OMG.....my worst fear has come to pass

[Salamander Rising]

My normal female has an RI!

As if that's not bad enough, she is the one who's been 'dating' my males, including my beloved lap snake Pastel!

She has slobbers, bubbles coming out of her nose and I can feel a rattle in her lungs.

Out here in the wastelands, I don't even have an actual herp vet nearby, let alone an emergency one!

When she was in with the Pastel, I saw her yawn once.

Other than that she seemed fine but 2 days later, I noticed her laying with her head on her coils but thought nothing of it because most of my snakes lay like that from time to time.

I went to pull her out tonight after feeding everybody else just to pet her a bit and as I reached in, she yawned and I saw slimy stuff.

When I took her out, I saw the drool, nose bubbles and felt the rattle.

I couldn't get her mouth open to look inside and see anything else to describe.

She got upset by me trying to clear the bubbles from her nostrils and was 'gasping' or open-mouth breathing briefly.

She just came out of blue and what I thought was the normal pre-shed milky look was her back having dried snot-crud on it from her mouth.

She doesn't seem to have an rapid breathing rate or is struggling to breathe but the slime and the rattle!

I am well and truly screwed, aren't I?

Everybody's she's had contact with is going to catch it now, aren't they?

Is it contagious before it shows obvious signs?

She spent a whole night with my lap snake, playing slap and tickle/raised tail dancing.

All this on top of one of my dogs dying Wednesday morning.
I could just lay down and cry.



The irony is we had to take another dog to the vet for blood tests and I asked the vet if he could do snakes but he knows nothing about them.
I asked if he at least knew how/where to inject them and he said he could try.

I know to move her far away from the other snakes now but isn't it too late, already?

They've all been breathing the same air in the same room as her plus several of them have had direct contact.

[The Serpent Merchant]

This is so terrible, I'm feel so bad for you. I don't have any first hand experience with RI, so i can't say anything useful i'm afraid. I would just separate her and keep a very close eye on the rest of your collection.

[zeion97]

This is so terrible, I'm feel so bad for you. I don't have any first hand experience with RI, so i can't say anything useful i'm afraid. I would just separate her and keep a very close eye on the rest of your collection.

...You just knocked on wood..

To the OP.. I skimmed your post.. You NEED to separate her now. 1 RI is bad WITHOUT a good vet. MULTIPLE is just HELL...

You need to start looking for reptile vets if you don't already have one.. Sarcaficing a year of breeding is better then paying HUNDREDS to fight a RI... I'll let other post more BUT I will stand by FIND a VET.. ASAP

[RobNJ]

Just take it in as it comes...no need to get yourself all worked up. There's a chance that none of the other snakes will get ill. Of course the chance that some will is there, but don't jump to conclusions and get yourself all worried. If it's an RI, quarantine your snake and bump her temps and humidity. If it's not too late, she may recover on her own, though a trip to the Vet is still warranted. If you don't have a herp vet nearby, ask your vet if he/she can consult with a reptile vet. Medicines used for cats and dogs are also used for reptiles, so it's not an entirely huge jump. Here is a good link for administering Baytril injections...

http://www.rcreptiles.com/blog/index...l-python-respi

Also, look for a vet that you may be able to ship your snake to if a reptile vet is really that inaccessible in your area.

[Homegrownscales]

If you've cooled your temps for breeding I would also raise them up and stop immediately. Sucks but if she's the only female you're going to have to pull her anyways from the season.
Bump hotspot to 94.f. Watch for other symptoms on anyone else. Get her in for abos. Asap


Check out what's new on my website... www.Homegrownscales.com

[Salamander Rising]

If you've cooled your temps for breeding I would also raise them up and stop immediately. Sucks but if she's the only female you're going to have to pull her anyways from the season.
Bump hotspot to 94.f. Watch for other symptoms on anyone else. Get her in for abos. Asap


Check out what's new on my website... www.Homegrownscales.com

Right now I couldn't care less if the whole bunch never breeds!
I just want to them to stay alive!

I only tried her with males because of a local breeder suggesting that it wasn't too late in the season and his females were still locking like crazy.

I wish I hadn't listened to his constant nudging.
I'm in no hurry to make babies.
I intended to wait until next November and start out like other folks do...

I've never 'cooled' my snakes but hubby screwed up 'making the wiring neater' and crossed the heat cable over itself, 'shorting it out' for a day or so and this particular snake was living only with warm room temps for that period of time.

[since I 'got my stuff together' I've stopped obsessively checking everybody with the IR gun every 30 minutes like I used to, 24/7....didn't expect him to knacker up my heating system]

[RobNJ]

I've never 'cooled' my snakes but hubby screwed up 'making the wiring neater' and crossed the heat cable over itself, 'shorting it out' for a day or so and this particular snake was living only with warm room temps for that period of time.

That's not enough to cause an RI in of itself.

[Salamander Rising]

Just take it in as it comes...no need to get yourself all worked up. There's a chance that none of the other snakes will get ill. Of course the chance that some will is there, but don't jump to conclusions and get yourself all worried. If it's an RI, quarantine your snake and bump her temps and humidity. If it's not too late, she may recover on her own, though a trip to the Vet is still warranted. If you don't have a herp vet nearby, ask your vet if he/she can consult with a reptile vet. Medicines used for cats and dogs are also used for reptiles, so it's not an entirely huge jump. Here is a good link for administering Baytril injections...

http://www.rcreptiles.com/blog/index...l-python-respi

Also, look for a vet that you may be able to ship your snake to if a reptile vet is really that inaccessible in your area.

Oh lord I hope you're right about my other kids.
If something happens to my pastel, I'll come undone.
I adore him.

I will call my other 'fancier' vet and ask her if she knows snakes or knows somebody who does.

Odds are nobody will be able to see me until Monday, though.
We have one e-vet 45 miles away and they're totally not herp vets.

How high should her humidity be?
It's normally 50-55%.
[she's in a tub with UTh heating on a thermostat with a medium crock of water and a large hide she barely fits in]

[RobNJ]

I'd try to keep humidity around 70-75%.

[Salamander Rising]

That's not enough to cause an RI in of itself.

She's never been a particularly "sturdy" snake like my other girls.

I got her from a well known breeder but she was in a lot of 6 breeders he was selling off.

I thought she was too thin to breed but he said no.

She's never been a piggy eater like the other girls and has not been that impressive about gaining weight.

I don't know how to describe it....she was just wasn't ever as 'robust' as the other girls are.

Could she have been 'carrying' this since early December?

Will it help at all that my other snakes are robust and thriving?

[as in having stronger immune systems, maybe?]

Now I'm scared that my other females have stopped pounding rats because they're getting sick.....