Oral Antibiotic Trouble (Kingsnake)

[mopuim]

My Brooks Kingsnake has been taking oral antibiotics (0.05ml // every other day) for a chronic infection for the past 2 weeks or so and plans to take them for a full month. He had taken this type before (1.5 ml // every other day) for two weeks previously (3-4 weeks prior), but wasn't enough. I haven't had much of a problem, and most of the time he takes it well, with an occasional one not deep enough and some getting out of his mouth. I always make sure to go past the glottis though. He usually drinks water after he gets his meds.

Within the past week, before even giving the medicine, he has these little head tremors, like jerking his head back every 1-2 seconds. It happens when I get him out of his tank (usually when I get him from one of his hides) and only lasts about 15-20 seconds. They are not violent, just concerning. He has also been going back in his tank after meds and rubs his face on everything for a minute or so.

Today, he got his medicine and a little leaked out of his mouth. He sneezed a few times and a few small bubbles came from his nose, which has never happened before. The antibiotics are for a chronic infection, but not anything respiratory related. He also started to move his head in a way as if he was drinking water.

Also might be important to note, he's taking the same medicine as before, but this bottle I have now lasts a month, whereas the last one lasted 2 weeks. The first bottle smelled like nothing pretty much and wasn't strong. The one I have now smells strong of caramel and tastes horrible (tasted it by accident). He also doesn't open his mouth all the way as easy as before with this medication. I make sure to wash the syringe and make sure he tastes as least as possible.

He is currently back in his little cave. I am just worried about administering the medication wrong and potentially hurting him. I also know part of it could be stress, and I am not handling him when I don't have to while he's on meds. Any advice or questions are welcome.

[Bogertophis]

You should truly be talking this over with your vet. That's what they're there for, to help & answer any questions about treatment they prescribed.

[NJ Balls]

Let me start by saying, I'm not a vet and you should always check with your own vet first.

If your snake started blowing bubble immediatelty after you gave him oral medicine there's a good chance you're injecting it into his lungs. That's one of the problems with abministering oral medication but I'm assuming your vet explained all of that to you already.

I agree with Bogertophis you should be consulting with a vet, I've seen a lot of misinformation provided online.

I learned the hard way that doing things on the cheap can end up costing three times as much in the end. I now have a $700 piebald ball python that i rescued with a RI and because i was to cheap to pay $150 for a culture I ended up giving him two antibotics that were not affective because the infection was resistant.

It cost me $180 for two additional vet office visits and another $140 for the two antibotics that didn't work on top of the $180 for the next office visits and the followup, $80 for the correct antibiotics, and $150 for the culture. It took three months with the correct antibiotic to get him healthy.

It could have also been another $200 for an X-ray but I told the vet, I'm going to assume it has developed into pneumonia and should be treated accordingly.

That was two years ago when he was 600g he's now over 1500g and I'm breeding him this year to try and get some of my money back.

[Cheesenugget]

Reptile antibiotics work best by injections, especially for snakes, not by mouth. I would go over your concerns with your vet as well as asking if you can switch to the injections. It looks scary if you have never done it before. There is a YouTube video by Snake Discovery who can show you how it is done. I followed her instructions, the needle went in fast and without problems, quick injection and it's over in a matter of seconds.