Vet tomorrow

[edie]

Me and the rescue boa are going in for our 4th vet visit tomorrow (or I guess this) morning at 11. She went to a vet 2 times, and they just put my boa on a month of Baytril, 2 weeks each visit. A little over a month ago I took my snake to an exotics specific vet hospital with 2 vets that seemed to know a lot more than my last vet did. They put my boa on 5 shots of Azithro and the RI still hasn't cleared up, it actually seems to have gotten worse

I guess at this visit they will be doing a x-ray to see whats going on in her lugs, and take some samples to see if we can figure out exactly what she has.

She has gained 4 pounds (she weighs 15lbs now, and is about 5'8") since I've had her and she eats for me every week, so I'm hoping thats a good sign. Has anyone else dealt with a snake with such a long illness like this?

[edie]

I don't think many people are interested but I'm posting an update in case anyone else goes though this.

This is all paraphrased from my vet report.

The vet did a bacterial and fungal culture to my boa's trachea, and after the results come back (3-7 days) we will discuss the treatment for whatever she has, and if the culture comes back with no real results we will do blood-work or an endoscopy to see if those come up with anything.

The vet said he didn't see any green mucus or red spots in her mouth/throat area and that was a good sign. He also said that the fact that she was eating and putting on weight was a good sign. He said that if she has ophidian paramyxovirus or inclusion body disease it will be hard to diagnose but they are possibilities.

As for now, I'm trying to raise ambient temps to 82-84 and raising humidity. The vet told me to soak her in warm water for an hour every 3-4 days. We also decided to give my snake 0.3 ml of Bird Booster orally (I'm glad shes such a good snake, I would probably die if any of my other snakes needed oral medication, they would put up a fight). The bird booster is a stretch, but other vets have reported it to help some snakes, and since my boa didn't improve with either antibiotics she was put on we are going to try whatever we can to get her immune system up so she can fight this illness.

I might also get some ecchinacea extract (I believe this is a human health supplement) for her as another way to try and boost her immune system, this is also another stretch, but worth a try.

I'll post another update after they call with the results, and if I have to go back in for further tests.

[edie]

By the way, I'm not saying anyone should go out and use the ecchinacea extract or the bird booster! They're last resort options that might not even do anything, I'm just posting my experience.

[Thor26]

wow i hope she gets better she's really cool lookin

[Colin Vestrand]

so whats the verdict? was it simple URI or symptoms of OPMV or IBD?

[edie]

so whats the verdict? was it simple URI or symptoms of OPMV or IBD?

We actually still have no idea, over $500 in vet bills and not much has changed. Whatever she has is immune to both of the antibiotics we have tried - the culture didn't show anything - the next step would be to put a camera somewhere? I'm not quite sure, but the vet said that it probably won't show much either. She eats for me every week, drinks, doesn't do anything abnormal except wheeze a little when she gets out of her cage. I have another snake I'm taking to the vet next week so I'll see what the vet thinks we should do about the boa then.

I'll post an update after the vet, I'll ask him some more questions and get some things cleared up.

Thanks for asking about her, she is a sweet snake

[qiksilver]

how long have you had her? And how's your humidity?

[SatanicIntention]

Have they tried a tracheal wash?

If she doesn't have any mucous in her mouth and her lungs sound good, then she's probably ok. My boa is 8ft and over 25lbs now and wheezes every so often when she's trying to get a better grip on me. I've heard alot of big boas/other snakes do the wheezing.

My boa, Sonja, had an RI way back before Jo(FrankyKeno) even rescued her and it wasn't treated properly, so she has some lung damage. Other than a wheeze every so often, she's fine.

[edie]

how long have you had her? And how's your humidity?

I think I've had her for 6-7 months now, the vet told me to raise the humidity to help with congestion (I spray everyday, it usually gets about 60%) and soak her every 3 days, shes also on bird booster which may or may not boost her immune system.

[edie]

Have they tried a tracheal wash?

If she doesn't have any mucous in her mouth and her lungs sound good, then she's probably ok. My boa is 8ft and over 25lbs now and wheezes every so often when she's trying to get a better grip on me. I've heard alot of big boas/other snakes do the wheezing.

My boa, Sonja, had an RI way back before Jo(FrankyKeno) even rescued her and it wasn't treated properly, so she has some lung damage. Other than a wheeze every so often, she's fine.

They have not done a tracheal wash, I'll ask about that next week when I'm there with another snake. I got the boa from some very shady people, and have no idea how long the RI she has was left untreated before I got a hold of her. The vet said that she probably had it long before I got her and there may be nothing we can do about it, just keep running tests until they figure it out i guess.
Shes really the best eater I have here, she seems perfectly healthy except for the wheeze - shes even gained 6 pounds since shes been here (shes about 16-17 pounds now - 11 when I got her).