RI Treatment Working or...not?

My snake has been on meds for an RI for over a week now. Baytril everyday and Tazicef every 3 days. She also receives drops in her nostrils everyday and I steam her out in the bathroom after doing them. She has seemed to be better all week. Yesterday, my husband and I had to go to the DMV and came home to find that her day/heating lamp blew. I am not sure as to how long it had been out but we immediately went to the store and got a new bulb. I wonder if this has anything to do with the setback I just experienced. I was in the bathroom with her steaming her out and all of the sudden a mess of bubbles came up. I mean, a lot. I don't know if she was just clearing it out with the steam but it hasn't happened before. I am concerned that possibly it got too cold in her enclosure yesterday when the lamp blew out and maybe it set her back. I have a follow up at my vet 2/2. I am currently in a very tight financial situation and it would really kill me to make another emergency visit. I don't really know what to do anymore. I am very frustrated and upset and I just don't know why this is happening. Her meds are to be given for another 2-4 weeks so maybe I'm worrying to early...but then again.....

Have you called the vet? They can tell you if that's something you should expect to see, or if it's a sign of a problem. Most vets will tell you that sort of thing over the phone without having to make a visit.

Immediately after posting this I went to check on her again and noticed something I hadn't before that certainly isn't helping her situation. Her driftwood piece in her enclosure had mold on the bottom of it! When I took her to the vet originally, I was told to remove the cocont substrate I was using because it promoted bacteria. I did. I use just reptile carpet and paper towels now. I am so mad I never noticed that before. It was on the bottom of it that always was on the ground of her enclosure. I just threw it away.

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Originally Posted by DVirginiana

Have you called the vet? They can tell you if that's something you should expect to see, or if it's a sign of a problem. Most vets will tell you that sort of thing over the phone without having to make a visit.

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I have tried to get through to my vet but all lines are busy. It's a 24 hour emergency vet so they could be really busy right now. Hopefully my doctor is there. She sometimes doesn't work overnight and she is the only expert on reptiles.

Got thru. My doctor isn't there. So.... I suppose I can call other vets but they don't really know Sidda's exact case and haven't looked at her like my doctor has but I will give it a try.

Just looked up other hero vets in my area and all of them are closed.

I would consider the possibility that the high humidity environment of the steamy bathroom is loosening up mucous in the respiratory tract from the infection. I've had a vet recommend holding a snake with the lungs positioned higher than the head of the snake to aid in drainage of mucous.

Don't panic; unless the snake is laboring to breathe and gaping she shouldn't drop dead on you. You should be perfectly fine if you wait till tomorrow to call.

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Originally Posted by DVirginiana

Don't panic; unless the snake is laboring to breathe and gaping she shouldn't drop dead on you. You should be perfectly fine if you wait till tomorrow to call.

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That's what's worrying me though. She was gaping a little bit when it was coming up in the bathroom and she appears to be keeping her head elevated in her enclosure as I'm looking at her right now. She isn't gaping anymore though. I try notbtonpanic but I am a worry wart. Trust me, I drive my husband crazy lol

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Originally Posted by tbowman

I would consider the possibility that the high humidity environment of the steamy bathroom is loosening up mucous in the respiratory tract from the infection. I've had a vet recommend holding a snake with the lungs positioned higher than the head of the snake to aid in drainage of mucous.

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I'm hoping that was it. Just loosening it up. I do the same thing! I always make her dip her head lower while I steam her out. My vet told me the same thing.

I get it. I've done the emergency vet thing before too. Unfortunately, unless your reptile specialist happens to be the vet on call it usually doesn't do a lot of good. From what you're saying, I think you're definitely fine for tonight. Like tbowman said, she may just be clearing out mucous (kind of like what happens when you take Mucinex)

Have you addressed the issue that caused the RI in the first place? You can treat all you want but until you stop the problem at its source you could be just wasting your time.

Did your vet do a culture and sensitivity test on the bacteria? Or just prescribe the baytril? This test is necessary to determine which antibiotic will best handle the situation.

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Originally Posted by tbowman

Have you addressed the issue that caused the RI in the first place? You can treat all you want but until you stop the problem at its source you could be just wasting your time.

Did your vet do a culture and sensitivity test on the bacteria? Or just prescribe the baytril? This test is necessary to determine which antibiotic will best handle the situation.

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No sensitivity test I don't think... but she did do a culture. Like I said, I believe my coconut substrate was causing bacteria and then I just recently discovered the mold on the driftwood. Both have been removed.

