Snakes keep getting sick..

Well I hope my vet is as accomodating as yours is. I am going to call him tomorrow (tried today but he wasn't in when I did) and see what we can do. I appreciate your thoughts and prayers (and advice!) everyone.

I was wondering along the same lines as Recycling Goddess - our vets here in the UK will come out if needed. It sounds like it would be less stressful for the snakes too.


I really wish you luck and hope you get this horrible mess cleared up soon. My thoughts and prayers are also with your and your snakes.

~Sue

Wish I had some advice (I've got nothin...) but you and all your scale-kids are definitely in my thoughts! :grouphug: Hope the new vet is more help...

really too bad you don't live up here... i KNOW he'd be at your house in the blink of an eye and he does soooo many exotics. zoos, wildlife reserves, breeders, movie sets, and goes to africa etc to work on wildlife and zoo animals...

:( but i guess wishing won't make it so...

Well I talked to the vet on the phone. He says he can help me. I think I will take three snakes in for cultures (my female blood, my dumeril, and my hog island) and if they come back as the same bug, he said he can prescribe me enough antibiotic for the entire collection.

The cultures will be around $90 each.. that's better than the $170 for the lung wash.

whew that's good news!!!

Good luck April!!! Keeping everything crossed for you, that you find the root cause bug and get your collection back to their robusts selves!!! :hug:


RuLyn

It's been a while, and unless you've posted under some other header April, I was wondering if you were able to find out what the creepy cooties were that were making your collection sick.


How are your snakes doing now???????


I hope they're better now! :hug:

Sorry guys, I meant to post an update, but hadn't gotten around to it.

so, I took in my female blood python, my hog island, and my female dumeril for cultures. The vet said habanera (the blood) looked healthy as a horse even though there was a little bubble of saliva that sneaked out when we were trying to restrain her head.

Bellatrix (the dum) also got compliments on her robust healthy appearance.. of course except from her urgy mouth.

Diva is a special case since she nose rubbed her nostrils right off of her face, so she always open-mouth breathes.

Cultures came back - habanera has a little something that responds to pretty much any antibiotic, Diva has something that responds to Fortaz, and Bellatrix came back negative for anything.. again. So, I asked the vet what he thought of that, and he said he thinks she does not have RI.. is not contagious, and is healthy enough to be bred. He thought the goo in her mouth could be from a cardiac thing..? I have to ask him more about that. But he says at the rate she eats, grows, and looks wonderful, it was unlikely that she was sick with a bad RI anyway.

SO.. I got some fortaz and am treating Diva, Habanera, my speckled king and my ball python. I'm very paranoid, the BP has just a slight bit of bubbly saliva at the back of his throat and his glottis is a bit pinker than the rest of his mouth.. I'm not even sure if he's sick, but I'll treat him anyway just in case.

*fingers crossed*

I'm not sure about you, April, but those sorts of diagnoses would leave me feeling more confused than ever. :rolleyes: If one snake comes back clean, and two snakes test positive for different things...how do you apply that sort of information to your entire collection? I don't envy you that sort of trouble at all! :hug:


One thing that your words make me wonder...is if it is possible to look too closely at our snakes. I mean, how often do perfectly healthy snakes have a little bubble of something back in their throats? Or a slightly pinker mouth or something? If we're not examining them that closely when we believe they are healthy, then we'd never know, right?

Please don't get me wrong, I'm not being critical at all. With all you've been through, you've every logical reason to be paranoid, and I believe without a doubt you take excellent care of your animals. Just something you've made me ponder when it comes to listening for every little possible sound a snake might make and wonder if it's "wheezing." Where do we draw the line between genuine concern and snakie-hypochondria?

Argh; I am really sorry to read about your snakes. It seems like with animals, when it rains it pours; everyone could be fine for months or years, but then they all go to pot at ths same time :/ I wish you luck for all of this.

Thanks for the update - I had been wondering what the news was on your snakes. I'm pleased they can be treated and fingers crossed for Bellatrix, at least she is eating well. I know I would be exactly the same as you if any of mine seemed unwell - I am definitely neurotic when it comes to anything like that. I hope they are all going to be OK now.

~Sue

judy, i was wondering the same thing cause honestly... i don't look in their mouths and down their throats... and i was thinking as i read her post... hmmmm... i don't know if mine are like that or not LOL

Quote:

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Originally Posted by JLC

I'm not sure about you, April, but those sorts of diagnoses would leave me feeling more confused than ever. :rolleyes: If one snake comes back clean, and two snakes test positive for different things...how do you apply that sort of information to your entire collection? I don't envy you that sort of trouble at all! :hug:


One thing that your words make me wonder...is if it is possible to look too closely at our snakes. I mean, how often do perfectly healthy snakes have a little bubble of something back in their throats? Or a slightly pinker mouth or something? If we're not examining them that closely when we believe they are healthy, then we'd never know, right?

Please don't get me wrong, I'm not being critical at all. With all you've been through, you've every logical reason to be paranoid, and I believe without a doubt you take excellent care of your animals. Just something you've made me ponder when it comes to listening for every little possible sound a snake might make and wonder if it's "wheezing." Where do we draw the line between genuine concern and snakie-hypochondria?

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Yeah you are exactly right. I don't go poking around in their mouths normally, so I don't know what is 'normal' or not. I really wish I could know without a doubt which ones are fine, and which ones were not. It's very, very frustrating and worrying.

I guess I didn't make it clear in my last post that I am only treating the ones that are showing signs (or I think they might) of RI. If I were to treat everyone it would cost me over $1000.