I took Bella to the vet.....

I completely understand what you are going through hon. Try to relax a little, deep breath!

From my experience with administering shots to dogs, cats, rabbits, birds and even a fish, most animals are like us, the shot is annoying for a moment or two, then you forget all about it and look for more trouble to get into.

Chances are, she'll be annoyed at you for a minute or two, but she'll forget soon enough. My advice here is, pick a specific time to give the shots, and stick to that time. When you need to give her her shot, get everything ready, then sit down and take a few deep breaths. This will be a LOT harder on you than it is on her. Once you have yourself calmed, gently pick her up. Get her settled comfortably, then calmly give her the shot. Be as quick and sure of yourself as you can. Once it is over, cuddle her up if she'll tolerate it for a minute or two, then instead of putting her back into her enclosure, let her have a little free roam time.

Most snakes enjoy roaming time so much, she'll forget all about the shot. Allow her 8-10 minutes of roaming time, then put her away. This will also make you feel less like you are "training" her to avoid handling. The big thing is to be calm about it, if you're all nervous and uptight, she will be too.

Gale

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by L.West

Thank you to Angllady2 - you obviously know exactly what I am going thru and picked up on how stressed I have been with all of this.

My only concern with giving her the shots is: will she become aggressive because she does not like to get the shots or is she not capable of such a thought process.

She has always been my most docile snake - my favorite snake and I don't want to ruin her personality.

Your thoughts on this??

---

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Kaorte

And if your snake imprints on them you are stuck feeding them. If anything, a ball python will choose an ASF over a gerbil since ASFs are their natural food source and gerbils are not.

---

No, most balls will take a gerbil over an ASF. I breed both for feeders and the gerbils are definitely preferred over the ASF's.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by guntersxr

thank you. im not here to cause problems at all. i asked a VERY valid question and you took extreme offense and atacked me, twice now. if the dr she took her pet to has 25 years experience in treating reptiles them i imagine she got the most educated opinion possible. but there are people who like to pretend theyre smarter or more educated than a doctor and thats hardly the truth.

---

A vet has a piece of paper saying they can treat animals. Most do great jobs with dogs and cats. Very few ever take the time to learn much of anything about reptiles because frankly, there is not enough money in it. Unless you are lucky and find one of the few that are actually into reptiles there opinion is often not just wrong, but dangerous for the animal. Everything that was done to this snake was not needed. The vet says the snake is healthy, but then goes on to medicate it and give it an enema? I'll take the word of an experienced breeder over the opinion of about 99% of vets. Who do you think spends more time learning about and caring for ball pythons? A breeder or a vet?

To everyone that joined in on this discussion - I appreciate everyone giving their opinions and ideas.

I just wanted to do what was best for "Bella". I have until tonight to decide whether to follow the dr's orders or go with what I have been told on this site.

Worst case scenario, I give her the injections and hope for the best. I have been told that the injections wont harm her but if I start them - I need to finish the whole prescription.

I already informed the vet that I did not intend to proceed with additional tube feedings.

I haven't bothered Bella since Monday after her vet visit - I intend to get her out tonight just to check on her - she has been in her hides all along and I have noticed she is still thermoregulating - I see that as a good sign.

Again, Thanks for all the help.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by L.West

I haven't bothered Bella since Monday after her vet visit - I intend to get her out tonight just to check on her - she has been in her hides all along and I have noticed she is still thermoregulating - I see that as a good sign.

Again, Thanks for all the help.

---

I wouldn't mess with her. Just leave her be until your next feeding attempt.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by guntersxr

thank you. im not here to cause problems at all. i asked a VERY valid question and you took extreme offense and atacked me, twice now. if the dr she took her pet to has 25 years experience in treating reptiles them i imagine she got the most educated opinion possible. but there are people who like to pretend theyre smarter or more educated than a doctor and thats hardly the truth.

---

I think another point to consider is that he may have 25 years experience but that could be treating maybe a few herps a month. Out of those few maybe 1 snake. My point is that they are spending very little time with ball pythons in many (not all) cases. A breeder sees ball pythons every day and is able to notice trends in feeding, behavior, weight, etc. A vet once prescribed cherry flavored oral baytril for one of my balls. Needlessto say i didn work well. I went online and after much research obtained injectable baytril and a dosing table and took care of it myself. I have never had a problem since, and haven't been to a vet either. I'm not saying vets arent knowledgeable but some are more than others. I respect the ones that wont see reptiles because they are being honest about their lack of knowledge in the area. The ones that are too proud to admit it are the ones that worry me

I did some more research online into the drug Fortaz in use with reptiles and found out there could be some side effects - I'm not willing to risk her health for a "maybe". I will throw out the injections when I get home and leave her alone.

I have always relied on the breeder that I got her from for advise - he has been very helpful. His advise to me was to not do any further injections.

I will take a poop sample in to be checked as soon as I can get one from her - at least that would help rule out any parasites.

I just hope in the end - I am making the right decision for my baby.

did a little reasearch, and it looks like Fortaz is basically an anti-bacterial injection, used to "treat or prevent infections that are proven or strongly suspected to be caused by bacteria" (as found at http://www.rxlist.com/fortaz-drug.htm). as far as I could tell, it's used when there's not time to send out a lot of tests and get the results as a preventative medicine. you can go to the site mentioned above for a lot more information on the drug (though it's not exclusivly for reptiles) if you have dbouts, but i'd say if you have the money to go ahead with the injections just in case...

hope that helps and good luck!

I can't say or sure what you should do since I haven't seen the snake but I will say that unless you notice weight loss or some other symptom then you shouldn't be too concerned. I have 3 females that went off feed in Oct and they all just started back up in the last 2 weeks. Yes I did cool them, but they still stop feeding sometimes even if they aren't cooled. I didn't cool my younger balls and some still went off food for the winter anyway. I hope you get her feeding again soon!

BTW, have you tried feeding live? I know you mentioned trying a variety of f/t but trying live can really make a difference. :)

I already paid for the injections on Monday while I was at the vet.

Its really a matter of who can you trust to guide you in the right direction - this has been very upsetting to not be able to make up my mind and go with it.

Everytime I think I've made up my mind - someone else comes up with a valid point.

I guess it really boils down to who I put my trust in and stick to it.