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Originally Posted by DVirginiana

I get it. I've done the emergency vet thing before too. Unfortunately, unless your reptile specialist happens to be the vet on call it usually doesn't do a lot of good. From what you're saying, I think you're definitely fine for tonight. Like tbowman said, she may just be clearing out mucous (kind of like what happens when you take Mucinex)

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Yeah, I'm just going to call them tomorrow. Hopefully everything will be fine until then. I'm just not in the financial situation to pay for another emergency visit and other tests. Where I live it's pretty expensive. On top of bills, my dog's uti treatment and other expenses... It's just not in the playing cards right now. I try my best and I am as attentive as possible. Her temps and humidity is on point, and I give her her meds like instructed. Thank you for helping me :)

My bet's on the mold. The coco-fiber substrate is usually safe, even if it gets waterlogged (I use it for tropical frog bedding with no bacteria issues), but if you have a mold issue I could see it spreading pretty quickly around a tank with cocofiber.

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Originally Posted by DVirginiana

My bet's on the mold. The coco-fiber substrate is usually safe, even if it gets waterlogged (I use it for tropical frog bedding with no bacteria issues), but if you have a mold issue I could see it spreading pretty quickly around a tank with cocofiber.

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I was pretty pissed I didn't notice the mold on the driftwood before. The way it was positioned was just not in my sight. I threw it away immediately and changed out her newspaper /paper towels and sanitized everything.

I've had Eco Earth which is the same stuff mold on me before and get on the wood too. I ended up throwing everything out and chlorhexadine the whole cage and then I switched to aspen. You can achieve the same humidity with aspen or at least I do and as long as your snake doesn't spill the water dish, you should be fine with no mold as the aspen doesn't get wet. A mouth culture is the same thing as a sensitivity test where I am from. Basically they just take the culture and then grow it and find what bacteria or virus it is and then they will know what antibiotic it is sensitive to. Like for my bearded dragon, the culture came back as enterobacter which the vet said is pretty common and is on pretty much anything including dirt. Usually an animals immune system will fight it off but if it becomes stressed or anything that causes the immune system to become compromised, it takes hold. Baytril is a wide spectrum antibiotic but make sure you get the culture because if its viral, baytril wont work on that. My advice though is go to any farm or feed store and ask them for chlorhexadine or the name brand novalsan and follow the directions for mixing. That's the same stuff vets use to disinfect exam rooms. I mix 2 capfuls to 1 gallon of water and then use that to wipe down cages, tables, use it on my hands as a rinse, on utensils. Pretty much anything in my reptile room. But I would use that to wipe down your cage. RI can take awhile to completely clear up. My beardie dealt with it for about 2 months and 2 treatments of Baytril before she completely cleared up. Also raise the cage temp a few degrees to help boost the immune system and also it will make the Baytril work better. Good luck, RI is such a pain especially if its your first time dealing with it as it was for my beardie.

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Originally Posted by Sauzo

I've had Eco Earth which is the same stuff mold on me before and get on the wood too. I ended up throwing everything out and chlorhexadine the whole cage and then I switched to aspen. You can achieve the same humidity with aspen or at least I do and as long as your snake doesn't spill the water dish, you should be fine with no mold as the aspen doesn't get wet. A mouth culture is the same thing as a sensitivity test where I am from. Basically they just take the culture and then grow it and find what bacteria or virus it is and then they will know what antibiotic it is sensitive to. Like for my bearded dragon, the culture came back as enterobacter which the vet said is pretty common and is on pretty much anything including dirt. Usually an animals immune system will fight it off but if it becomes stressed or anything that causes the immune system to become compromised, it takes hold. Baytril is a wide spectrum antibiotic but make sure you get the culture because if its viral, baytril wont work on that. My advice though is go to any farm or feed store and ask them for chlorhexadine or the name brand novalsan and follow the directions for mixing. That's the same stuff vets use to disinfect exam rooms. I mix 2 capfuls to 1 gallon of water and then use that to wipe down cages, tables, use it on my hands as a rinse, on utensils. Pretty much anything in my reptile room. But I would use that to wipe down your cage. RI can take awhile to completely clear up. My beardie dealt with it for about 2 months and 2 treatments of Baytril before she completely cleared up. Also raise the cage temp a few degrees to help boost the immune system and also it will make the Baytril work better. Good luck, RI is such a pain especially if its your first time dealing with it as it was for my beardie.

