How important are annual vet visits?

How important is it to take your BPs in for annual vet visits? Back in Feb. I took the two BPs I owned at that time in for an annual exam. All my vet did was weigh my snakes and check for a respiratory infection and mites. I got charged $70 per snake, which just seems like a giant waste of money to me. I've come to realize my vet is full of s*** as he tried to tell me that belly heat was bad. There is another vet in my area that I've heard good things about, but before I go I want to know if it's really important. I hate feeling like I'm wasting my money, so should a standard vet visit include more than basic checks I already do?

They don't need it. Unless something is wrong, no need to take them to the vet.

I dont take my animals to a vet unless its needed, even then I generally will talk to a more experienced keeper before rushing off. I'd give a vet a call first before running down there. Its just not piratical for most of the issues that arise in ball pythons especially. There is no need to go to a vet for
- a snake thats not eating. (check your husbandry, or the age of the animal)
- a snake that keeps having bad sheds (check your husbandry)
- a snake with dented eyecaps (check your husbandry)
- to check the weight of a snake (a scale costs less than the visit fee).
The sad thing is that many keepers have more experience dealing with the minor issues that these guys can have than actual vets do.

These are some of the scenarios I would personally be going to the vet for.
A snake with a massive laceration or other injury, yes. Severe bite wounds (especially if there is a lot of exposed tissue) yes. Males with prolapsed hemipenes that may need surgery to correct, yes. Females retaining bad eggs and getting a septic infection, yes. Severe RIs, yes.

I usually just take in fecal samples about every 6 months to make sure they haven't got any internal parasites going on, but that is just me.

Tain't been yet to the vet.

First off you need to find a vet that is experienced in treating exotics the physiology of reptiles and birds is quite different than mammals, and IMO any vet worth their salt will be up front and tell you if they are competent in treating reptiles or not. My vet that I take my dog to is an amazing vet, if he wasn’t I would never trust my beloved girl with him. But he is the first to admit that he does not have the experience to treat reptiles. Second I totally agree that vet visit’s for snakes for any reason other than emergency medical care that you cannot or don’t want to do yourself, and newly acquired specimens that require test for health be it fecal, blood or what have you is for the most part just a waste of money. Now that being said like most wild animals snakes are masters at hiding symptoms of illness until they are very sick, especially from new and inexperienced keepers. So I would say carful observation of you animals so you know what is normal and see those little signs that tell you something is off is probably your best weapon in protecting your captives health and well being.

Basically if I believe I would go to a doctor for an injury like I see on my animal, I take it to the vet :O

As far as check ups, I do take mine occasionally, but more likely I go to get a fecal done if I want to see if everything is okay. It's easy to tell if an animal is well or not by observing it and your husbandry practices. If I know my snake is eating but is losing weight, I will take the fecal in to see if the snake has parasites! :O

I also make sure my vet knows reptiles! The vet near my house actually works with a reptile rescue, they see every new animal the rescue takes in so they have seen quite a bit of injured and sick reptiles.. They know what they are talking about, and I like that!

Most important is seeing an experienced herp vet.

Periodic fecal exams should be done to check for internal parasites.

You need to educate yourself about keeping herps healthy and what to look for if something is going wrong health wise.

Good luck.:)

Agreed that it must be an experienced Herp vet otherwise your likely to know more about the health of the reptile then the vet in my opinion.

I personally take my guys to the vet when I first get them and subsequently after that for check ups. That said I do have several board certified exotics vets at the place I go to because it is a teaching hospital so they have everything. I also get discounts for being a student there and they teach me things when I go, for example I got to draw blood from my new guy last time I was there. I prefer to know what they look like when they are healthy and to have records of everything. My primary care vet also owns his own snakes so I trust him when it comes to mine. It's really up to you.

Thanks everyone. The vet I took my snakes too says he's experienced with exotics, but I really don't believe it. Putting pretty pictures of reptiles and birds on the wall does not convince me you know any thing. I'm pretty sure he keeps corn snakes, but those are not the same as BPs. I did find another vet that's relatively close to me and it sounds like he has a lot of experience working with BPs, but if annual exams are not really necessary (like they are for my dog) then I'm not going to waste my money. I weigh my snakes about every 2 weeks and I keep track of when they eat, what they ate and when they shed, along with any other things I noticed. My collection is small enough that I know all of my snakes pretty well because I handle them frequently. I actually spent like 10 minutes this morning explaining their different personalities to a friend. :P

A vet with herp experience great if you have one if not a vet that is willing to work with you is the next best thing. I learned that fecals really need to be done. I have a little snake that I know 100% have NEVER had live food not her first meal or any since. I assumed (you know the saying) that there was no way that she could have internal parasites... right? WRONG tapeworm.

Freezing takes up to 24 hours to kill all traces of tapeworms and apparently 36 is recommended. :O

Feeder rats do often carry tape worms too and transfer happens. I am in the process if getting all my animals fecal exams now. As for a basic check up my vet is quite good it is a fecal exam and a general condition, weight and RI for 120$ It is a lot but not a total rip off. I'm still not likely to take all mine for a check up if there is nothing wrong but I am having fecals done on all of them !

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Originally Posted by kitedemon

A vet with herp experience great if you have one if not a vet that is willing to work with you is the next best thing. I learned that fecals really need to be done. I have a little snake that I know 100% have NEVER had live food not her first meal or any since. I assumed (you know the saying) that there was no way that she could have internal parasites... right? WRONG tapeworm.

Freezing takes up to 24 hours to kill all traces of tapeworms and apparently 36 is recommended. :O

Feeder rats do often carry tape worms too and transfer happens. I am in the process if getting all my animals fecal exams now. As for a basic check up my vet is quite good it is a fecal exam and a general condition, weight and RI for 120$ It is a lot but not a total rip off. I'm still not likely to take all mine for a check up if there is nothing wrong but I am having fecals done on all of them !

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Yeah, my vet recommended that I get a fecal done, the problem is, it has to be a fresh sample (like within 8-12 hours), so I haven't been able to get a good sample yet. My snakes don't like to cooperate. :(

I am as I said in the process of... read waiting for snakes to go... I have some sample bottles with some presertive the vet gave me for the job. Labelled and waiting.... They even came with a little 'shovel' :D