Administering Meds :(

Took one of my babies to the vet today and long story short, after xrays and enemas galore, she was prescribed some meds for the next two weeks. I just gave her today's dose and I'm wondering if you guys have learned any tricks for making it a little less stressful for them? She's only 90 grams and shy to begin with, so she's had a rough day and shoving all this crap down her throat to top it off was not particularly fun for her. I took so much work to get her eating and she's so skinny, I hope she'll continue to eat with no issue. She's going wobble crazy with all the stress :( Anyway, enough sobbing :(...please let me know what you can suggest.

So far, I've just been coaxing her mouth open with the tip of the syringe and aiming to the side down her throat...she is so tiny, it's even hard to see her trachea clearly.

Thank you :) Fingers crossed for some serious pooping soon!!

You don't have to open her mouth all the way. Just tilt her head slightly. Then peel up her upper lip and squirt along her lower gum line. It's less intrusive.

Since reptiles have such slow metabolism, oral meds aren't that effective. Ask the vet for injectables. Injecting directly into the muscle is more effective and faster reacting.



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Originally Posted by satomi325

You don't have to open her mouth all the way. Just tilt her head slightly. Then peel up her upper lip and squirt along her lower gum line. It's less intrusive.

Since reptiles have such slow metabolism, oral meds aren't that effective. Ask the vet for injectables. Injecting directly into the muscle is more effective and faster reacting.



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x2

Injecting the meds will be a lot easier and less stressful (IMO).

I'm curious as to what the vet prescribed and what the diagnoses was/why you were worried about her/taking her to the vet? No biggie, I was just interested in why // what :)

I've had her for a little over a month now (got her from Petco super emaciated and terrified of everything...couldn't leave the store without her). Got her eating several times, but hasn't pooped at all. In the past week, the area above her vent has become hard and I was worried she was backed up/impacted. Several warm soaks were unsuccessful. Vet took xrays, gave her 2 enemas, and panacur for potential parasites. The meds I'm giving her now are Flagyl and Lactulose.

Unfortunately, injectables are not an option at the moment. The vet is just leaving for the next week, so this will have to do until then :(, although I agree it seems counterproductive to prescribe oral meds for an animal with incredibly low metabolism. I'm doing what I can on an incredibly tight budget :sigh2:. I will try just lifting her upper lip tomorrow.

Thank you

Honestly, I think your snake is fine. If she hasn't pooped, she will on her own time. Sausage butt is an indicator that she will poo soon.

My snakes poop once a month or less. They feed once a week. If your little snake didn't have any food in her when you got her, then she would have nothing to defecate until you fed her. And her new meals are probably still processing or almost ready to come out.

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Originally Posted by satomi325

Honestly, I think your snake is fine. If she hasn't pooped, she will on her own time. Sausage butt is an indicator that she will poo soon.

My snakes poop once a month or less. They feed once a week. If your little snake didn't have any food in her when you got her, then she would have nothing to defecate until you fed her. And her new meals are probably still processing or almost ready to come out.

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My normal seems to only poo when he sheds every 5-6 weeks or so, so I realize that a month without pooping is not out of the ordinary (although the vet was appalled when I said this and was adamant that if they aren't pooping weekly with each meal, then something is wrong...) but given that she felt so hard for a while and never had a sausage butt, I was worried. I posted another thread asking advice on what to do and I got the advice to take her to the vet, so I did.

My question for you, then, is at what point do you think not pooping becomes an issue? At what point do you worry your snake is constipated and do something about it? That is information I have found difficult to attain, so I would value your opinion.

EDIT: right now, my concern is her stress level, the vet wants to see her again tomorrow, and will probably want to do another enema if she hasn't pooped by then. I'm not sure the stress of all of this on such a little snake is worth it and I don't want her to go off feed again. I just don't think it's fair to her to subject her to this. If anything I'll ask for injectable meds tomorrow since the vet is seeing me right before she leaves, I think that and then just waiting might be the best thing.

Sorry for long response, but I'm just trying to do what's best for her with so much conflicting information out there.

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Originally Posted by Zuma22

(although the vet was appalled when I said this and was adamant that if they aren't pooping weekly with each meal, then something is wrong...)

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That, is a major red flag to me from your vet. Not saying there isn't something wrong with the little worm, but an exotics vet should have a clue about bowel movements. Especially little ones who are using up most of their meals to grow...

I'm sorry I don't have any information for you :(

Just out of curiosity, how long has this hardness been there? Did you hatch her and has she had it since then? The reason I ask is this (I'm not sure how long a snake can survive with it, so it may be irrelevant )

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...hon-hatchlings

I'm not suggesting you do what Robyn did, as that can be very very dangerous. But it might be worth mentioning if your little one is rather young. (as I said, this might be something that kills offspring quickly, as I am unfamiliar with it personally, I cannot say for sure. Hopefully someone with more knowledge can chime in)

RoseyReps, she is about 6 months old, I got her from Petco in bad condition and she was 76g when i got her. She's up to 90g, but obviously, she hasn't pooed that out, so I don't have an empty weight.

