Antibiotic.. Betrol or something like that...

My ball Reina has RI :(

I got her as a rescue, they were keeping her in terrible conditions... I think she must have had the bacteria and when I bumped her humidity up to what it should be it set it off. That's all I can think of. She didn't catch it from any of the other snakes, and her temps are fine, everythings clean.

Somebody that used to have a BP recommended a local place, Elkhorn Veterinarian. I called and they said they didn't treat snakes. I told them that can't be the case, and they said "yeah, we have one vet that says he's willing to treat a snake" and I assumed that must have been the DR. that treated my friend's snake in the past.

So I show up for the appointment and when I go in the back and start answering questions for the vet tech... At one point she literally said to me "I think you know more about this than we do!" :O I started to get worried.

Then the vet comes in... I had been thinking of asking him to probe her for me as I've never done it myself and I think she might be a he... She's small for an adult and she has VERY pronounced anal spurs... So I ask if he's ever sexed a snake and he tells me that Reina is the first snake he's ever examined! Ack! :O

So I know I should have taken her to a specialist but I had no idea Elkhorn was THAT inexperienced with snakes! I guess whoever used to treat exotics there is gone now. But I knew exactly what the problem was so I figured "yo doc give me some antibiotics for RI" should be pretty easy. Anything more complicated I would have walked out. lol

So he gave me something that started with a B. Betrol or Bextol or something. I'm not at home or else I'd go look at the label.

The strange this is... I went in there thinking to myself "I don't think you can stick a pill in a mouse, like a dog with ground beef.. So I'm going to end up giving her shots" I was prepared to do it, as long as I was taught how... But not looking forward to it. And then the vet gave me needle-less syringes and told me to open her mouth and just squirt it down her throat. It's been 3 days so far... I think things are going okay... I bumped her temps up a little and the medicating is going okay... No sign of improvement yet, it's early for that I think.

My question is though... is giving it to her orally going to be as effective as injections would be? The owner of the pet store I go to mentioned that they usually give injections because the stomach acid might eat the antibiotics.

Should I take her to a better vet like right now and get injections for her? Or will the oral meds help? Obviously if she's not better within the 14 days of meds I was planning on taking her someplace else. I was just wondering if I'm wasting my time stressing her out by shoving totally useless liquid down her throat.

Side note... As soon as I heard her making the little crackling noise I switched her to newspaper substrate to lower the humidity and keep it cleaner... I had reptile bark before that... As soon as I got back from the vet I used some of this Clorox sanitizing spray... It says it's safe around pets and children, no harsh fumes and you don't have to rinse it... I took everything out of her tank and sprayed the hell out of it, and then wiped it all out, cleaned her hides and stuff too... Should I sanitize her tank like this again every couple days to kill any bacteria in the tank? Or am I wasting my time with that?

If you don't see an improvement in a week ask the vet to switch her /him to fortaz injections.

Hi,

Could it have been baytril?


dr del

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dr del

Hi,

Could it have been baytril?


dr del

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this is what im thinking too.

Bingo! Baytril.

So is it likely to work oraly?

And yeah, if she doesn't improve then I'll take her to somebody that actually knows what a snake is. Crazy vet. I can't believe Reina popped his snake exam cherry.

And is it a good idea to keep sanitizing the tank?

Thanks alot everyone. I love this forum so much. :D

Here are a few questions

1. How much does the snake weigh?
2. What is the strength of the Baytril solution?

First I have heard that oral Baytril is less effective than the injection due to their slow metabolism.

I keep Baytril on hand just in case (I'm lucky in that my vet trust me). I don't think I would ever try the oral stuff for two reasons.

1: The increasing stress on your snake will only help in infection. These animals are very prone to stress related illness to start with. Stressing them by trying to shove a tube down their throat and the get them to keep the medicine down (no Mary Poppings jokes please). I can have the injection given and the snake back in the tub before you'll have time to get the tube in..GET THE INJECTIONS.. you'll thank me for it.

2. Their digestion works much like ours. Their brain tells their stomach there is something they need to digest...start releasing stomach acid. If their brain doesn't send that signal then the medicine just sits there slowly absorbing in to the tissue. With an injection you remove the brain and just let the body do the work.. I give injections every other day and after a week or two the RI is gone.


GET TO A HERP VET AND GET THE INJECTIONS.

As a general rule, injections are a better, faster, more precise, etc way of delivering medications than orally. A snake's slow metabolism just makes this even more true than it is in humans.

The vet probably thought he was doing you a favor (most pet owners would prefer to give oral medications), and possibly didn't even know how to properly give injections to a snake.

I'd recommend trying to find a real herp vet and get the injectable meds.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by llovelace

Here are a few questions

1. How much does the snake weigh?
2. What is the strength of the Baytril solution?

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1. like 875 grams

2. I have no idea

I don't have a tube to get it down her throat, I just have needle-less syringes and he basically told me to aim for the back of the throat... I thought I would get better at it after the first couple times, but I/she still manage to spill about 1/4 of it every time. *sigh*

Okay guys thanks for the advice. I will definitely take her to another vet.

I can't believe I wasted $135 so that @$%& could say he's treated a snake.

If you were him don't you think you would have had the receptionist inform me over the phone that you had NO experience once so ever?


Thanks for your help everyone.

How much Baytril are you giving, are you seeing any improvements?

