Marbofloxacin? 3 times so that's it? Right (RI)

[Marc.nouka]

So I going to a vet for around 3 times every 48 hours to give my ball python an injection, so dosage that my vet gave her is 10mg/kg and for the third time, when we were right there she is still mouth breathing, my vet just said that this is it now and suggest me to just wait, so this is it right? He asked me for the overall tempt and humid and he got no problem with it.

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[Armiyana]

I know certain medications are only for a specific length of time because it can lead to liver or kidney damage.
I'm not a vet and don't know your animal so I can't say how correct that is but for something like gentomycin it sounds correct from past experiences.

The things to remember are that snakes really don't have a way to cough up all that mucus that builds in the lung. It can take a long time for the immune responses to do that. Medication takes longer to metabolize so what seems like too little is actually a lot for them.

The more important thing I think is did you have your snake cultured to know exactly what is going on? Without having a culture and sensitivity done you can't know if the medication would work or not until the wait and see approach where it sounds like you are now. If you DID have a c&s done and that was the recommended medication then hopefully your noodle started to respond as long as you are keeping them comfortable, warm and stress free as possible now.

[dakski]

I am not a vet and cannot comment on the dosage of a medication a vet prescribed. I can tell you what I know about RI's from research and unfortunately, personal experience with two sick snakes. One came sick as his package was lost and one came to me knowing they had an RI and got them healthy again.

Here are what you need to ask:

1. Does your snake actually have an RI?

2. If yes to above, then you need to know what kind of RI - Fungal or bacterial and what type/kind. The only way to know this is to do a tracheal wash and analyze it.

Did your vet perform a tracheal wash? If not, you are running blind. If he/she did, was the type of bacteria or fungus identified and proper treatment prescribed?

3. Why does the snake have an RI? If temps and humidity are fine, what underlying issue is there that the snake got an RI?

4. See above? Are you sure temps and humidity are spot on and the tank is clean, etc? RI's are usually caused by poor conditions over a long period of time OR because a snake is sick to begin with or compromised in another way, making them susceptible to infection.


My most recent dealings with an RI was with my Carpet Python, Yafe, when he was a yearling. He was shipped to me and fed ex lost his package. He was in bad shape within a day. No tongue flicks, open mouth breathing, hissing and wheezing, and mucus coming out of his nose and mouth.

We did a tracheal wash and identified it was bacterial and what kind of bacteria we were dealing with. Medication was prescribed as follows. Antibiotic (don't remember which one at the moment) injection every 3 days, or 10 treatments in a month. NOTE: I imagine different treatments have different dosing and duration for different bacteria, snakes/weights, severity, etc. I am not saying this is the norm, just what Yafe did.

After the antibiotics injections, we nebulizer Yafe daily with a mild antibiotic for 3 weeks. Then he still had some residual mild symptoms, but began eating, tongue flicking, getting color back, etc. After he was healthy, and off quarantine, he went into his forever home (a PVC Boaphile tank) which hold humidity and temps great. He hasn't had an issue since. He was 110G when he got to me and is now almost 1.8kg!

If you can look at the questions above and tell us the answers, along with what your tank looks like, temps, humidity, age and type of snake, etc. that would help us.

Finally, look at this link: https://vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/marbofloxacin

Marbofloxacin is off label for use in snakes, especially for RI's and as an injectable. Again, it might be fine, but are you going to a reptile specific vet?

Good luck and keep us posted.

[Malum Argenteum]

It would be good to ask the vet exactly why the dosage, frequency and duration were prescribed. The more detail one can get from their vet, the better the keeper can work through the situation and future ones like it.

In addition to what has been mentioned above, I'll add that testing for a viral component of RIs in any symptomatic pythons and boas should be more common (should be standard procedure, in my opinion). Testing incoming animals during their QT period might be a good idea as well.

[Marc.nouka]

She got better now, finally after a long fight phew

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[dakski]

She got better now, finally after a long fight phew

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That's great news. However, if she got sick while under your care, you probably should examine what might have caused that to prevent it in the future. Prevention is much cheaper and less disruptive and dangerous for her.