Respiratory infection in milksnake

[SouthernGraver]

My 15 year old Pueblan milksnake began displaying symptoms of a respiratory infection (open mouth breathing) so I took her to a reptile vet (almost 2 hours away). The vet gave her 3 injections of Baytril, one every 4 days. Three weeks after the last dose there was no improvement. Then the vet gave her 3 injections of Amikacin, one every 7 days. Now, three weeks after the last dose she's still holding her mouth open, and mucus is visible whereas it wasn't before. The vet doesn't want to administer any more antibiotics because they're "too dangerous" and I'm tired of driving so far, and I've spent $160 on injections and another $189 on lab work. My local vet won't touch a snake... literally. She's afraid of them. What are my options?

[zina10]

Well, the Vet should have done a culture. Did he offer to run one?

Until you know what you are fighting, you don't know which meds will work.

Doing nothing is obviously not ideal either.

You need to take her back to the Vet, have them take a sample of the mucus and back of the throat and send it in for a culture. Once you know which germs you are dealing with, he can prescribe the CORRECT antibiotic as well as knowing how long it needs to be given..

[Bogertophis]

What did that vet do for the "lab work" ($189), if not to identify what he's treating?

I don't disagree that yet another antibiotic isn't good for the snake, but it's not as bad as not breathing, is it?

I don't blame you for feeling so frustrated & with no improvement so far, but I agree with zina10's post above. This is just the way it goes sometimes,
whether you're dealing with a pet illness or a human illness. Hang in there...

[bcr229]

The lab work should have shown the bacteria and what antibiotics could be used to treat it. Did you get a copy of that?

Also antibiotics may need to be given for quite a while. When my snakes have been on baytril, fortaz, or naxcel they've been dosed every 3 days for 30 days (10 doses).