tank or tub correctly and consistently? Are you able to quarantine in an effective way? Is your husbandry correct? Also, I didn't see any of your other posts, but did the vet do a culture? Not all RI are bacterial. I'm just getting through fighting an RI in my adopted male and he had Ecoli on top of it all. Since you have a collection I'm assuming you tried everything possible, but if you are considering giving up I would have to agree with KMG that you should rehome the snake. Just be honest about why you are doing so.

I just saw your previous post. If that pic of the snake where the rat is in the water dish is his tub he stays in all the time, he could be really stressed which lowers his immune system's ability to fight off infections.

I mean like... Seriously? :taz: Freezer is definitely not an option. Heck if I thought he would survive shipping I would take him.

Provide the requested info and hopefully you can get some legit help.

You say you would do anything for your animal. Then do it.

...Please :please: For the snake

I fought an RI with baytril injections for well over a month and finally we decided to try another type of injection and within two days the snake was eating, drinking, and breathing normally again. It was incredible! Ask for another kind of antibiotic before giving up. I thought the snake was going to die a couple of times but he kept fighting and now he is unbelievably healthy. He eats everything i throw at him no problem and is up from around 300grams to well over 600grams in only a couple of months.

The other injection cost me $20 and was a one time shot. 100% worth trying.

Btw it was my normal male that had the RI, my first ball python. Dont give up just yet :).

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Edd_138

I have a collection of bps. I have been fighting with a severe case of RI for a few months now. And i feel it is time to let go. I am an animal lover at heart and i will do anything to keep an animal alive. I gave him all his antibiotics and shots and meds. He actually got better and slammed two rats. I was overjoyed i thought he was finally better. But its sad to say my joy spree came to a quick end. I now see that he has bubbles at his mouth again and its back! I feel that he has had his rounds. I personally believe he was sold to me sick and me being very inexperienced in the hobby at the time jumped into a bad deal. He is a proven breeder VPI Axanthic. I feel that he is just suffering and the RI is back and stronger. I know from school that bacteria grows resistant to antibiotics and now that its back its stronger. And in the end i feel deep down we are going to lose the battle. I think i need to euthanize him. I cant risk the infection spreading. Now with all this said how do you guys suppose i go about this? It will hurt to put him down anyway but i will do what i have to do. Please i need ease and. i dont really want to throw him in a freezer either.

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Was the suspected bacterial cultured? If not, get it cultured. No vet should prescribe a long term antibiotic without culturing the infection (if it's bacterial).

Also, RIs can be viral, fungal or even as a symptom of an underlying more serious disease.

In other words, unless you've had a culture done, you're leaving a lot of stones unturned.

If your vet hasn't considered viral or other potential causes, you're not covering all your bases.

...and it's time to see a new vet.

If you decide it's not worth the expense to correctly get to the bottom of this, then do your proper duty by your snake and have him properly euthanized. That does not entail sticking him in the freezer.

I will assume you have husbandry issues.
Again, what consists of your setup?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Skiploder

In other words, unless you've had a culture done, you're leaving a lot of stones unturned.

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This. If your vet just pushed Baytril (the most common antibiotic) because your snake had an RI, and there was no culture done, then it's not time to give up yet. Baytril has been around long enough that most RI's are resistant to it.

Not only that, but you really need to know the cause ASAP as well. Not only could your other animals be at risk, but if you sell any of them, even if they're not showing symptoms yet, they could carry the disease to other collections. Some diseases have very long incubation periods.

I am sorry for not shedding enough light on u guys. My fault i admit. But the picture of the snake eating the rat and leaving in the water was another one that the infection spread to. I have 2 VPI males about the same size. One has it severe more than the other. And they both came from the same breeder. My setup for the two of them is basically loose co:cens0r::cens0r::cens0r::cens0r: fibers as substrate which i switched two aspen as i know now how bad loose coconut fibers are not the recommend choice. I have a water dish. And since i have no quarantine rack. I have them in 41qt sterilite tubs with 20-30 gallon heat pads on them. I dropped my heat gun in there and the heat is 91 on hot and 75-80 onthe cool side. And again i take all the blame for not replying to the other thread.