I have 2 snakes that may have RIs, so they are going to the vet today. What is worse is that I believe it was caused by the flexwatt not heating properly, so I'm concerned the other 7 in the same rack may get sick as well. Ugh!!

Anyway, I want to be as knowledgeable as possible when I arrive at the vet, because I'm not sure how knowledgeable he is about reptiles. He is an "exotics" vet. I would normally go to Dr. Stahl, since I'm lucky enough to live near him, but with possibly needing to treat 9 snakes, I needed someone who would work with me on the price, and Dr. Stahl's office seemed unwilling (did not talk to the Dr. himself).

I know baytril is most commonly prescribed, and I also know I should get a culture done to be sure what bacteria we are dealing with. I have also found a few places that recommend a a dose of 10 mg/kg, which when using the 2.27% injectable, comes out to about .44cc/1000g (Ralph Davis recommends .4cc/1000g).

So on to the questions:

1) - Is it necessary to culture each snake? Or can I reasonably assume they are all sick with the same thing and just culture one?

2) - My next question is how often does the dose needs to be given, and for how long? Like every other day for 10 doses, for a total of 20 days? I've found conflicting information on this.

Hope all that makes sense... I'm really stressed about this right now.