Snake with RI, What would you do?

I need some advice. I just bought a 1100g male cinnamon and after looking it over I think it has a mild RI. I called the guy I bought it from to see what he wanted to do. he said he didn't want to half the vet bill with me and he would rather just buy it back off me. so if you were in my situation would you... take it back, or keep it and take it to the vet. I'm hesitant to take it back because I don't think he will take care of it. as far as what symptoms he has its a little extra mucus in the mouth. not a whole lot just slightly more than my others have. and some wheezing. so what do you think? thanks in advance

Sounds like an RI. I am surprised that a breeder would ship a sick snake to you :O Who was this irresponsible person?
As for what you ought to do? Only you can make that decision; it is an ethical dilemma.

TAKE IT TO A VET!

It doesn't sound like the guy you bought it from is willing to spend the extra money to have it looked at. If the RI is mild, or just started, then a vet check and antibiotics may clear it up completely for you (for me it was usually around $50 for exam and $20 for antibiotics).

well hes a local guy. he has some high dollar animals too. but if hes not wanting to split the vet bill then I don't see him paying the whole thing. one more question. If I decide to take it to the vet what are the odds that he will recover? also the closest reptile vet is almost 50 miles away. will they give me the injections to take him and give them myself. or will I have to make the trip every couple days?

Selling a sick animal is unacceptable! If he had look the animal over he would have noticed what you noticed and should have never sold you this animal.

Personally I would take the animal back and get a full refund I would also never buy from this seller again.

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Originally Posted by johnabrams82

well hes a local guy. he has some high dollar animals too. but if hes not wanting to split the vet bill then I don't see him paying the whole thing. one more question. If I decide to take it to the vet what are the odds that he will recover? also the closest reptile vet is almost 50 miles away. will they give me the injections to take him and give them myself. or will I have to make the trip every couple days?

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I'm not sure of the exact odds, but me and my vet have talked about this and he had told me that treating an RI early is the best thing for the snake, the longer it goes untreated - the harder/longer it may take for it to clear.

I have one snake who had an untreated RI for months before I took her in, her infection is antibiotic resistant and she hasn't gotten better with 2 different antibiotics, 5 vet exams, and her culture didn't give us any results. Her RI may never clear.

I do have one BP who got an RI, I took him to the vet at the first signs and after a month on antibiotics he seems to be better - no more wheezing or mucus.

It is up to you though, I'm a sucker and I would want whats best for the animal so I would take it on and pay for the vet bill myself, lots of different opinions out there on this though so thats just what I would do - not necessarily what you should do.

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Originally Posted by johnabrams82

If I decide to take it to the vet what are the odds that he will recover? also the closest reptile vet is almost 50 miles away. will they give me the injections to take him and give them myself. or will I have to make the trip every couple days?

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From what I've seen (and experienced with my vet) you get the injections and they will show you how to do the first one in the office. A mild RI is usually fairly curable.

I've never taken a snake that had mucus in the mouth going on though..

Well, here's the way I see it. The breeder is hoping you will keep the snake and take it to the vet so that he (the breeder) doesn't have to. For me, this is enabling a jerk to get away with selling sick animals. Also, if he/she was too careless to notice the RI, and if he/she has high end snakes, there is every likelihood that their snake collection is in the process of getting RI's- one more to shoot with meds won't make a difference.
If this were me? I'd totally agree with Becky and ask for a full refund. Then I would take your hard earned cash and get another beautiful and HEALTHY cinny from a respectable breeder.
My 2 cents :)

Personally I would take the animal back to the breeder and get my money back.

However you should make a decision quickly because the snake should be treated as soon as possible. I have aquired 2 snakes that came with mild RI (no visible mucus, slight weezing) I took them to my vet and for about $30.00 each the animals where treated and recovered very well.

Ultimately the decsion is yours but if you decied to keep the animal the injections are pretty easy to give.

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Originally Posted by starmom

Well, here's the way I see it. The breeder is hoping you will keep the snake and take it to the vet so that he (the breeder) doesn't have to. For me, this is enabling a jerk to get away with selling sick animals. Also, if he/she was too careless to notice the RI, and if he/she has high end snakes, there is every likelihood that their snake collection is in the process of getting RI's- one more to shoot with meds won't make a difference.
If this were me? I'd totally agree with Becky and ask for a full refund. Then I would take your hard earned cash and get another beautiful and HEALTHY cinny from a respectable breeder.
My 2 cents :)

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Darn- I called Deb 'Becky' again. Know why? On reptilicious there is a member named Becky who uses the same type of avatar. Really- I'm not just a dweeb :P

I was wondering why you thought I chimed in, LOL. McKinsey, take off the sunglasses, dear. ;)

I bought my het Pied from a very reputable breeder(Don Kaye) who has been around for a good 30 years or better. The snake arrived fine and was in quarantine with a friend of mine for about 2 weeks before I could meet her to pick up the snake. The snake ended up getting a mild respiratory infection because of all the stress of shipping/moving around. I took him to my vet, she swabbed his trachea, sent it off to the lab, and we put him on enrofloxacin(Baytril) for a good month(every other day injections) and to this day he is perfect. He started showing improvement within 3 injections, but my vet believes that since reptiles heal very slowly, the antibiotics need to be continued for a longer period of time. That's what I did, and that Het Pied Classic Jungle male is about to be a father in about 15 days :)

SO! Get the snake to the vet, get a culture done, get the proper antibiotic injections, raise the temperatures and humidity in the enclosure, and chalk the RI up to shipping stress.

