RI not clearing after MONTHS of treatment. Help!

[blissman]

I am posting this for my friend in Taiwan who does not speak English. He is breeding ball pythons here in Taiwan, and has been battling RI infections running through his ball pythons. He keeps an immaculately clean enclosure, and the snakes are kept warm. He is also an ex-vet tech and knows how to handle the animals. Several of his snakes (Bumblebee, butterbee, mojave, tiger, killer bee...) have had an RI for almost six months. They are not eating on their own, and he has tried different antibiotic treatments (Baytril, ceph., fotaz) but none are working. He cannot find a good herp vet here in Taiwan, and with limited English, is having trouble finding info for other possible remedies.

Can you please help him with any suggestions of other antibiotics or remedies that have proven helpful? Many, many thanks. He has already lost a few snakes and he is panicked to save the rest

[mohawk]

Willy nilly use of antibiotics will cause bacteria to become antibiotic resistant.
This is why it is recommended to get a culture done, to see what strain of bacteria is causing the RI,
so the Vet can prescribe the best medication for the strain of bacteria.


The Herp Vet Connection lists this Reptile vet in Taiwan .



Taiwan
Qiu, Xin-Yu
Congo Exotic Animal Hospital
1F., No.306, Sec. 6, Roosevelt Rd., Wunshan District
Taipei, City 116, Taiwan (R.O.C.) 11674
Tel: 0118862-02 - 2931-8223

[blissman]

He did have a culture done, which came back as heavy amounts of pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Someone has told him he needs to kill all of his snakes and start over. Is this true? Others seem to say finding the right combo of antibiotics and keeping everything as sterile as possibe should do the trick.

[mohawk]

I would suggest taking them to a vet, rather than just trying random medicines.

[KMG]

Obviously he is doing something wrong if six snakes are sick. Snakes do not get RI when the are kept correctly so the cause needs to be found and addressed. If this is done while the correct meds are given it should all clear up.