uh oh my snake has a respitory infection:(

Yeah, where's Becky. I want the scoop.. on poop. Or something like that.

Someday when I have a bigger collection, I think it wouldn't be a bad idea to get a good microscope and learn about this stuff.

Simple microbiology classes are helpful too. Especially if you plan on culturing your own specimens. < But they suuuuuuuure are booooo-rrrrrriiiiiiiiing lectures! :bleh: > LOL

When looking at a smear, you've got try and find the eggs through all the crap, literally. It's much harder to find what you are looking for. With a float, there is a strainer type thing, then keeps the larger pieces out of the slide. All the teeny tiny eggs float to the top, and it's collected on a coverslip. Drop that on the slide, and then look away. It's kinda fun, actually.

I think it would be, Christie. Gosh we are odd people.. looking at snake poop under a microscope is 'fun'!

Now collecting those samples is not as much fun, but hey, you gotta take what you can get. ;)

Bah, snake poo doesn't bother me. Even when the boas poo several pounds.. it's not that bad. ;)

LOL April! I don't mind the huge boa poop either...it's the darn boa farting *gag* I'm objecting to!

~~Jo~~

My boas fart too. The blood pythons are worse though.. big farters there.

So what's the question? Where am I? What's my name? Oh yeah...

*sigh* LONG weekend.

Baytril is actually ENROFLOXACIN and comes in many strengths. I use the 100mg/ml orally in my rats(0.01-0.04ml) and they do great and heal quicker than if it is injected(although it does smell and taste like complete ICKINESS). Gastrointestinal tissues absorb the Baytril better than injections in rodents, but in other species it doesn't work that way. And yep, the 22.7mg/ml is a much safer substance to inject, but you can always dilute the stronger stuff with sterile saline or a dextrose solution and inject it IM. Much easier on the snake and it won't burn or cause abscessing.

Cultures are done by taking a sample and then smearing it on a prepared petri dish(blood agar and all that mess). If any creepy-crawlies grow on it, you can find exactly what the cause of the infection is under the microscope and also by looking at the patterns of growth on the petri dish medium.

Fecals should be done on a fairly high-power microscope, one that has at least oil immersion at 100x on it. Good-quality ones are normally around $1000, but it will save you alot of heartache, especially if you didn't catch that cryptosporidium or giardia that the new animal you just got in was carrying. Centrifuging your samples will yield much better results, especially if you are dealing with tapeworms as they don't float well. A good float shouldn't contain any fecal material, and a good smear should barely contain any. Then trying to decipher what is what and if that pollen spore over there is an ova or not. It hurts my eyes, but I can do it for a couple hours on end :) Poop is fun, but pig poop is NOT.

Smears are much more likely to catch giardia and tapeworms, and floats are normally used for other parasitic infestations such as hookworms, roundworms and whipworms, etc. You just have to be able to do a direct smear very quickly because giardia and crypto aren't detectable for long amounts of time. The sample has to be as fresh as possible(straight out of.. Oh wait...You get the picture).

And to the original poster:
As far as the possible respiratory infection goes, your snake needs to see a qualified veterinarian as soon as possible. Proper husbandry goes a very long way in keeping snakes healthy, and if you are wanting to get rid of this one just for the fact that it's not big enough, what is going to happen if the next snake you get doesn't grow as fast as you want it to? Has a snappy attitude? Won't eat for you because your husbandry isn't up to par? Will you get rid of that one too?

Pythons and boas are known to live for 35 to 40 years. Are you prepared for this sort of life-long commitment? Ball Pythons as well as all snake species have strict husbandry requirements that need to be followed, or, as you are experiencing, they will not fare well and will get sick.

Please get your temperatures steady and in the ranges of 92-94 warm side and 82-84 cool side with the ambient(air temps) temps in the low to mid 80's. Humidity can range from 50-65%. A quality thermostat connected to an undertank heating device(such as flexwatt or Exo-Terra) will help provide your snake with the proper environment to thermoregulate and digest his meals. Heat lamps dry the air our unless other preventative measures have been taken to avoid this. Using saran wrap or a sheet of pre-cut plexiglas placed on most of the screen top(4 corners cut out and a circle big enough for the lamp) will help the humidity stay in the specified ranges.

Temperatures and humidity NEED to be monitored by an accurate digital thermometer. You can find a very good one at WalMart for around $11(Acu-Rite model) and it will measure your relative humidity as well as the temperatures on both sides of the enclosure.

Please review our caresheet and make any adjustments that are needed. Your snake's health and life are depending on you to create and maintain the proper environment for him and since the inappropriate environment has not been remedied, he got sick because of it. Prevention is always key to a happy, healthy animal.

Wow, I didn't see the end of this thread. Well said Becky! You are a wealth of information :) :graduate: