Respiratory problem not going away after repeated vet visits - please help

I'm sorry. I know how hard it is to lose one after fighting to save it.

I would strongly suggest getting a necropsy done, especially if you have other snakes or even if you plan to get other snakes, as many viral diseases present as RI's but they would not respond to antibiotic treatment.

In going through your posts since August I strongly suspect either this snake was sick when you bought it, or the stress of being rehomed was enough to depress its immune system so the illness could take hold.

Yes, it's been extremely frustrating to try and find a vet that will work. Eugene is very small, most of the recommended vets I could find when I first got a reptile were not in my city. I tried making an appointment the first time I noticed the problem, and only one out of four places could do it within 7 days. It was either let him get worse for better, slightly more recommended care, or get him care immediately. I suppose neither was good.

I feel horrible for what happened, and I'm definitely going to try to learn how to asses these things myself. I self treated for mites, but I'd like to be able to do more. I sincerely hope that if I ever get another snake in the future, I will be able to find a better vet or do a good job myself.

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Originally Posted by bcr229

I'm sorry. I know how hard it is to lose one after fighting to save it.

I would strongly suggest getting a necropsy done, especially if you have other snakes or even if you plan to get other snakes, as many viral diseases present as RI's but they would not respond to antibiotic treatment.

In going through your posts since August I strongly suspect either this snake was sick when you bought it, or the stress of being rehomed was enough to depress its immune system so the illness could take hold.

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Thank you for caring enough to look through my posts. It does indeed seem like poor little Winslow was dealt a bad hand. For him being my very first snake, things couldn't have gone worse. I was so upset to continue to stress him with mite treatments followed by vet visits (that apparently weren't even working). I just wish I could have known they weren't working sooner. The sneezing did stop, but when it came back, it was so much worse. It all accelerated really fast, within a day he was sneezing again when he hadnt for two days, then he couldn't breathe, then he was gone. I hope I'll catch the warning signs if this ever happens again.

It's not your fault. You did everything you could. Reptiles are extremely well adapted not to show illness. Often times they've been sick for quite awhile before we notice symptoms.

I have a Burmese that will do the whole "sneezing" thing just about every winter. Sounds like the exact thing you are describing, it's horrible to watch.

We tried to culture the bacteria but couldn't grow anything significant. I've recently had the vet take a biopsy of lung tissue for pathology, also done quite a bit of blood work and some x-rays as well as broad spectrum antibiotic treatment.

800 dollars in vet bills later and all of these tests have proven inconclusive and have shown that the lung is actually quite healthy. None of the other snakes in the room seem to be effected.

Sometimes we just can't explain things.

So sorry for you loss...

Sent from my SGH-T999