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Thread: Fortaz for RI

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    Question Fortaz for RI

    Hi all, new here to the forum and came to pick your brains. I live in an area where I need to travel to see an exotic vet when needed. I have no problems dedicating the time and gas money to take any of my snakes to see a vet. I was wondering though, if it would be possible to request my local cat/dog vet prescribe the antibiotics I need for a snake I am positive has the start of an RI. I know that Fortaz is a commonly used antibiotic for snakes and I found a dosage recommendation online. If I took this information to the local vet, it would save the snake the stress of traveling 4+ hours while ill. I do understand a lung wash is recommended to determine the exact bacteria. I am hoping perhaps Fortaz will do the trick since it is a good broad spectrum medication. If it didn't help I would of course go ahead and travel to the nearest exotic vet. The dosage recommendation I found is this: Dose is 20 mg/kg IM or SC Q 72 hours The snake weighs 448 grams. Will my vet be able to give the correct dosage with this information?

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    Re: Fortaz for RI

    I have no idea if a vet who doesn't specialize in reptiles will prescribe an antibiotic for one.

    However, if you are positive the snake has an RI, then you are rolling the dice by prescribing any antibiotic. If you guess wrong, or the infection is a fungal one (much less likely) versus a bacterial one, you are wasting precious time and causing more harm than good.

    Getting the tracheal/lung wash is the only way to determine what you are dealing and how to effectively treat it.

    It sounds like it might not be the easiest thing to do, but I really believe it is the best thing. It is possible that the reptile vet can prescribe an antibiotic that you can pick up locally or they can overnight to you. It does take some time for the lab results of the tracheal (days, but it's not instant).

    I've experienced RI in two different snakes. One was a BP I adopted about 20 years ago who had a mild case when I got him, and the other was a my Carpet Python Yafe, who at 100G +/- and a year old, was lost by fedex in shipment. He had a horrible one within 48 hours of receiving him. He was in really bad shape. Mucus in mouth and nose, wheezing, popping, etc. He wouldn't eat and was having difficult moving and breathing and had his head up all the time. We did a tracheal and were able to prescribe the best antibiotic to inject for 30 days, followed by a similar antibiotic to nebulize. He's now almost four, healthy as can be, and about 10X this size he was when I got him.

    The breeder, reptile breeders I know, and people here, didn't think he would make it. He did, but I am confident if we hadn't known that is was a) bacterial and b) what type and what antibiotic to use, he wouldn't be here today. The fact he was a young snake compounded that as he really needed to get eating and growing.

    I cannot emphasize enough how important that tracheal wash is.

    In the meantime, you can raise temps slightly and increase humidity to try to help your snakes comfort level and immune system until you can get to the reptile vet and get the results of the tracheal.

    The above - temp increase - depends on type of snake and what temps are now, etc. You do not want to overheat and hurt your snake either.

    You posted this in the colubrids section. What type of colubrid is your snake, how old, what is he/she in tank wise, what are temps now, and what is humidity now?

    Additionally, did you get him/her with an RI or did he/she develop the symptoms while under your care?

    Finally, is he/she eating?

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    Re: Fortaz for RI

    Thank you for the reply dakski. I appreciate it. The snake is a black rat snake. He is 3 years old and I have had him since he was a hatchling. He's been healthy as ever all this time. I am unsure what has caused the sudden change in his health. His enclosure is a 40 quart tub in a rack system heated with heat tape on a thermostat. Hot spot sits at about 84 degrees. Humidity is usually "room level" humidity. I keep him on aspen bedding so it doesn't hold any more humidity than what the average in the room is. He is currently still eating.

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    Re: Fortaz for RI

    Quote Originally Posted by drum_stix_12 View Post
    Thank you for the reply dakski. I appreciate it. The snake is a black rat snake. He is 3 years old and I have had him since he was a hatchling. He's been healthy as ever all this time. I am unsure what has caused the sudden change in his health. His enclosure is a 40 quart tub in a rack system heated with heat tape on a thermostat. Hot spot sits at about 84 degrees. Humidity is usually "room level" humidity. I keep him on aspen bedding so it doesn't hold any more humidity than what the average in the room is. He is currently still eating.
    I would bump temps 1-2F on the hot side for now and try increasing humidity a little. The temp bump assumes he still has a cool side that's not more than 78F or so (and can be as low as 75F from what I understand - but I'll let some colubrid experts chime in here - I keep corns but not other colubrids). You can gently mist 1X a day and I would recommend getting a basic hydrometer. Not super accurate usually, but will give you an idea. You don't want it too humid, but probably a little more than it is now.

    For what's it worth, depending one where you live, what heating/cooling system you have, etc. "room humidity" can vary a lot. Remember, RI's can be caused by stress and/or too much or too little humidity. I would research what he needs and make sure you are pretty close to slightly higher for now.

    The fact that he is eating is a great sign. What makes you think he has an RI?

    I had a false alarm with my BP a few years back. I moved and it was taking a little while to get humidity dialed in and it was a little low for a brief period. I heard her whistle a few times and got her to the vet the next day. By the time I got there, there was no whistling and she looked and sounded fine. Turns out she probably had something stuck in her nose like a piece of shed or dust.

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    Re: Fortaz for RI

    Thanks so much. I will increase temps and humidity. I suspect an RI because I can hear an audible intake of breath that has become a bit crackly over the last week. I had originally hoped it was just some skin stuck in the nostril. I had even opened his mouth to check for mucus and did not find any. But now that a bit more time has passed the crackle breathing has not stopped and has become louder. I have not opened his mouth again though. I again appreciate your help. I will get him scheduled for an appointment as soon as possible.

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    You can ask your local vet to prescribe the Fortaz after ensuring it's appropriate for the RI your snake has. Also your local vet can call around to exotic specialists to see if they'll do a phone consult to save you from driving.

    That said, when my snakes have an RI the vet usually pushes Fortaz + Baytril or Fortaz + Naxcel to treat them.

    Fortaz is also expensive and has a short shelf life so a lot of vets don't keep it on hand. A compounding pharmacy might be able to get it cheaper than the vet. Usually it's handed to us pre-measured in single-use syringes and frozen, we just thaw a syringe every three days.

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    Re: Fortaz for RI

    Everything that was previously recommended I concur. Consider getting the reptile off of the aspen shavings for now (dusty substrate), and onto white clean paper towels. Kingsnakes typically are very resistant to respiratory infections so proceed with caution. Eliminate any potentially stressful or stress causing situations such excessive temperature fluctuations, inadequate nutrition, and or poor sanitary conditions. Keep up the good work!
    Last edited by Albert Clark; 02-02-2022 at 12:36 PM.
    Stay in peace and not pieces.

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    BPnet Lifer Albert Clark's Avatar
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    Re: Fortaz for RI

    Originally Posted by drum_stix_12
    Thank you for the reply dakski. I appreciate it. The snake is a black rat snake. He is 3 years old and I have had him since he was a hatchling. He's been healthy as ever all this time. I am unsure what has caused the sudden change in his health. His enclosure is a 40 quart tub in a rack system heated with heat tape on a thermostat. Hot spot sits at about 84 degrees. Humidity is usually "room level" humidity. I keep him on aspen bedding so it doesn't hold any more humidity than what the average in the room is. He is currently still eating.



    Wow! I got the species of snake wrong. Sorry about that. Thought it was a Mexican Black kingsnake for some reason.
    Stay in peace and not pieces.

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