New BP owner and I'm in serious need of help!

[Shyanna]

I'm new to snake keeping. I went into a pet store, and I feel in love with a little banana Ball Python. At this stage everything seems to be going wrong. I have looked at so many post/articles on how to care for her, and I thought I was prepared. Nope...

She seems to have a respiratory infection. Naturally I took her to the vet, asked a ton of questions, got some oral medication and thought everything would be fine. Five days in on giving her the meds I noticed the solution (baytril) had gone from clear to cloudy. I asked on Reddit about this only to be told it had gone bad and I should have kept it in the fridge. I really wish the vet had told me that. Now I'm freaking out because I know she needs medicine and I can't provide her with any until Monday. It will be a full 48 hours that she has been off the baytril by the time I can even call my vet. She keeps her head elevated and seems like she is having trouble breathing.

I don't know what to do. I feel like I'm going to wind up killing her out of my shear stupidity and I can't handle that. At this point I feel like I should take her to a reptile rescue so she can be taken care of properly. I don't know what I'm doing wrong. Temps and humidity seem right. Am I blowing this out of proportion? Any thoughts or advice would be appreciated.

Below is the help us help you info

1. How long have you had your ball python?
One month


2. How old (or how big) is your snake?

About two and a half feet long, not sure how old she is

3. Does it eat on a regular schedule?

No, not since I started giving her medicine

4. How long since its last meal?

I fed her around 6ish tonight. 12/14/19

5. What type/size prey is being offered?

Adult mouse, about the size of the thickest part of her body

6. How often do you offer food?

Every 7 days

7. What type and size of enclosure does it live in?

20 gallon glass tank with screen top

8. What are you using as substrate? If it has depth, how deep is it?
Tropicoco coconut husk, about half and inch deep maybe less


9. What type of heating do you use?

Heat lamp and uth

10. Do you use a thermostat to control temperatures?

Thermostat on the uth and a dimmer on the heat lamp

11. What do you use to measure/monitor temperatures?

Temp gun/stick on thermometer and hydrometer (ordered a digital one, waiting for it to arrive)

12. What are the surface and ambient temperatures in the enclosure?
Warm side is 88-91 surface temp/cool side is 75-79 surface. Ambient is 80


13. What is the average humidity level?
45-60%


14. How many and what type of hides does the snake have?

Small rock hide on warm side and a log hide on cool side. I know I need to replace the log hide

15. Is water readily available at all times?

Yes

16. Does the snake live alone or does it share the enclosure with anything else?

Alone

17. How often and for how long is the snake typically handled?

3-4 nights a week for about 15mins each time

18. Does the snake have any medical history (old injuries or illnesses)?

Just a RI, and see seems to have injured her mouth a little recently

19. Do you have any other reptiles? Have you brought in any new reptiles recently?
No and no


20. Is there anything specific or unique about your situation that we should be aware of?

I have anxiety disorder and I stress and worry about everything to the point I have panic attacks. When I handle her she seems to calm me down. Also, I'm terrified that I'm going to hurt/kill her because I don't know what I'm doing. So I'm stressing about that too; which is why I'm posting this at 2:30 in the morning my time.

[Lord Sorril]

I'm no Vet. But, I have used orally administered Baytril at room temp. in the past on rodents. We would replace it after 2-3 days when it turns cloudy. I asked my gf who has more of a pharma background--she said in your case not to use it.

Given the size of your ball python I would not be concerned about feeding it. Digestion puts a great deal of strain on snakes and you need the energy to fight the infection. You should also completely stop all handling until your snake fully recovers--regardless whether or not your ball python enjoys it: it is a form of stress.

I noticed that you said your ambient is 80, but, your surface temp on your cold side is 75-79. If your ambient is truly 80: then all surface temps should read at least 80 unless the heat is not reaching that part of the cage. I would recheck your temps. Especially with an RI--you don't want any surface temp reading below 80F. Your 'hot spot' (generated by the UTH) should not be above 90, and your air temperature should not exceed 85F in any area. Sometimes this requires two thermostats (one on each heat source).

Do make sure you have a water bowl large enough to let the entire snake submerge completely. When I lived in the city I would dechlorinate my water. Also since your humidity is a bit on the low end I would take a warm damp (not wet) towel and drape it across the top of your ball python enclosure periodically to increase the humidity to help it breathe.

A respiratory infection in a ball python can be tough to defeat. You may have high anxiety, but, do keep in mind that if you have a viral infection that there is nothing you can do aside from provide a comfortable environment. The snake may die even with the best effort and skilled keeper-so do what you can to learn and don't beat yourself up about it.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

First thing is to find a new vet and start again, if your vet had experience with snake he would know that oral antibiotics are very inefficient with snakes.

A proper experienced vet would have done a culture, and based on the result (not all RI) are the same prescribed some injectable antibiotic for a duration of no less than 30 days.

[Shyanna]

Thank you both for the advice. As far as finding a new vet goes; I'll do my best but my options are already exhausted. I live in a small town and the nearest vet besides the two I've gone to is over two hours away. Unfortunately, I cannot drive to Dallas every time I need to see a vet.

[OkamiFlautist]

Thank you both for the advice. As far as finding a new vet goes; I'll do my best but my options are already exhausted. I live in a small town and the nearest vet besides the two I've gone to is over two hours away. Unfortunately, I cannot drive to Dallas every time I need to see a vet.

Please don't take this the wrong way, but if your snake is sick, you may not have a choice. If it comes down to driving two hours to see a vet that knows how to handle your snake vs. going back to a vet who does not seem knowledgeable about snakes, you need to make the drive. Your snake could likely die if not given proper treatment.

[Mr. Misha]

I'm not an expert on sick BPs, but if she's eating that's a good sign. Keep up the temps and humidity and keep handling to a minimum.

[Craiga 01453]

I'm not sure if you'll be able to find someone on here, but I hope it helps. Good luck!

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