RI, vet issues- need opinions!

[HerpKeeperVA]

First I hope this is in the right section.

I'm going to be as detailed as possible here, so sorry if this is long. My smallest BP (140 g) has been in a 20 gallon tank in my bedroom for quarantine purposes. Temps are around 92 hot and 80-81 cool, humidity 60%, with the heat source being an UTH with a rheostat for regulation, two hides, aspen bedding, all that stuff.. She has been doing well with her setup and has yet to refuse a meal, so all has been well.

I typically check my animals after breakfast to make sure they don't need water or a cage cleaning. Everything was great then. I spent most of the day at my parents' house, got home late and went to bed. The next morning I discovered that sometime in that 24 hours the UTH had bit the dust and there was no heat to her enclosure so it got down into the upper 60s overnight. I replaced the UTH and pulled her out to inspect her and that's when I noticed her breathing with her mouth open There was a little mucus in her mouth and I could hear her gurgle when she breathed, so I'm assuming she was cold for quite a while. I upped the temps and humidity a bit and started calling vets, which was pretty hit and miss. They either didn't treat reptiles, or the vet that did wasn't in the office. I finally found one that could see her but not until the next day so I made an appointment.

I checked her this morning and she seems much better. No open mouth breathing, no visible mucus, she was more active and the only signs of the RI was a light popping sound when she exhaled, which I could only hear when she had her nose up to my ear. I took her to her appointment, which was a total waste of time and money. Because there was no visible mucus in her mouth, the vet said she appeared healthy and did not want to do a culture until after the weekend and only if she appeared sick because "they usually get over RIs on their own and she winds up stressing the snake with a culture over nothing." She also does not give them antibiotics without a culture. I also learned that ball pythons get no bigger than 3ft, only bite if fed live food, and should really only eat prekilled because they aren't aggressive enough to take down live prey and almost always get bitten. (she was telling all of this to her assistant who'd never seen a BP up close before). She also referred to my hatchling as a "teenager" and about half grown. So I wound up leaving with my "healthy" snake, no meds and an urge to slam my head into a wall.

Now comes the dilemma. If this were your snake would you take her back on Monday and request a culture, or would you find an entirely new vet and start over from square one? Since this woman does not own or see BPs daily, I don't expect her to know everything about them, but would you still trust her to do the culture properly and send you home with the right medication? I'm just so aggravated right now over this, so any insight would be appreciated.

[West Coast Jungle]

Find another vet. I had an uneducated vet overdose a snake with meds because he didnt know what he was doing. I have also seen many vets for my different reptiles and it is very depressing to pay $100 for a vist when they dont know what they are taliking about. had a vet once tell me bearded dragons dont brumate and wanted to run all kinds of tests, i wanted to just walk out!

Keep looking, they are not always easy to find unfortunately.

[Twisted Reptiles]

I think you already know the answer. I wouldn't go back, not a chance.

[Jamie-n-Heith]

Wow and she actually thought she was qualified to treat an animal she obviously knows nothing about, I would be really upset, seems like they wanted the money more than actually cared about the welfare of the animal. Find another vet and maybe print some info on BP's so that "vet"can educate herself and her tech.

[mxrider42]

I agree that you need to find another vet, but I also have to agree with the vet. Give the snake a few days to see how things progress. I have had more than my share of sick snakes (None of it my fault). A snake will sometimes get over RI on its own without meds. If he is still eating on his own, give him some time. But definitely find another vet.
Trey

[KGAnMA]

Are you in Virginia? Northern Va to be exact. Dr. Stahl practices out of Fairfax and specializes in reptiles and birds. I've taken my snakes to him for years and highly recommend him and his associate Dr. Crum