hi i'd be grateful for any feedback on this as i really feel like im at a loose end on this one. My three year old python was diagnosed with septicemia this time last year and was given a course of antibiotics (fortum) injected twice weekly. She was really quite poorly, hadnt eaten for about 6 months, blood under the scales covering quite a large section of her body and was really quite weak. Luckily she responded well to the antibiotics and pulled through, gradually started eating again and her condition improved. After a few months the blood under the scales came back, only covering a couple of cm of scales, took her back to the vets and she told me to keep an eye on it but it didn't look like anything to worry about as it didn't seem aggressive and she was eating, showing normal behaviour etc. So i did just that. For the past year this redness has came and went every few months in small patches, dissappearing shortly after and she appeared fine and eating well. I'd taken her back to the vets a few times and she'd said it looked like something she could fight herself and to continue to monitor it.
Anyway, about half way through september she stopped eating. i wasn't too concerned at first as i know how prone bps are to going off their food. I noticed the septicemia was back and after her refusing two feeds i took her back to the vet. Her muscle tone is too good for the vet to feel anything wrong but she's gave me the same course of antibiotics as last time to administer twice weekly. The first two weeks she was constantly roaming her cage and i could tell she was really stressed. After the second week i took her for a checkup and the vet said to just keep her going with the treatment. After the second week she's seemed to settle a bit, she's still not eating(ive been offering weekly)but she seems to be showing more normal behaviour. I've left her undisturbed during this time except when i clean her and to inject her. However i've noticed tonight that the redness has spread from one little patch under her chin to 2/3 larger patches along her neck. im worried that she's not responding as well as she did before and it's really getting me down as i feel helpless and that it's my fault she's suffering.
I understand how septicemia is caused, through bacteria entering the body through cuts etc, filthy cages and also a secondary infection to something more serious. So i know that chances are it is something i'm doing wrong.
As far as i know she hasn't had any injuries that could have caused this, her cage is cleaned regularly, water changed daily, faeces never left in there.
I keep her in a 4ft viv, heated by a red heat bulb on a thermostart, hot end 85-90,cold end 70-75. hide either end with the hot hide doubling as a hot spot under the bulb. water bowl in hot end,humidity 55, plenty of shelter and hiding places, newspaper substrate.At the minute she rests mainly in the cold hide but the vet has said to knock the temp up to help her fight this.
any suggestions on anything i could be doing wrong would be really helpful, i don't want to be making the situation any worse for her.
I'm really worried she's not going to pull through so if anyone knows of anything more i can do or has been in a similar situation id really like to hear from you.
sorry about the essay, i just wanted to be thorough