Since you already paid for him , call him back and tell him you want an injectable abt.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by llovelace

How much Baytril are you giving, are you seeing any improvements?

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He gave me 14 syringes, pre-measured so I'm not sure. I think it looked like 40 ml? I don't know for sure though. I just empty the syringe into her mouth.

I haven't seen any improvements yet but it's only day 4. Although yesterday and the day before she seemed rather... listless I guess. And today she seemed more herself... So that's good... But no improvement on the actual RI that I can tell.

And yes I think I will call and ask him to give me injectable... Sticking with Baytril would be okay though?

Baytril injections should be ok, depending on how advanced the RI is. I would watch Ralph Davis' you tube video on giving injections if you are not familiar with giving injections.

So I was listening to Reina (actually it's Rogue now, since "she" had a sperm plug in the tank yesterday) breathe yesterday and he actually sounds much better. No clicks at all, no whistling really. Like... I can still hear him breathe a little louder than I should be able to, but it doesn't sound as wheezy at all.

I think maybe the medicine is working after all. This is one resilient snake let me tell you. His first owner threw him against a wall and broke his ribs and he still has the best temperment I've ever seen. His last owner before me didn't give him any heat and he hadn't eaten in months before I got him. Somebody actually tried to fry him with a heat lamp at one point (the top of his tank is melted as proof) ...He recovered from that and I think he's recovering from this too... I hope...


If he doesn't make more improvement by Monday then I'll make the call. But he does sound better. I wish I had a stethescope... I'll bet alot of breeders do... I'm going to go search google lol.

Thanks everyone. I'll keep you posted.

A side note about me not knowing my snakes gender lol... Where can you buy a probe? I know of a breeder pretty near me that would probably be willing to teach me how to probe a snake but I don't know where to buy the tool...

Did everyone here get taught how to probe in person? Or is it easy enough after watching the videos? I've watched the videos on youtube, I've read about it in my books, and from what I can tell I think I could do it no problem, but I'm afraid to hurt them.

Thanks

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dizzy

A side note about me not knowing my snakes gender lol... Where can you buy a probe? I know of a breeder pretty near me that would probably be willing to teach me how to probe a snake but I don't know where to buy the tool...

Did everyone here get taught how to probe in person? Or is it easy enough after watching the videos? I've watched the videos on youtube, I've read about it in my books, and from what I can tell I think I could do it no problem, but I'm afraid to hurt them.

Thanks

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i don't know how to probe. i was taught how to pop in person its easy as cake.

Hi,

I'm glad to hear he seems to be getting better. :gj:

I bought my probe set of ebay - the size range of snakes you will want to use them on should let you work out what set you need. I went for a six rounded tip set because I don't feel comfortable probing tiny hatchling corns etc.

This is the set I bought.

This set contains the thinner probes needed for really small snakes.

You need to be extremely delicate so I would always recomend having someone experienced show you the first time and help you judge the amount of pressure required.

It's a good idea to have a few to practice on so you have a good chance of getting to feel the difference between male and female when you reach the bottom.


dr del

I've heard it's just as easy to injure the snake popping as it is probing, so I don't know which way I would go... I guess before I start breeding in a couple years I will have to learn both... I think it's supposed to be better to pop hatchlings and probe the older ones? Not sure.

Thank you, I will look into it and for sure I'll get Carl (the only breeder I know of within 30 minutes of me) to show me how. I want to see his set up anyway.

But yes Rogue (weird to call him that... Or him at all...) does seem to be breathing better but there's still mucous when I open his mouth to give him the medicine. To be honest I've never opened any of their mouth's before this, as I had no real reason to... So I'm wondering if some amount of mucous is normal? He doesn't make the popping, wheezing sounds at all anymore. I'm still undecided if I should call the vet and switch to injections. I guess I'll just keep an eye on him for the next couple days while I'm off work.

Thanks guys.

Incase anyone remembers poor Rogue/Reina, I've got an update.

I took him to a vet with experience and it turns out that it's not an RI at all. It's some sort of gastro-intestinal problem... Apparently he has gas and alot of mucous. So the vet gave him one dose of antibiotics for it today, and I guess I have to give him a dose in a week, and then one more a week from that. It's still an oral antibioitic which I'm leary of, but it's only once a week so it shouldn't be nearly as stressful. The name of the antibiotic he's giving Rogue starts with an F.... Flagil or something strange like that... Why can I never remember the names of the medicine?

Anywho... Rogue ate for me about a week ago so thats a good sign. He had regurgitated a couple meals before I brought him to the vet the first time. I thought that was maybe because of the RI, that maybe he couldn't breathe while he tried to swallow... I guess I should have taken him to a better vet the first time, and they would have known. Would have saved stress on Rogue and money for me. Atleast I have a vet now.

I've really never had a need for a vet too often before. In the 11 years I've had my cat Salem she's never had worms, never gotten sick in any way... I've only had to take her in for checkups and whatnot. None of my other snakes have ever gotten sick. My Geckos and turtles never got sick. So I never bothered to find a vet until I *needed* one. My mistake. I'm just glad we figured it all out and Rogue is expected to make a full recovery. :D

Thanks for your help everyone.

congratulations on finally figuring out, and good luck with the full recovery. :)

Yeah!!! :banana: hopefully she comes out 100%. Good Luck!

I'm glad you found a Herp Vet, Flagyl is a good antibiotic, your little guy should be just fine