Hi I'm New. I have a quick question...

[mama_arty]

the only reason I brought up the vet thing was because I've had to go to an exotics vet recently with one of my young BPs for an eye infection. The man claimed to be very knowledgeable about reptiles, and to an extent he was. My issues arose when he told me my setup was wrong (at the time the bp in question was in a sterelite tub with a UTH, paper towels for a sterile environment, 2 hides and water bowl. He said the snake needed a UVB bulb and that my temps were incorrect (90 hot side, 78 cool side).

He then prescribed baytril injections without doing any type of culture, and eye drops (snakes have eye caps...drops are useless...they require ointments that sticks to the eyes...)

Needless to say I went and found a new vet immediately afterwords. Some will say they are an exotics vet...when they only have a very basic knowledge of exotics.

I had a similar experience with my old vet for my cat. Said my cat had an eye infection, but didn't even exam the eye. Gave medicated eye drops. Then another cat they said had a uti without any urinalysis or bloodwork.
My cats have a new vet we go to now. Apparently this specialist only goes to their location twice a month.
I'll let you know how it goes. But Thank you for the heads up. I've never been to a snake doctor before lol

Sent from my SM-G935T using Tapatalk

[mama_arty]

Update post vet.
The veterinarian was awesome. She used to teach at UCDavis in their reptile etc department. She was very knowledgeable on BPs.

The verdict... snake is healthy, great heart rate and decent weight. Healthy pits and good coloration of mouth. Great response to being turned belly up, nice strong coiling... Nothing super concerning beyond the eyes.
She said it seems like multiple caps that have retained and she doubts the snake can see at all.

Our plan is to crank up the humidity and do daily (stress level permitting) baths and wrapping her in a wet towel she can squirm out of. Hopefully we will loosen those caps! We have a follow up scheduled for next Wednesday to see what happens.
Vet believes it's a lack of husbandry at the hands of a careless breeder but that I am this snakes best chance because if she goes back to petsmart she's likely going to starve to death.
If next Wednesday we have not seen progress, we are going to do a tube feeding and schedule an appointment at the university for a micro-surgical removal of the eye caps. So... here's to hoping humidity is our answer and I don't have to drive 3 hours!
Keep your scales crossed for us. ❤🐍


Sent from my SM-G935T using Tapatalk

[tttaylorrr]

Update post vet.
The veterinarian was awesome. She used to teach at UCDavis in their reptile etc department. She was very knowledgeable on BPs.

The verdict... snake is healthy, great heart rate and decent weight. Healthy pits and good coloration of mouth. Great response to being turned belly up, nice strong coiling... Nothing super concerning beyond the eyes.
She said it seems like multiple caps that have retained and she doubts the snake can see at all.

Our plan is to crank up the humidity and do daily (stress level permitting) baths and wrapping her in a wet towel she can squirm out of. Hopefully we will loosen those caps! We have a follow up scheduled for next Wednesday to see what happens.
Vet believes it's a lack of husbandry at the hands of a careless breeder but that I am this snakes best chance because if she goes back to petsmart she's likely going to starve to death.
If next Wednesday we have not seen progress, we are going to do a tube feeding and schedule an appointment at the university for a micro-surgical removal of the eye caps. So... here's to hoping humidity is our answer and I don't have to drive 3 hours!
Keep your scales crossed for us. ❤🐍


Sent from my SM-G935T using Tapatalk

great to hear, and i would hold on to that vet forever! she sounds great. hopefully your noodles can get those caps off at home. thanks for the update!

[mama_arty]

I'm hoping the same. She was really a good snake today at the vet and during her wrapping. Very alert, tongue tasting the world. I just want the best for her. I'm a sucker for a neglected animal with a rough start to it's life.

Sent from my SM-G935T using Tapatalk

[mama_arty]

Update on eye progress.... got my probe temp/humidity reader. We are maintaining an average 85 on the warm side, 76 on the cool. Humidity in the 90s with daily substrate changes to avoid bacterial growth.
It's day 2... and one of her eyes is finally fogging up a little. I think it may actually come off! Or at least be in a position to come off during her follow up on wednesday.
She was really stressed from her vet appt. Hissed at me last night so we did 24 hrs with no contact, not even talking. And she let me check on her tonight.
I'm hoping this is progress in the right direction. She's had a tough go coming from a thoughtless breeder... fingers crossed.

Sent from my SM-G935T using Tapatalk

[redshepherd]

Fingers crossed for you, and it makes me happy to see someone care so much for their snake!!

If she's from petsmart, possible she's been there for months with terrible humidity and had bad sheds there. My local petsmart also carries BP's, and I often see some in terrible condition.

[JodanOrNoDan]

great to hear, and i would hold on to that vet forever! she sounds great. hopefully your noodles can get those caps off at home. thanks for the update!

Yup, that vet is a keeper. Nice to hear of one that knows what they are doing. There are too many threads on here talking about ones that don't.

[mama_arty]

Follow up appt today. Not a lot of change in the eyes but the vet is trying to be cost efficient for me... so we are taking baby steps. She believes the snake will shed in the coming weeks. They administered some fluids transdermally due to her mouth being a little tacky... and Rx'd an eye cream to help soften the eye cap retention... 2 times a day with weekly follow up pictures to watch for any swelling that would indicate abscess. If this fails we go on to plan C. We aren't sure if maybe the stupid people who shipped her to the store tried to remove the retained cap causing cornea damage... time will tell.
So for now, daily soaks, eye cream, and keeping that extra humid climate.

Sent from my SM-G935T using Tapatalk

[mama_arty]

Not the best angles and taken with flash but these are her eyes only 1 day after starting her ointment for her eyes ❤🐍

Sent from my SM-G935T using Tapatalk

[m3gz]

Your vet sounds like a better vet than I've ever been able to find for any of my companions! Make sure to keep her number! lol