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Thank you thank you thank you. I will get that asap! I did get the culture, and she told me bacterial. But I've heard people say it can turn viral (don't known the accuracy of this) but I hope not. I have raised her temps, at least attempting to but I have trouble getting it to go higher than 80 on cool side and 94 on the hot side. Unusually will run my heater in my room and that helps but it kind of kills my humidity/dries it out. Any tips on that?

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Sauzo

I've had Eco Earth which is the same stuff mold on me before and get on the wood too. I ended up throwing everything out and chlorhexadine the whole cage and then I switched to aspen. You can achieve the same humidity with aspen or at least I do and as long as your snake doesn't spill the water dish, you should be fine with no mold as the aspen doesn't get wet. A mouth culture is the same thing as a sensitivity test where I am from. Basically they just take the culture and then grow it and find what bacteria or virus it is and then they will know what antibiotic it is sensitive to. Like for my bearded dragon, the culture came back as enterobacter which the vet said is pretty common and is on pretty much anything including dirt. Usually an animals immune system will fight it off but if it becomes stressed or anything that causes the immune system to become compromised, it takes hold. Baytril is a wide spectrum antibiotic but make sure you get the culture because if its viral, baytril wont work on that. My advice though is go to any farm or feed store and ask them for chlorhexadine or the name brand novalsan and follow the directions for mixing. That's the same stuff vets use to disinfect exam rooms. I mix 2 capfuls to 1 gallon of water and then use that to wipe down cages, tables, use it on my hands as a rinse, on utensils. Pretty much anything in my reptile room. But I would use that to wipe down your cage. RI can take awhile to completely clear up. My beardie dealt with it for about 2 months and 2 treatments of Baytril before she completely cleared up. Also raise the cage temp a few degrees to help boost the immune system and also it will make the Baytril work better. Good luck, RI is such a pain especially if its your first time dealing with it as it was for my beardie.

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Thank you thank you thank you. I will get that asap! I did get the culture, and she told me bacterial. But I've heard people say it can turn viral (don't known the accuracy of this) but I hope not. I have raised her temps, at least attempting to but I have trouble getting it to go higher than 80 on cool side and 94 on the hot side. Unusually will run my heater in my room and that helps but it kind of kills my humidity/dries it out. Any tips on that?

Sorry WiFi went out and it posted twice. No update.

I've never heard of bacterial turning viral unless you get a secondary infection as those are 2 different bugs. Can always call your vet and ask. I know I called mine a ton when Harley, my beardie had RI as im pretty OCD about cleanliness and couldn't figure out how she got enterbacter. That's when she told about how that bacteria is just a common bacteria that is on everything pretty much and is mostly transferred through fecal to oral so could have gotten it from a food item that wasn't washed really well or possibly from a feeder bug that somehow came into contact with a reptile with it.

As for keeping humidity in, I personally cut a thick piece of cardboard to fit on the top of my tank. Then I cut a circle 1 inch or so bigger than the dome I use for the CHE in the cardboard where I wanted it, in this case the middle. Then I wrapped it the bottom with tinfoil and folded it over to the top and taped it in place. I then placed it over the top above the screen and put the dome light down on it. This keeps the heat in and humidity too. Also can put a large water dish half under the heat lamp/CHE and that will help a lot too. Doing both that, my BP cage can get as high as 75% humidity and that's in a 36x18x12 glass tank using aspen. You can also shift the light let or right depending if you need to raise the cool side or hot side more.

I wouldn't let the hot side get over 95f but the cool side could go up to 84f. I personally keep mine 83f on the cool side, 84-86f on the hot side depending on the day and 90f on the UTH on the hot side. My pied girl seems to love that setting as she pretty much lives in her hot side rock cave and pushes all the aspen from the floor of it into the doorway of the cave like closing a door. Then when she smells a rat, she busts the aspen door down and stands up like a cobra as I open the top http://ball-pythons.net/forums/image...AAAElFTkSuQmCC

Oh also did the vet tell you what bacteria it was? Also you should see signs of improvement in a few days. The vet told me if you don't see signs of improvement in a few days, you might need to change antibiotics. This was for a bearded dragon but I imagine it would be the same for snakes and probably even more so in snakes as they really have only 1 functioning lung vs a lizard. But Baytril should work as its a broad spectrum antibiotic. Fortaz also works well I've been told