Wish Seymour luck

Whew! OK, first to answer Judy: this is a new vet that we hadn't been to before because the closer one didn't have a vet on-site today (why I don't know) and we weren't willing to wait.

Mary was very pleased with Dr. Hutcheson, though, who has 24 snakes himself, including kings, milks, and a long-nosed tree snake (shades of name that herp!). Dr. H was convinced that Seymour was going to have parasites but did a fecal check and he was totally clean. What I was concerned was torsion or impaction turned out to be a build-up of fluid from his RI that made it down into his colon and intestine. It turns out it had just gotten that bad. She's to give him shots every three days (I don't remember what it was but not Baytril) and bring him back in if he doesn't get better.

So, hopefully Seymour will respond to the meds, and we now know what RI fluid build-up looks and feels like for future reference, and we'll get experience giving snakes shots. Oh, and it looks like we've found a herp vet to remember (two, actually, Dr. Jason Hutcheson and Dr. Mimi Shepherd). Not a bad outcome, at least as long as Seymour responds.

wow - I hope things work out and my gut feeling says they will! Good lesson on RI's for all of us others out here.

So glad to hear you got a competent doc and a possible solution to the problem. That's something I've heard about snakes' illnesses...they can get very serious very quickly. :( Sounds like you caught it in time, though. We're all hoping he pulls through!

We've been lucky so far, even with all the trouble Snyder had, she recovered well and then fought off her RI quickly. Poor Seymour just couldn't do it alone, though. I hope the meds work, and I feel confident that this vet has enough familiarity and experience to know what he's doing.

Marla, how's Seymour doing?

Thanks for asking! He passed urates yesterday, which he'd been unable to do because of the swelling from his fluid buildup. He's also able to hang out without having to hold his head vertically all the time to breathe. He does still make some very cute little snakey noises that he shouldn't be making, but he's due for his third shot tonight, so hopefully that will help him fight it off even more.

Good to hear, Marla! Keep us posted.

Thanks, I will give an update after we give him tonight's shot.