successful URI recovery stories

[Faolan]

I have lost a couple of snakes to uri. Every snake i have had that had it died, they were all given immediate treatment by a vet and provided with antibiotic shots. I know there are lots of people who have had great success in curing their snakes, but i would love to hear them so i know that a uri doesn't mean a hopeless death for my beloved snakes. I'd especially like to hear what treatment was used, please provid lots of home remedies i could use by themselves or in addition to a vets remedies. After spending so much money, and causing my snakes so much stress from giving them shots, just to have my them die in pain at the end i have a distrust of vets. Thank you and I'm so happy your snakes are with you.

[SquamishSerpents]

Did your vet do a culture and antibiotic sensitivity test? Or did the vet just prescribe Baytril right off the bat?

Did you have necropsies done on the ones who passed to find COD?

I have learned (despite what a vet says, no matter what) you have to have a culture done

[200xth]

August 18th I picked up a number of snakes. A couple of weeks later, I noticed one of the females (160gram Pastel Orange Ghost) was making clicking noises while breathing. She'd also lift her head and open her mouth to breath for a few seconds every once in a while. Bumped up the temps a couple of degrees and let her sit for a few days. Still clicking with some open mouth breathing. Ate on September 1st again (third time for me), then refused on Sept 6th.

Took her to vet on Sept 9th (I think it was 9th). Vet suggested we start an antibiotic treatment (was not Baytril...I can get the name if needed...was just a general antibiotic) and switch her off aspen onto paper towels. Did a fecal exam as well to check for worms and/or parasites. Was kind of funny...he's holding her and suggests to me we do a fecal...30 seconds later she poops all over everything.

Fecal exam came up clean. Was suggested we do 10 shots of the antibiotics every 3 days to start with. I can't do the shots at home (too hard to hold her head and hold her body and get the needle between two of those tiny scales), so I just took her in to the vet for each shot. Two times the first week, then M, W, and Sa after that.

Once she was started on the shots, she ballooned up and did not eat. Was very bloated and full of air. No idea if the swelling was due to the shots or what...I just know she ballooned up and was full of air after we started the shots.

At one of the visits for shots, vet suggested I give her an oral medication to help with the bloating (she was REALLY swollen now) and to try soaking her thinking it might help her push some of the air out.

It's about middle of September and at this point she's having trouble breathing at times (clicking and open mouth breathing), ballooning up like a beachball from halfway down her body to her tail, and not eating. Very lethargic.

Every day I would soak her and try to push the air out using my fingers. She's so full of air I tried soaking her in the tub and she just coiled up and floated around like a beachball. It was so sad looking. I felt bad for her. She just looked miserable floating around on the water like a pontoon boat. Somedays it worked and we pushed a lot of air out of her...some days not as much. When it worked, she would just balloon up the next day. I added some pedialyte to her water since she wasn't eating and I heard it might help keep her hydrated and maybe help kick in her appetite.

So now she's getting shots at the vet 3 times a week, getting oral meds every other day, and getting soaked daily in water/pedialyte so I can try to help her push some of the air out. Not surprisingly, with all the activity, she's not seeming very happy.

Kept track of her weight, but even though she wasn't eating she didn't lose any weight. Was happy about this.

After 3 weeks of shots and soaking she seemed to be slowly getting better both with the breathing and the bloating. Starts getting feistier at the vet for shots and at home for the oral meds. I was happy about the feistiness. Made me think she was getting a little stronger.

Finally ate on Sept 27 (little 11g mouse for a 160g snake..but it was something and it made happy to see her eat again). Promptly went into shed. Between the feisty attitude at the vet, the eating and the going into shed, I started feeling she was getting better.

After she ate, no problems breathing. No clicking or crackling noises. Finished up the shots that Wed (Oct 2). Shed on Oct 6, ate again on Oct 7th, and seems to be in good shape. Ate again on 13th and will be trying again tonight.

I think she either had a really mild one or we caught it really early (or both).

