Finally some success and no more worries.

[SekiMoshu]

So if a couple of you remember me I got my first snake about 3 months ago and he was giving me lots of problems with on and off eating, missing every two weeks ect, ect. I tried everything, smaller hides, changed heating, changed prey, tuna juice, hair dryer you name it I probably gave it a shot. After 8 weeks of not eating I said screw it and took him to a vet after doing some research of the local exotics and checking out the preferred vets on this site. Love the vet, hate the location since the parking is terrible, lol but it's worth it for my baby. Got him an exam, and it turned out he had a lot of moisture forming in the back of his throat, though there were no other signs, no wheezing, no popping when he was breathing, strong heart, not losing much weight and everything else. She suggested a culture, a quick deworming shot in the meantime which would take care of about 80% of common parasites that could exist and a quick appetite stimulant. A week goes by and the culture comes back (Along with another failed feed making it now 8 weeks without eating) and it seems he's had a respiratory infection, and a fairly stubborn one that was only susceptible to about 3 antibiotics, two of which were oral and one which was an injection that needed to be supplemented with fluids to rehydrate him since it could hurt his kidneys. I opted for the most effective one which was an oral medication and she gave me a quick showing of how to administer it with her ball python that was with her that day. By the time I had gotten his meds he was starting to have small popping sounds when he was breathing so I was happy that I was catching it so early. However when I gave him the meds I had the worst scare with him. The underbelly of this throat sunk in. Even though I made sure to get the syringe far into the back of the throat and avoided his glottis at all costs. It was so scary to see him holding his head up with his mouth open like that and probably the worst 30 seconds of my life (and if anyone can tell me what may have happened there I would be eternally grateful). After that he seemed fine despite a little bit of drool that was super slimy. Needless to say I called the vet right back and asked her about it. She said it wasn't normal and suggested switching antibiotics again to the injections. I took him the next day and it turns out he needs 7 shots total. She was really kind about it and actually waved the injection fees for me so I only had to buy the fluids in bulk and pay for the shot every time after that. Two shots later and lots of relaxation between I tried feeding him again last Wednesday with a little pinky mouse just to see if he would take something down. Not an hour later I found the little bugger gone. I thought to myself alright well let's see if he can get something a tiny bit bigger down and pulled out a small rat fuzzy from the freezer, after it thawed a quick heat up and he freaking struck! It was the first time he's struck while I've had him. He went back to the vet yesterday for his most recent shot (watching those needles get stuck into him freaks me out something awful) and she suggested feeding him twice a week for a while to help get his weight back up. I decided to give it a try, picked up another frozen rat fuzzy from my preferred store on the way home from the vet and offered him today and he hit it like the fist of an angry god. I watched to make sure he got it down alright and it went perfect. My theory on the whole matter is shipping is what may have done him in with the stress of moving. Flying from warm florida in to chilly Washington which was about a 40 degree difference at the time with nothing to keep him warm very well could have caused it. So I have learned a very important lesson. If I ever get another reptile of any kind in the future I'm going to make sure they are aware of the temperature the baby is coming to and make sure they will be warm enough for the trip. Sorry for the long winded post for any who actually read all of this through.

[dr del]

Glad he has started feeling better and got the hang of feeding so quickly afterwards.

People always seem so surprised we get all stressed out.

[SekiMoshu]

Me too. The vets are thrilled that he's picked up eating on his own, they were thinking they'd need to force feed him soon.

[cristacake]

Great job on catching that RI early, you did a great thing taking him to the vet Glad he's improving!

[SekiMoshu]

The vet is absolutely awesome too. I've been recommending her to anyone I know who has exotics. I won't go to the Bothell emergency vet anymore after they treated my wife's cockatiel. He was scared of hands for about a week after it. It's kinda gone downhill since Dr. Maas left so I'll only use that if it's a dire emergency like if my cat ever gets to Baphomet. Which should never happen because I always keep them seperate but it's always better to have a backup plan even if it's not something you will allow to happen. Cat likes to lay on his tank because it's warm, no matter how much I chase him off.

Also does anyone know if cat scratches are as lethal to snakes as they are to birds? In the next to no chance it would happen (knock on wood) I would like to know. Personally I think I would treat it in the same case as a bird because if a cat scratches a pet bird you need to get them to the vet within 24 hours or the bird will die from the bacteria in the cat's claws.