Snake with RI, What would you do?

I was wondering why you thought I chimed in, LOL. McKinsey, take off the sunglasses, dear. ;)

I bought my het Pied from a very reputable breeder(Don Kaye) who has been around for a good 30 years or better. The snake arrived fine and was in quarantine with a friend of mine for about 2 weeks before I could meet her to pick up the snake. The snake ended up getting a mild respiratory infection because of all the stress of shipping/moving around. I took him to my vet, she swabbed his trachea, sent it off to the lab, and we put him on enrofloxacin(Baytril) for a good month(every other day injections) and to this day he is perfect. He started showing improvement within 3 injections, but my vet believes that since reptiles heal very slowly, the antibiotics need to be continued for a longer period of time. That's what I did, and that Het Pied Classic Jungle male is about to be a father in about 15 days :)

SO! Get the snake to the vet, get a culture done, get the proper antibiotic injections, raise the temperatures and humidity in the enclosure, and chalk the RI up to shipping stress.

It's not that big of a problem if you catch the infection early and get it treated.

Sometimes it's not the breeder's fault. Snake's stress out, and it can't be helped.

When you take it to the vet, get copies of all the paperwork, including your bill, and send it to the guy who had the nerve to sell you an ill animal. He is lucky you don't charge him for your time and aggravation, too. Tell him you would like compensation for dealing with an animal that was ill upon arrival. Make sure to get the vet to note if the infection seemed to be long-standing or not.

Be polite and at least civil in your wording. Don't be afraid to phone him, too. However, in the end, if he refuses to handle this situation in a responsible way that leaves you satisfied, rip him a new one on Fauna. If he is unreasonable and/or rude, other people should know. That said, if he does a good job of offering after-care and compensation, mention that too.

Good luck! I hope the lil'guy gets well soon.

thanks everyone. let me explain his symptoms again and you tell me how seriouse it sounds. by looking at him he seems fine. he flicks his tounge is active. the breeder said he ate this week. when I open his mouth its not really like a thick mucus or anything its just a little extra snake spit in there. with maybe two or three bubbles in it. when I hold his head to my ear I can hear him breathe out and it makes a whooosh sound. and occasionally a poping noise. how severe would you say that is? thankfully this is my first snake with an RI so I need some help. thanks

Severe enough that it needs treated.

Go to the vet or return him. Was he shipped to you? Ri's can come from stress, very dry conditions, to cool, I know a breeder that had a snake that was SO nervous it would get sick if handled too much. If the snake got sick very easily you might not want it in your collection anyway. That maybe why the guy was selling it in the first place.

Sunglasses off :P
The OP said it was from a local breeder and so I thought that there was no shipping...
At any rate, a choice needs to be made because no choice implies that you have assumed responsibility for the snake and are being errant in not getting it treated.
Rock n roll.
It's an ethical dilemma- there are no right or wrong answers for this.
Choose and move on.

50$ and a vet visit will get you some bayatril shots that should take care of him with no problem.

Where I live it's over $100 for the vet visit and meds. Things aint cheap here:(

And why should the OP have to pay for the sick snake. The breeder is a bad guy. What's his/her name so we all know to take care when doing business with him/her in the future?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by JoshJP7

50$ and a vet visit will get you some bayatril shots that should take care of him with no problem.

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Only hopefully.