Respiratory problem not going away after repeated vet visits - please help

My 4 month old BP got a respiratory infection a while ago. Things seemed to be going well when we took him to the vet. She took a look at him, prescribed him meds and everything. She gave him a very small shot 4 different times - 3 days apart each time. She said it should be cleared up, but it definitely isn't. It may even be worse.

Today he's been very active, which is strange because he usually never is in the day time. He's been climbing all about. He seems to be trying to get up as high as possible, his nose almost reaching the top of the tank. He's also been opening his mouth a whole lot, and it's definitely still mucus-y in there. The vet advised me to come back in and get another shot. Is this really going to help anything? Does she knows what she's doing??

His sneezes have become really violent, making his whole body clench up and coil each time he does it. They are less frequent, but they look worse. Is this a serious problem, maybe even worse than an R.I? Is there /anything/ I can do to help him in the meantime? Should I change vets or try home remedies? I'm really concerned, please help.

Im assuming the vet didn't do a culture to prescribe the right meds....If so then a demand a culture or find a new vet.

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What type of enclosure is he in and what are your husbandry numbers like? What type of substrate is he living on? I also agree with frosty on the culture and or tracheal swab to identify the bacteria, fungus or viral cause of the respiratory problem. In the meantime I would take him out of the enclosure to thoroughly cleanse and disinfect it. Place him on paper towels and increase his ambient temperature a few degrees. Keep the humidity at a slightly lower percentage. Maybe at a high 40 percent? Keep us posted. ;)

Try this, get 2 plastic tubs (1) that is small enough for the snake with air holes in sides (2) for that tub to fit in. Make sure 2nd tub is air tight. You will need to mix 1 cup boiling water, 1/2 teaspoon vics vapo rub & 3-5 drops eucalyptus oil. Place the snake into small tub with lid on and place that one into 2nd and place mixture inside 2nd tub and put on lid. After 5 minutes check on the snake replace lid for another 5 minutes. Leave snake in there no longer than 15 minutes total. Repeat in 24-36 hours if needed. Sterilize original enclosure, hide spots, etc and replace with clean dry bedding. Repeat

Some possibilities:

No culture taken, perhaps the antibiotic being given is not effective against what ever sickness the snake has.

Too short of an antibiotic regimen, should be a minimum of 30 days, but you should see some improvement after the first few injections.

It could be something other than a bacterial infection.

Don't listen to any one person regarding changing the way you keep the snake. Some people see improvement when they increase / decrease humidity in the case of an RI, but either of these could also make things worse.

Be weary of "home remedies". You'll see quite a bit of controversy regarding vapo rub type treatments as the ingredients can be respiratory irritants which may stimulate mucous production and inflame the airways.

One treatment that is widely accepted as safe is Nebulization of F10 SC veterinary disinfectant.



If it ends up that you just have the wrong medicine, I would have the vet show you how to give the injections at home so that you aren't stressing the snake more than necessary taking it to the vet every few days. It's very easy to do.

You must also make sure to correct any potential husbandry mistakes that may have caused the problem you are facing. If you don't do this, treatment will be ineffective.

I have seen the "sneezes" you describe and they are terrifying.

I would also look into finding a vet with extensive experience with reptiles

What are your temps and humidity? How is your enclosure set up? Heat source? Regulated?

Thank you guys for all your feedback. Unfortunately, before I was able to check the forum again yesterday, Winslow passed away. Too much mucous had gotten into his lungs.

He kept freaking out in his tank and trying to get out. I guess those were the warning signs. I took him out and he seemed to relax but I noticed he eventually wasn't able to breathe right. I tried to clear his airways, keep his head up, mouth open, but none of it seemed to work. Just a few weak inhales every few seconds. I couldn't get to the emergency quick enough, and when I got there all they could do was keep him on intensive heat care and in an oxygen room.

I wish that vet would've taken cultures and been more knowledgeable. I didn't want things to get so bad so quickly. I hope this never happens again to any of my animals.

Sorry for your loss.. now you k ow to always ask for a culture If this situation comes up again.

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Originally Posted by Duncanleosteus

I wish that vet would've taken cultures and been more knowledgeable. I didn't want things to get so bad so quickly. I hope this never happens again to any of my animals.

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Unfortunately, there's very very few vets that are competent at care of herps... even the so called herp-specialists. Best case is that they are able to provide the same level of care that you can do yourself. There are exceptions...some well known rockstars in the herp world... but you would have to be lucky enough to live near one of these guys.

My advice is to learn how to everything you possibly can yourself and you will be able to provide top-notch for your animals in a more rapid manner. I'm more versed on this with bearded dragons than ball pythons but a good quality microscope and enough fecal test kits and medication to treat 15 bearded dragons is the same cost as a single vet visit and 99% of that is the one-time microscope cost. You can easily swab your own cultures too and purchase virtually any medication you need yourself. I've tried several different herp-specialist vets at several different practices over the years before realizing they actually know very little.

I'm sorry. I know how hard it is to lose one after fighting to save it.

I would strongly suggest getting a necropsy done, especially if you have other snakes or even if you plan to get other snakes, as many viral diseases present as RI's but they would not respond to antibiotic treatment.

In going through your posts since August I strongly suspect either this snake was sick when you bought it, or the stress of being rehomed was enough to depress its immune system so the illness could take hold.

Yes, it's been extremely frustrating to try and find a vet that will work. Eugene is very small, most of the recommended vets I could find when I first got a reptile were not in my city. I tried making an appointment the first time I noticed the problem, and only one out of four places could do it within 7 days. It was either let him get worse for better, slightly more recommended care, or get him care immediately. I suppose neither was good.

I feel horrible for what happened, and I'm definitely going to try to learn how to asses these things myself. I self treated for mites, but I'd like to be able to do more. I sincerely hope that if I ever get another snake in the future, I will be able to find a better vet or do a good job myself.

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Originally Posted by bcr229

I'm sorry. I know how hard it is to lose one after fighting to save it.

I would strongly suggest getting a necropsy done, especially if you have other snakes or even if you plan to get other snakes, as many viral diseases present as RI's but they would not respond to antibiotic treatment.

In going through your posts since August I strongly suspect either this snake was sick when you bought it, or the stress of being rehomed was enough to depress its immune system so the illness could take hold.

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Thank you for caring enough to look through my posts. It does indeed seem like poor little Winslow was dealt a bad hand. For him being my very first snake, things couldn't have gone worse. I was so upset to continue to stress him with mite treatments followed by vet visits (that apparently weren't even working). I just wish I could have known they weren't working sooner. The sneezing did stop, but when it came back, it was so much worse. It all accelerated really fast, within a day he was sneezing again when he hadnt for two days, then he couldn't breathe, then he was gone. I hope I'll catch the warning signs if this ever happens again.

It's not your fault. You did everything you could. Reptiles are extremely well adapted not to show illness. Often times they've been sick for quite awhile before we notice symptoms.

I have a Burmese that will do the whole "sneezing" thing just about every winter. Sounds like the exact thing you are describing, it's horrible to watch.

We tried to culture the bacteria but couldn't grow anything significant. I've recently had the vet take a biopsy of lung tissue for pathology, also done quite a bit of blood work and some x-rays as well as broad spectrum antibiotic treatment.

800 dollars in vet bills later and all of these tests have proven inconclusive and have shown that the lung is actually quite healthy. None of the other snakes in the room seem to be effected.

Sometimes we just can't explain things.

So sorry for you loss...

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