Here is another stupid question // you're probably sick of me, but

I was told by both Internet (I know) articles and my VET (I know) to let my BP with an RI inhale a tiny drop of tea tree oil mixed with water as a tank mist, making sure not to touch his body or water dish while spraying. I did this twice. Now from this forum I know better. Thing is, I keep forgetting (well, once) to get rid of the diluted tea tree mister so I grabbed that instead of the pure water mister. (I know it's stupid; i have been very tired and it won't happen again.

articles i have read are mixed and unhelpful. I'm exhausted and it's late but I guess I should start wiping down his tank and decor ... the only thing that stopped me from completely stripping his tank the second I realized what happened is that the first time it almost did seem to help a bit. Albeit not for long. , and it was literally less than a quarter teaspoon of tto poured into about a half liter of water.

I am sorry to keep bothering you guys and I know your stance on "alternative" medication. I mixed this bottle before I knew better. I will clean it out of his tank now but I'm interested in how dangerous that was, and if I should warn my friends who keep snakes. Not everyone knows this forum exists, unfortunately.

I should clarify that some of the articles I've read say tea tree oil is toxic... if not diluted. But I'd rather not spray something toxic (to Reptiles) into his tank.

also, of course I wouldn't use this to cure an illness. He's on antibiotics.

If he's on antibiotics already then I would just increase his temps to 82-92*F and keep his humidity up as well to make him more comfortable. You know how you feel better when you are congested and you get into a hot, steamy shower and your sinuses drain?

Just don't mist so much that he's lying on soaking wet paper and you crash the temperature, that won't do any good.

Why looking for alternative medications, a RI is something serious and while alternative medications may alieviate the simptoms the RI keeps lingering and ultimately becomes fatal.

A RI is not the equivalent of a cold in human but more of pneumonia obviously you would not try to get rid of a pneumonia with tree oils.

A GOOD vet (not one talking about tree oil ) will run a culture to established what kind of RI you are dealing with, prescribe the right anti-biotics (injectable not oral) and will do so for a length of at least 30 days.

Now if a RI persist even with proper treatment the animal immune system might be weak and compromise or you might be dealing with something different that does present itself as a RI but that more difficult to treat.

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Thanks guys. I did have her run a culture there, per advice on this forum. I don't know why she gave me the oral kind, but he's been on it for two weeks so far and is doing much better. Yes it was prescribed for 30 days.

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Originally Posted by m1lkhoney

Thanks guys. I did have her run a culture there, per advice on this forum. I don't know why she gave me the oral kind, but he's been on it for two weeks so far and is doing much better. Yes it was prescribed for 30 days.

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If your vet prescribed oral antibiotics to a snake and recommended tree oil I would recommend to change vet ;)

Oral anti-biotics are very inefficient when it comes to snakes and if your vet was experienced he would know that.

Thank you, good to know. :)

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Originally Posted by Deborah

Oral anti-biotics are very inefficient when it comes to snakes and if your vet was experienced he would know that.

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Luckily I never had to deal with an RI or any illness that required the use medication on my snakes, but I have seen some (knowledgeable) people raise that point that oral antibiotics are almost futile and the only way to correctly treat a snake that needs medication is using injectable antibiotics and, if you don't mind, I would like to understand why is that.

If they act in snakes in a similar way they act in humans, I would assume one of the main reasons they are preferred is because injectables are stronger and act faster than the oral ones, am I right in making this assumption?

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Originally Posted by dmt_jovi

If they act in snakes in a similar way they act in humans, I would assume one of the main reasons they are preferred is because injectables are stronger and act faster than the oral ones, am I right in making this assumption?

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It's because snakes metabolize anything eaten very slowly. You want antibiotics to hit hard and fast to kill off the bad bacteria quickly.

The only time one of my snakes was prescribed oral antibiotics was specifically to target a digestive problem (bloating combined with a prolapse) and then it was administered via tube along with just a few cc's of a thin paste made with Carnivore Care and water.

Luckily I caught the infection very early and the oral route seems to have cleared up his symptoms. I'll ask for injectables if this happens again. Thanks. :)