I know we all hate this, but.. HELP

[amandajf]

Okay, fwiw, she si breathing ALOT, ALOT better now! No more rattle/wheeze/snotty gasp each breat. I just held her and observed her in tank. She is taking nice slow, deep breaths without much sound. Just the occasional pop every other breath. Her mouth is phlegmy when she yawned, just the one time, and she's no longer holding her head up constantly! Yay! I think she is going to improve!

[Skiploder]

Maybe this will help http://www.leaplizard.com/articles/dosage.htmlBreathing treatments will not work on a snake.

I had to use a nebulizer with a sick anthill python. While your link did not work for me, I would guess from my snakes recovery and the fact that I've discussed nebulization with a couple of vets, that the article may be mistaken.

In our case, an antibiotic was prescribed which was then diluted in sterile saline and administered via a nebilizer that the Vet loaned out to me.

I guess the idea is that the nebulizer reduces the antibiotic into microscopic particles that can be inhaled directly into the lungs so that the medication is delivered to the site of infection.

Nebulizers aren't cheap, so perhaps your Vet can either loan one to you, rent it to you or even perform the therapy in the office.

I have seen forum postings where people have advised using humidifiers in lieu of nebulizers. Unfortunately, these do not reduce the particles small enough for them to be effective. This is one of the reasons that many people don't think nebulizing works - they aren't really using a nebulizer. They are using a humidifier which, in some cases, can make the situation worse.

Anyway, I had rescued a yearling anthill python with pneumonia that was given little to no chance of survival. Anthills are delicate to begin with. Our Vet loaned us the nebulizer and we administered antibiotics for 10 days with it. The snake pulled through and is still alive today.

[amandajf]

Between you, me and the rest of the entire public.. On our way home after the initial Barytril shot, she had a "death rattle". We gave her some nebulizer albuterol from my hand held neb because we figured she was dying anyway. My solution is .083% on a full dose which is like 10 mins on a treatment. She got it only during wheezy, wet gasps three times. She is taking nice deep breaths. We all know no way the antibx shot worked in less than 6 hours, so im pretty confident it was the neb that helped her. She is way active and what not, which may be due to the stimulant in the neb. Either way she is breathing deeply, regularly, no gasping and no wet rattling which is better than nothing. Even if she succumbs, I think I will continue mildly offering the neb every few hours so she can inhale comfortably. Asthma sucks and I don't want any animal to suffocate to death.

Thank you for your experience. I think Lillith may pull through between finding local help, my desperate ingenuity and y'all's positive feedback.

BTW, the neb I use is perfect if you want to tent a herp. http://cgi.ebay.com/Portable-Handhel...3A1%7C294%3A50

they even fully replaced my first one which had a faulty switch. no charge or return shipping. just load with saline/meds and put it into the terrarium

[llovelace]

We are, we are. I'm in Port St. Lucie but work in downtown Stuart. Where are you?

Big John's feed supply in Ft. Pierce sells 25g, 3ml syringes. I traded them for 6 of the 3/10 cc insulin ones because my animal is so small.

Do you know of a vet in the area for me to use? That's my biggest problem. We have limited vets here and lord knows which oens really know herps v. the ones who claim to!

There is a herp vet in Palm city and also in Vero, I'll get the numbers for you.

[amandajf]

Is it Dr. Wolff in Palm City? Aquatic Life recommended him but I couldn't reach anyone today?

[frankykeno]

What a mess your friend dumped in your lap. You're a dear to go to these lengths for a snake you didn't plan on owning...good for you!

When you do contact a vet, please mention that this is a rescue snake that came to you basically homeless and sick. Many vets will not only work out a reasonable payment plan but some vet clinics actually have funding they quietly access for these kinds of situations. Also some vets offer discounts for rescuers, especially with exotics since so many of these creatures have no where to go when they become unwanted pets. Never hurts to ask.

Please let us know how things go with this poor snake. I think you are doing a wonderful thing and certainly teaching your children some great life lessons in the process.

[amandajf]

thank you very much. i was so worried about getting flamed. In hindsight I pretty much did what intuition, research and what i thought to be common sense dictated. I realize I could have made a huge mistake with taking matters into my own hands and I was quite worried I'd get jumped for it, albeit righteously.

I just couldn't wait any longer given her respiratory distress. I'm thankful she's breathing well. Now I have to figure out how to get her to drink. Any ideas? It's essential they drink or receive iv fluids on baytril due to it's nephrotoxicity, so I'm concerned about that. I'm debating asking my dr. to rx me a bag of dextrose if she still won't drink fluids. Any ideas?

[2kdime]

First of all you need to see a vet and get a Culture and Sensitivity test done on a trachea swab.

If indeed you need Baytril, you need .4cc per 1000 grams.

[amandajf]

okay, pulled her out this morning. she's not as active, she's yawning again and slightly raspy. She is still breathing regular deep breaths and when she yawns, there's alot less phlegm. I suspect she breathed/phlegm'd less last night due to the neb so I will check her again in an hour. if she's still wheezing, she'll get some more neb. still unconfirmed on this, but she did alot better with it than she did without, especially since the antx should have kicked in over night. also, she didn't appear to have any negative effects aside from being a bit more active, which is normal. in light of the easier breathing i'll do it again because i think it made her more comfortable being able to breath better.

[amandajf]

First of all you need to see a vet and get a Culture and Sensitivity test done on a trachea swab.

I know this, but if you see above, I can't find a good herp vet open on a holiday weekend and I have a snake that could not inhale whatsoever without standing her head up 6 inches and mouth open whilst phlegm rattled like mad as she breathed in. She went from a slight cough on Wednesday to this horrid rattle by Friday night. I could not, and chose not to, wait until Tuesday to find someone open and then the subsequent wait for the culture. This is assuming I could afford this right now, which I cannot, and I certainly can't take off of work for it either.

If indeed you need Baytril, you need .4cc per 1000 grams.

That is also the dose the gentleman in the videos on this thread suggested which is about 9 mg per kg snake (because he used a 22.7mg/ml vial). My snake is only 300g, so she only got .15 cc which resulted in a 3.405 mg dose. Most resources suggested a dose of 5mg-10mg per kg, and given that this animal couldn't breath but slowly and with much effort, I went with the higher dose. Until I can get in touch with a vet, I'm relying on this thread, a person on another forum and the mom and pop rescue I found with experience in medicating sick, rescued herps. I'd much rather do 10mg/kg for 7 days than 5mg/kg for 14 days as I don't want to keep stabbing this animal.

Also, you can't blanket .4cc per kg. Baytril iv solution comes in more than one strength. You have to know the actual mg per kg to calculate the dose. I know the vial I used was 22.7mg/ml and had to calculate accordingly.

http://www.vin.com/VINDBPub/SearchPB...00/PR00341.htm

http://www.anapsid.org/resources/rxdose.html