So relieved that I found a vet

[Kysenia]

Coming up on my first year of having bp's and starting my first breeding season which I am so pumped for, I finally tracked down a vet. Since I am in what most big city folk would consider rural area in SW Minnesota all I run into is we dont do snakes! And then the receptionist gives you that shiver sound over the phone.

After some research I found a vet that is the head Vet for the Sioux Falls Zoo. Sioux Falls being in South Dakota. Anyways this story im sure is getting boring but I was so happy that I found a guy who truely loves reptiles.

After 1 year of care I finally got an RI in the mix. She is one of the breeder normal females that I recieved from BHB , 1 of 4 last spring, she is such a sweetheart. So I take her to Sioux Falls about 55 miles away last Saturday morning with my son. We arrive, she is in her bag, box, with blanket all cozy.

After a short wait in the room, I take her out to have her ready for the vet. she does a few snake sneezes and yawns to get the sickies out. She is as happy as can be despite her infection thriving in her lungs.

The vet opens the door and walks straight over to her, "wow she is a sweetheart" and before blinking my eyes her grabs her out of my hands and around his neck she goes. Man she is sweet he says as he asks me about her and the other bp's I have. He asks me question after question regarding her care and how I keep and care for my other animals. He is asking great questions sounding curious but what he is doing is seeing if I know what I am doing. This made me feel good, not that I knew what was going on, but that he actually cared for the fact that I was caring for her and wanted to make sure I knew what the hell I was doing. He wasnt grilling me, but asking questions like he was trying to learn more himself...make sense? After about 5 minutes of questions non related to her being sick but to whether or not she should be in my care he asked if I minded showing her off. Out and about we went into the waiting room to show people waiting, he didnt let anyone near hear since she was sick and there were no other reptiles around to catch her cold I guess. But after the clinic shutting down 20 minutes and the rooms clearing out to see what he had we got back into the room.

It always amazes me that to this point whether people are nervous around snakes, love them, dont know much about them, when they see them they are so intriqued and curious. And in all seriousness...9/10 times they all shorten the distance and say such positive things like....they are nothing like i thought they would be,,, they arent slimey at all, man they are sweethearts....etc etc.

So back to the boring story. With her around his neck, he listen to her breathe with the scope, ears etc, showed me how to check myself or the health of the bp's mouth. He said if you need to see, grab here with gentle gradual build up pressure and then take a tounge depressor slide it in the turn it sideways, this locks it open, being careful to get back far enough not to damage their teeth.

A few tests later, Im guessing 12 needles and 12 vials of liquid med I needed to keep frozen given to me, he showed myself and son how to give the injection he said she is good to go. I asked about breeding, he said as long as she sounds good by Nov.1st she is ok to breed, otherwise hold her out the year.

I asked him if he would like me to bring in my other animals to start a record. He said there is no need for you to do that, if my other clients took care and new as much about their snakes, the world would be a better place for em.
He basically told me the fact that this was a 50 dollar breeding normal and I still brought her in for care said more then enough about my care for the animals.

Now this isnt a story about me being super with snakes cause I am not. This is a pat on the back for bp.net and all the breeders who have taken time to educate me and others about these animals. He asked about how I learned about em etc etc and I told him about bp.net, breeders, and my trip to BHB. He was about my size so I told him I would send him a bp.net shirt. I had an extra from when i got some so I sent him his shirt yesterday.

Anyways, I am so relieved I found a vet that loves snakes, knows snakes, and is comfortable around them.!!!!!

What a boring story lol..Ty bp.net.......and all the breeders out there that take the time to teach/educate all us newbies in this hobby and passion of ours.!!!!

[I<3Dreamsicles]

Cool story... I think theres a vet by me that is good with reptiles. I dont think we have a designated vet... I was checking out stuff for herp vets because of what im about to say next, but i found one that has a vet that specializes in reptiles i guess. They list snakes as things they accept so its all good!

I want to go to school to be a vet...... and id like to focus on reptiles...
only problem is that the main vet course is basically everything but reptiles, and its a 4 year study. And I need some 4 years of undergraduate stuff too. Im not sure of what but I think I have to go for a zoology major? Thats what ive read... Im glad theres a vet school in my state... I guess theres only 28 in the US?

[Kysenia]

Lord only knows we need more vets that love them snakes lol

[PythonChick]

Cool story... I think theres a vet by me that is good with reptiles. I dont think we have a designated vet... I was checking out stuff for herp vets because of what im about to say next, but i found one that has a vet that specializes in reptiles i guess. They list snakes as things they accept so its all good!

I want to go to school to be a vet...... and id like to focus on reptiles...
only problem is that the main vet course is basically everything but reptiles, and its a 4 year study. And I need some 4 years of undergraduate stuff too. Im not sure of what but I think I have to go for a zoology major? Thats what ive read... Im glad theres a vet school in my state... I guess theres only 28 in the US?

It is great that you found a good Vet. I certainly know from personal experience that locating a knowledgeable herp vet can be very difficult.

Not to hijack this thread or anything, but I am actually a first year Vet Student right now, and I would like to have some focus on reptiles and small exotics. I am fairly certain all Vet School curricula are generallt diverse, including small companion animals like dogs and cats as well as farm and food animals. Of the schools in the US (and yes there are a small number), different schools are known for different things. Exotics medicine is a growing area, but you are correct in your assumption that you will also have to learn to treat and care for many other species for most of the time in school. As for undergrad, you don't have to go to school for a particular degree. You can get any degree really, so long as you get the Vet School pre-requisite classes (which vary a bit from school to school) done during that degree. My undergraduate degree is in Animal Science (Large Animals mostly).

Anyhow, PM me if you have questions I might could help with. I could also direct you to another forum for Pre-Vet students that was helpful to me.

[Patricia]

What a boring story

Far from! Read every word and loved it, especially re. people's reactions and the helpfulness of this site!