Respiratory Infection -- When is it really gone?

[Orenshi]

Hi all,

Here's another question about respiratory infection. Just when exactly is it gone? And when is it finally safe to:

1) Take the snake out of quarantine
2) House in the same rack as other snakes
3) Breed

I'll be more specific... my boyfriend and I have a normal female named Goldie. At the end of June 2012, we went to Japan for two weeks. His brother agreed to take care of the snakes while we were gone. When we came back in July, all of the snakes and their enclosures were in tip top shape -- except Goldie. She's the biggest snake we have at around 2500g. Apparently she took a big nasty poop while we were away, my bf's brother was too grossed out to clean it. End of July/early August, Goldie begins to show signs of RI. My bf brought her to the vet and gets baytril. Raised her temps and treats her. After two weeks of injections, she stops coughing/bubbling/wheezing/drooling.

Three months later in October 2012, Goldie begins to cough again. Another trip to a DIFFERENT vet, a culture, and another round of treatment of baytril later -- she is fine. It's basically March 2013. It has been five months since her last symptom and she's not showing any signs. Goldie is now at 2800-2900g, eating sporadically (twice a month), has good muscle mass, clean sheds.

What are your opinions? Goldie is alone in a CB70. In these five months, our babies have gotten pretty HUGE and we'd love to move them to bigger tubs. Should we just buy another rack? Do you think it's safe to put other snakes in the same rack as Goldie?

Since she has such good muscle tone, do you think she'll be ready to breed at all this year? Should we even THINK of breeding her?

Thanks for reading. All advice/feedback appreciated

[Mike41793]

I realize I'm repeating myself but...
I would think its safe to put her back with everyone else now and I would hold off on breeding her until next winter.

[kitedemon]

baytril for only two weeks? well that isn't going to work. I would guess that it was never gone as two weeks is the point when it would just be starting to do something. Most reptile vets treat every 3 days for 2 or more months. I'd hold quarantine until at least 3 weeks after the last treatment and not breed for 25 meals after symptoms clear. Being sick is a huge tax on a system and snake breeding is a big event so it is also a big drain. There is no need to place an animal into harms way with out good reason.

[Orenshi]

Yea the baytril for two weeks and no culture seemed weird. So thats why we switched vets. The second round of treatment was baytril every two days but I don't think it was for more than two months.

[Dave Green]

I'd quarantine for six months, if you don't need to move her I would just wait. After quarantine I would think she's fine in the racks with the other snakes, maybe wash your hands after working in her bin just to be careful. I'd hold off on breeding her this year. Let he bounce back and you'll get a larger clutch next year. Also, how long did you own her before she got sick?

[notmyfault]

Thank you all for your input much appreciated. She'll be 6 months in QT come March and by then I'll probably start moving some into her rack...after a through cleaning of course.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

[PigZilla50317]

Honestly sadly enough with a really bad RI she or He will always be susceptible to a repeat of the problems under the right circumstances. I hope you the best!