Believe me, this did raise a red flag to me as well. Vet said they absolutely should have a bowel movement within 3-5 days of eating. I have worked with snakes of all sizes for years now and know that is rarely the case. She also flipped when she learned that I do not have a UV lamp on her. I was handed the generic snake care sheet packed with misinformation and sent on my way with several comments from multiple staff about what I knowledgeable and husbandry-savvy snake owner I am.........:rolleye2:

But in terms of the blockage in the thread you sent me, the coloring on my girl is such that I can see through her when held to the light and there is definitely poo in there, so I don't think this is the issue, but glad to know of this issue when I breed in the coming years.

I'm a new bp owner (today actually) and everything I've read is that they don't need UV, so it's interesting the vet was surprised about the lack of UV lighting.

The bp's that people keep in racks with no lighting seem just fine.
They're nocturnal animals who are underground in the wild, so lack of UV shouldn't be an issue.

You know that & everyone on here does too, it's strange the vet flipped out...

Your vet doesn't sound like a good BP vet. I would see someone else if you can. I had to give oral meds for sniffles and it sucked, but I did find that lip peeling made it much easier. Don't expect her to eat for the entirety of oral meds. She will be irked and handling her for medication will probably just make her regurgitate anyway. I think if you've only had her over a month, you may just want to soak her and not stress her out by taking her to the vet. She may be absolutely absorbing all the food she can when she eats. Personally, I would finish the rounds of meds (unless they seem to be making her worse) and find another Doctor. This one doesn't know the barest basics of BPs and that is a terrible sign. I've known many vets in my area and gotten local reviews and the animals that did best during medical issues went to Doctors that bothered to (insert sarcasm here please) wikipedia the species they were about to treat. I know it's a stressful job and they often have to see animals they may know very little about. Vet schools don't cover things like tarantulas and exotic bird species in many cases. HOWEVER, balls, boas and corns are pretty common snake pets and the doc really ought to know some minimal amount about them before they treat them. My vet never blinked at "poops every three weeks" about my kids and had a pretty good idea of how much weight a growing snake ought to be gaining. She would occasionally ask a question to confirm 'general behavior' because she knew I've owned them for years and was willing to admit she didn't know everything about them, but she also had a very good understanding of overall herp and overall BP anatomy and basic requirements! A vet doesn't need to know ever single thing about your animal to treat them, but they really do need to know SOMEthing!


I hope this doesn't sound rude or condescending, I just would hate for you and your new girl to go through all this stress for something that might resolve itself, OR be fixed by going to a Doc who knows reptiles!

Also, i forgot to say earlier, try not to be stressed. Your snake will be wigging out and upset, but the calmer you are even if you think you have no idea what you are doing, the better each dosing will go! All that snakes really need is for the medicine to not go down the breathing tube and to be gentle enough not to chip teeth. If you move carefully and decisively, it will be much easier for everyone! Good luck and try not to stress about it.

Did the vet give you digital copies of the Xrays? Blockages are rare and obvious on xrays. I have had a snake with a blockage but the vet used the 'rat lax' method as she was still feeding a small amount of mineral oil injected into the FT rat. Fecals should be done to determine parasites.

http://images56.fotki.com/v773/photo...1/xray2-vi.jpgHosted on Fotki

http://images59.fotki.com/v112/photo...1/xray3-vi.jpgHosted on Fotki

My girl is mis-formed birth defect and is complicated to say the least she has had 1000 medical issues. This blockage (not the large white area but the smaller white dots left of the R) the ribs are distended and in person there was a definate lump and behind this a bloated gassy area to the vent felt like a balloon, nothing in there. The blockage was hard and firm and above it normal snake feeling. It is hard to describe but it is clear something is funky. It was not a case of I think this is odd, it was what the heck is that!

This is Lucy, she is fine now. Yes a big lump on her head she is missing her eye and has a concave skull (other side) she is a darling and the most passive animal I have ever seen she was born a twin and extra tiny but now 4.5 years later is a feeding tank (skipped 4 meals to date) and over 1400gm she will likely never be big as she was micro small but parasite free and growing well. Sorry I figured you saw the inside you should see her outside.

I too am skeptical of your vet.
http://images57.fotki.com/v81/photos...D7_1540-vi.jpgHosted on Fotki

My thoughts exactly, darkblood. Thank you so much for your response. I'm going to go with my instinct and all of your suggestions and do what I feel is best for her. I'll keep up the meds as much as she will tolerate, humidity is up, and keeping her warm and comfy.

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Originally Posted by kitedemon

This is Lucy, she is fine now. Yes a big lump on her head she is missing her eye and has a concave skull (other side) she is a darling and the most passive animal I have ever seen she was born a twin and extra tiny but now 4.5 years later is a feeding tank (skipped 4 meals to date) and over 1400gm she will likely never be big as she was micro small but parasite free and growing well. Sorry I figured you saw the inside you should see her outside.

I too am skeptical of your vet.
http://images57.fotki.com/v81/photos...D7_1540-vi.jpgHosted on Fotki

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Thank you for the pictures...I do not have the digital copy of the X-ray, but honestly to me, it just looked like a bunch of crap just sitting there. What prompted me to bring her was kind of what you described though: above her vent she felt like a balloon filled with gas or urine and then there was the hard area. When I get back to my computer I can post a picture (a bad one, but useful) showing the area through the light where you can clearly see the fecal in there.

And Lucy is gorgeous, what a sweet face :). I'm waiting for Ghana to strike at me and tell me she's had enough, but her sweetness so far knows no bounds. I'm completely in love with her.