[satomi325]

Bloating like that isn't typical of injectable antibiotics.
It sounded like an allergic reaction in my opinion.



Anyway, OP. Definitely should get a culture done no matter what your vet says.
By getting a culture done, you can choose an antibiotic that will target the specific type of RI. There are different types of RI(bacterial/fungal/viral) and many types of bacterial RI, which is the most common form. There are no treatments for viral form of RI, but they are very rare. Fungal can be tricky, but can be treated.

As I mentioned, the bacterial form of RI is the most common RI.
Some antibiotics are not effective towards certain types of RI. Many default antibiotics like Baytril, for example, are ineffective because most bacterial strains are resistant to it. So that's why it is important to find out the exact type of infection so you can choose an affective antibiotic/treatment regime accordingly. And ask for injectable antibiotics as oral antibiotics are often rendered useless since reptile metabolism is very very slow.

[SquamishSerpents]

Is this vet a reptile vet, or a vet that is willing to see reptiles? (Trust me, there is a vast difference)

This all sounds very weird to me. Please find out the name of the antibiotic your snake was prescribed. I am betting that it is Enrofloxacin, since that is the only one that can be given orally. (Unless I am misunderstanding and your snake is having a separate oral medication)

In the future, I also suggest learning how to do the injections yourself as I'm sure the back and forth stress on your snake is not doing it any good. Learning how to inject a snake is a skill you should have. It is incredibly easy. Also, the stress of trying to squeeze air out of your snake is no good, either.

I have been in your situation, I went to the vet, and did not get a culture done. I asked for one, because I remember reading somewhere that if a snake is sick, you need a culture. The vet told me NO, you don't need a culture and I won't do one because it's a waste of money. Well. Long story short, the snake did not make it. Had I gotten a culture and antibiotic sensitivity test done, she would have been prescribed the proper thing right away and would not have died after multiple rounds of antibiotics.
That bloating? Not good at all. Very, very strange side effect that I have never heard of (though obvs I'm not a vet)

Your snake may seem fine now, but I am betting that RI is going to come back. And if it does, I am telling you right now, if you don't have a culture done, your snake is not going to have a successful RI recovery story. RI is NOT to be taken lightly. If the worst case happens, make sure your vet is a REPTILE vet and not just a vet who blindly treats reptiles with generic antibiotics.

I sure hope this is not the case, and eating is a good sign, but I don't think you can consider your snake out of the woods for a bit yet.

[NYHC4LIFE8899]

What cause a BP to get a URI

[satomi325]

What cause a BP to get a URI

Most common causes are low temps, low air circulation, and high stress.
Its also contagious and can spread to healthy animals in good conditions.



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[Skiploder]

Just took back a clelia rustica that I sold two years ago. Owner was one of those people we often meet in the hobby that dove feet first into oddball snakes and then decided after about 6 years that it wasn't for her.

Anyway, upon picking him up, I noticed a solid slug of phlegm coming out of the glottis and bubbly breathing.

In the last 18 months I have become a huge fan of nebulizing. I had done it several years ago on an anthill python, but have become a bigger advocate of it recently.

I have an igloo cooler with drain plug on the bottom. The output nozzle of the nebulizer fits neatly into the drain plug hole. I line the bottom of the cooler with substrate and I'm set to go.

40 minutes in the cooler once per day for 10 days usually does the trick. I have found that if the situation is dire enough (as it was for this clelia), that in lieu of waiting on a culture I will have the vet give a double or triple non-contraindictive antibiotic dose to start, then nebulize with the targeted antibiotic when the culture comes back.

A good nebulizer to get is the Evo Vet Neb Express.

FWIW the nebulizer/cooler combo also can serve as a shed aid for bad sheds. Just use straight distilled water.

[NYHC4LIFE8899]

Most common causes are low temps, low air circulation, and high stress.
Its also contagious and can spread to healthy animals in good conditions.



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Ty again,Satomi.