It's not that big of a problem if you catch the infection early and get it treated.

Sometimes it's not the breeder's fault. Snake's stress out, and it can't be helped.

When you take it to the vet, get copies of all the paperwork, including your bill, and send it to the guy who had the nerve to sell you an ill animal. He is lucky you don't charge him for your time and aggravation, too. Tell him you would like compensation for dealing with an animal that was ill upon arrival. Make sure to get the vet to note if the infection seemed to be long-standing or not.

Be polite and at least civil in your wording. Don't be afraid to phone him, too. However, in the end, if he refuses to handle this situation in a responsible way that leaves you satisfied, rip him a new one on Fauna. If he is unreasonable and/or rude, other people should know. That said, if he does a good job of offering after-care and compensation, mention that too.

Good luck! I hope the lil'guy gets well soon.

thanks everyone. let me explain his symptoms again and you tell me how seriouse it sounds. by looking at him he seems fine. he flicks his tounge is active. the breeder said he ate this week. when I open his mouth its not really like a thick mucus or anything its just a little extra snake spit in there. with maybe two or three bubbles in it. when I hold his head to my ear I can hear him breathe out and it makes a whooosh sound. and occasionally a poping noise. how severe would you say that is? thankfully this is my first snake with an RI so I need some help. thanks

Severe enough that it needs treated.

Go to the vet or return him. Was he shipped to you? Ri's can come from stress, very dry conditions, to cool, I know a breeder that had a snake that was SO nervous it would get sick if handled too much. If the snake got sick very easily you might not want it in your collection anyway. That maybe why the guy was selling it in the first place.

Sunglasses off :P
The OP said it was from a local breeder and so I thought that there was no shipping...
At any rate, a choice needs to be made because no choice implies that you have assumed responsibility for the snake and are being errant in not getting it treated.
Rock n roll.
It's an ethical dilemma- there are no right or wrong answers for this.
Choose and move on.

50$ and a vet visit will get you some bayatril shots that should take care of him with no problem.

Where I live it's over $100 for the vet visit and meds. Things aint cheap here:(

And why should the OP have to pay for the sick snake. The breeder is a bad guy. What's his/her name so we all know to take care when doing business with him/her in the future?

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Originally Posted by JoshJP7

50$ and a vet visit will get you some bayatril shots that should take care of him with no problem.

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Only hopefully.

Only speaking from my first snake experience... cost me 50$ for the vet visit which included medication... 5 shots later and my snake was as healthy as can be.

NY and CA... the two most expensive states to live in... yeaaaa!

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Originally Posted by JoshJP7

Only speaking from my first snake experience... cost me 50$ for the vet visit which included medication... 5 shots later and my snake was as healthy as can be.

NY and CA... the two most expensive states to live in... yeaaaa!

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Well, I live in Oregon and my vet bill would be higher for the initial appointment, culture, and shots... I called my vet and got a quote last year; just in case. My snakes haven't had any RI's but I bet this year the price will have gone up :(

thats pretty messed up to me... I took my first two snakes to the vet for a visit and the vet came out and told me there isnt much you can tell someone about a healthy snake... He can do a fecal and make sure there are no parasites but other than that he told me not to bother coming in unless there was an issue. When I had the RI all I had to do was tell him the symptoms and he knew it was an RI. He was very fair and didnt over price the visit. The medication was like 10$ and its 40$ to just meet with the vet... I was expecting to pay atleast 100 but left with a smile on my face when I found out it was only 50$

thanks guys I went ahead and got an appointment for tomorow, if I took it back it would almost certainly die. and i got it for cheap so even after vet visit and meds I'll still be getting him cheap.

Good luck. Hope it clears up fast.

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Originally Posted by johnabrams82

thanks guys I went ahead and got an appointment for tomorow, if I took it back it would almost certainly die. and i got it for cheap so even after vet visit and meds I'll still be getting him cheap.

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I'm glad to hear that! Let us know what happens

Good luck! We still want pictures when the snake is well!!

i checked around all of my local vets and found one that everyone recomended highly. ill still bring my NERD book just in case.

ok hes been to the vet she gave me 10 injections of ceftazadime. it ended up costing me 71 dollars 48 for visit and 23 for meds. thanks everyone for the advise

I'm glad you got the snake to the vet. Hopefully the RI will clear up ok.

I am assuming that since it was a local breeder, the snake was not shipped, which means the comments about shipping = stress which may = illness do not apply in this case. So it sounds to me like the snake was ill when sold & when it left the breeder's care. Breeder's should not be willing sick animals, and should be willing to do whatever is necessary to make things right. I recommend that you follow NightLad's advice. Also, posting on Fauna no matter what happens from this point out is a good idea, so people know to beware of this guy's snakes possibly being sick. Just make sure you tell the whole story and be fair, for example he did offer to buy the animal back from you.

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Originally Posted by NightLad

When you take it to the vet, get copies of all the paperwork, including your bill, and send it to the guy who had the nerve to sell you an ill animal. He is lucky you don't charge him for your time and aggravation, too. Tell him you would like compensation for dealing with an animal that was ill upon arrival. Make sure to get the vet to note if the infection seemed to be long-standing or not.

Be polite and at least civil in your wording. Don't be afraid to phone him, too. However, in the end, if he refuses to handle this situation in a responsible way that leaves you satisfied, rip him a new one on Fauna. If he is unreasonable and/or rude, other people should know. That said, if he does a good job of offering after-care and compensation, mention that too.

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