How soon should a RI go away while giving antibiotics?

[stargazed85]

Well the doc gave me 10 shots all together. After today she will have 3 shots left. She gets them every 3 days. She still seems to be wheezing and drooling. Also last night she sneezed (sounded like a sneeze) and opened her mouth and mucous shot out. Is that a good sign that she's getting the mucous up or is it bad? Should she be getting better by now? Or does it sound like I should take her back to the vet? Any advice would be great! I just thought that I'd have a healthier snake by now

[kc261]

I do not know about giving antibiotics to snakes specifically, because so far I've been lucky enough to not need that, and I'm certainly not a vet...however from what I know about antibiotics in general, it is not a good sign that you are more than 1/2 way through the medicine and your snake is still showing lots of signs of illness. Is there any improvement at all? I would recommend you call your vet and give him an update.

Also, do you know if the vet did a culture? This would reveal exactly what nasties your snake is infected with, and which antibiotics are most effective against it. If your snake happens to be infected with a strain of bacteria that is resistant to the antibiotic that was prescribed, then there is no surprise that you aren't seeing lots of improvement. I would ask the vet to do a culture if they have not already.

[Muze]

If she's had 7 shots already, she should be doing better by now. What are your temps & humidity at? She needs to be kept warm right now. What antibiotic did the vet prescribe?

[stargazed85]

I do not know about giving antibiotics to snakes specifically, because so far I've been lucky enough to not need that, and I'm certainly not a vet...however from what I know about antibiotics in general, it is not a good sign that you are more than 1/2 way through the medicine and your snake is still showing lots of signs of illness. Is there any improvement at all? I would recommend you call your vet and give him an update.

Also, do you know if the vet did a culture? This would reveal exactly what nasties your snake is infected with, and which antibiotics are most effective against it. If your snake happens to be infected with a strain of bacteria that is resistant to the antibiotic that was prescribed, then there is no surprise that you aren't seeing lots of improvement. I would ask the vet to do a culture if they have not already.

She has improved some. I haven't noticed her holding her mouth open at all anymore and her drooling has been less. But I still feel I have a sick snake on my hands. I don't believe she did a culture. But she did mention something like flushing out her lungs??? Something along that line. I will be sure to call her and let her know this. Thanks for the help!

[stargazed85]

If she's had 7 shots already, she should be doing better by now. What are your temps & humidity at? She needs to be kept warm right now. What antibiotic did the vet prescribe?

The hot side has been at a steady 90-95. The cool side around 79-82. She just shed about 2 days ago so her humidity was around 80. She also hasn't ate at all since she has had the RI (about a month). Should I still offer her food? When I offered her food right before she got sick she kept refusing.

[TheOtherLeadingBrand]

She should definitely be improving now... I would agree with the above advice. Ours were always visably better after one injection had a few days to work. We would then finish the course of antibiotics to be safe.

[stargazed85]

She should definitely be improving now... I would agree with the above advice. Ours were always visably better after one injection had a few days to work. We would then finish the course of antibiotics to be safe.

Wow that soon huh.. Well I guess I'm headed back to the vet

[stargazed85]

I forgot to add the name of the antibiotic. It is called Ceftazadime. That's what it says on the bottle.

[island_doc]

Did you go back to your vet? Is your snake still showing signs? The ceftazadime is a broad spectrum antibiotic that is usually effective against lots of different bacteria. If your snake is still having problems then it is time to culture. Your vet mentioned "flushing the lungs out" was this done? What this means is a small amount of sterile fluid is put down the trachea into the lungs and then aspirated back. The fluid that is aspirated back is used to culture the bacteria that are actually in the deeper airways instead of just swabbing the part of the trachea that is easily accessed. I addition to antibiotics and perfect husbandry one thing that helps in treating respiratory infections is using a nebulizer. This will help keep all the respiratory secretions moist and allow them to be expelled instead of drying out.