Septicemia Dehydration Baby Ball Help!

[Buttercup]

Great set up & awesome vet. Dx with septicemia/dehydration on Thur.
Treating with antibiotics & forced feeding. Warm baths.
Here’s where I need help/advice!!!
Worried about 2 things & having trouble sleeping until I can contact vet.
Snake is albino. I can now see a darkness inside (intestines?) about 2 inches above elimination area. Is that food about to be eliminated? I read meds make the poop darker. Idk.
Also worrisome is his belly is squishy. He’s like fluid filled & not firm/muscular like before.
Is this normal for an ill snake recovering (hopefully) on forced feedings/antibiotics?
So worries he’s not going to recover. We love him so much.

[Lord Sorril]

I would consult with your vet ASAP--the fluid squishy feeling is not right. I have seen this symptom previously in other types of snakes with invariably poor final results.

If you have additional reptiles: please make sure to quarantine this one.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

There is a lot left unsaid here, no picture of the animal, no history, feeding pattern weight, vet qualification.

Last time I saw a regular vet diagnosing septicemia for example the snake was actually going in shed so sometime you have to take diagnoses with a grain of salt and usually when vet prescribe highly stressful treatment combined with force feeding it makes me a bit wary.

How/why did you go to the vet in the first place? Symptoms?

[Bogertophis]

I hope we get the rest of the story...

[Vermi]

Please post pics and more details! Septicemia is a very serious condition Hope to hear from you.

[Buttercup]

I would consult with your vet ASAP--the fluid squishy feeling is not right. I have seen this symptom previously in other types of snakes with invariably poor final results.

If you have additional reptiles: please make sure to quarantine this one.

Thank you for you advice. You were spot on. I knew in my heart it wasn’t good.
The fluid was building up & Vet administered new meds to try to combat what’s happening. He stated he’s in critical condition & not likely to live. He said we could treat as sometimes they can recover.

Background: received this baby albino in Oct & looked perfect.
Wouldn’t eat. Tried every trick in the book. His setup is 40 gallon. Several hides. Good heat above & below. Humidity. Clean. He ate once in Nov but daughter found weird mass in tank & thought he possibly regurgitated. Never ate again. We knew they go a while & are often difficult to feed. Tried everything.
Vet visit #1: Noticed weight loss & lethargy & immediately brought him in.
Septicemia dehydration. Rx 5 Fortaz injections (1 every 72 hrs) & forced feeding every other day for one wk.
Vet visit #2: Noticed swelling/puffiness in underbelly mostly tail end. Also darkness I thought was intestines filled/maybe full bowels.
Here’s what they said: Critical. Highly.
Increasing from 1cc to 2cc food every other day.
Continuing Fortaz injections every 72hrs for 5 total.
Adding Iron & B complex.
Added carafate/sucralfate suspension (30) 0.2 orally twice as gastric protectant. Stop bleeding.
-Lost muscle mass & fluid building up. Red eyes looking light pink. Darkness in belly not food but likely blood from GI.

Not sure how to post pics.
Speculated theories:
1 arrived ill & explains why he had feeding issues.
2 feeding issues led to dehydration & sepsis & so on & so in.

Advice & info appreciated. He’s our first snake & we did so much to prepare for him & now to help him. It’s going to be devastating if we lose him.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

1 arrived ill & explains why he had feeding issues.

Feeding issues are were most likely husbandry related based on your statement (baby in 40 gallons tank) which is typical with new owners. It became a vicious circle and was not addressed soon enough (should have been addressed withing the first 2 to 4 weeks)

they go a while & are often difficult to feed.

An adult can not a baby and no if their husbandry are met, babies and juvies are eating machine.

Vet likely overreacted because most vets do not understand those animals and what triggers them and think the magic solution for everything is antibiotic and force feeding rather than promoting normal feeding behaviour by making necessary husbandry changes.

forced feeding every other day for one wk.

that reinforces my belief that your vet is not experienced with BP (this alone is enough to kill an animal that has been weaken because of being of feed for too long). Your vet does not understand the toll a snake digestion process takes not to mention the stress associated with force feeding let alone every other day.

I am still not getting where the septicemia comes in what were the symptoms?

Do you have a thermostat in your enclosure? Is your substrate damp?

[Lord Sorril]

Advice & info appreciated.

I suspect your snake was harboring a pathogen on arrival or picked one up soon after. Perfect husbandry may have prevented the snake from becoming ill--there is no certainty though.

I think the Vet issuing antibiotics was the textbook move. I suspect they do this because this method works some of the time. I don't agree with this procedure-it either fixes the issue or makes things worse. In this case I suspect it will make things worse, but, I am just guessing based on the small information provided.

I would work on establishing a better setup with ideal temps. and realize that this may be a learning experience.

[Buttercup]

Feeding issues are were most likely husbandry related based on your statement (baby in 40 gallons tank) which is typical with new owners. It became a vicious circle and was not addressed soon enough (should have been addressed withing the first 2 to 4 weeks)

An adult can not a baby and no if their husbandry are met, babies and juvies are eating machine.

Vet likely overreacted because most vets do not understand those animals and what triggers them and think the magic solution for everything is antibiotic and force feeding rather than promoting normal feeding behaviour by making necessary husbandry changes.

that reinforces my belief that your vet is not experienced with BP (this alone is enough to kill an animal that has been weaken because of being of feed for too long). Your vet does not understand the toll a snake digestion process takes not to mention the stress associated with force feeding let alone every other day.

I am still not getting where the septicemia comes in what were the symptoms?

Do you have a thermostat in your enclosure? Is your substrate damp?

Idk what caused feeding issues. The tank set up was perfect according to the 2 vets that both have extensive experience with ball pythons. One even breeds. We tried every trick in the book to feed him & nothing worked. You say they are eating machines but I have read & was told by the vets that juveniles are notorious fir being difficult & often are seen for starvation issues.

I apologize if if I wasn’t descriptive enough on why we brought him into the vet in the 1st place. One day he was looking & acting fine (except for the not eating) & the next he looked dehydrated and had red rings on his side. His tail that usually grips onto our hands wasn’t gripping anymore. He was definitely very ill. All of his symptoms suggested septicemia.

We have 2 thermometers & substrate is kept at clean & tank is kept at proper humidity levels. One side is warm the other side is warmer. Large water dish with clean water. Large hide, 2 smaller hides.

We we discussed at length with our vets all issues. Even showing photos of the tank. These vets are knowledgeable & thoughtful about what we are doing. It may sound extreme but we are trying to save his life. Without these treatments, he definitely won’t survive. With these treatments, he may have a chance.

[Buttercup]

There is a lot left unsaid here, no picture of the animal, no history, feeding pattern weight, vet qualification.

Last time I saw a regular vet diagnosing septicemia for example the snake was actually going in shed so sometime you have to take diagnoses with a grain of salt and usually when vet prescribe highly stressful treatment combined with force feeding it makes me a bit wary.

How/why did you go to the vet in the first place? Symptoms?

Apologies for the lack of info. I just replied to another post with additional details.
When I posted, I didn’t have any photos & still am not sure how to post photos here. New. I’ll look into that for the future.

Our snake was diagnosed at a reptile specialists office. Was seen & diagnosed by 2 vets experienced with reptiles & ball pythons.

We brought him in the minute we noticed symptoms. He was definitely ill. He had a couple of light red rings on his body. He’s my daughters snake & she thought it was blood from a pinkie she was attempting to feed him. When it didn’t wipe off, she googled symptoms & found septicemia. Brought him to emergency reptile vet first thing in the morning & they came to the same conclusion.