Worst news ever :-(

[boasandballs]

Correction: I misunderstood her, there were 1.5 ml in the whole bottle. The prescribed dose was 0.03 cc's once ever 72 hours for 2 weeks. Sorry! I knew that sounded a bit funky.

Doses should have been for 3 weeks. Injections should have been about 1/3 the way down the animal (from the head) and in the side under the skin. Otherwise it will be flushed out of the body.

[Big Gunns]

Not to bring up an old thread, but let BG ask everyone this. If the snake was a human that was placed in the water and started "convulsing"(would be thrashing in a human) in the water. Then when you brought the human out of the water they started spitting up their guts....what would you think happened? This snake probably got water in it's lungs and basically drowned. It may not have happened right away, but that's what BG believes happened.

For anyone that has accidentally got liquid in a snakes lungs instead of it's stomach will tell you. They will start "convulsing" all around and try to expel it from their lungs. If they can't...they'll die within a few hours.

Small snakes are kinda dumb(Spiders are the dumbest) when it's comes to being soaked. Be careful everyone.

BG has said it before...and he'll say it again. Make sure you find a qualified Vet when your snake is sick. Although this Vet wasn't the worst, there were mistakes made. If you'd like to know, BG doesn't really like the idea of soaking a sick baby ball. Maybe an adult boa for a leeetle while, but not a baby ball.

If the snake is dehydrated like Wing said....maybe...but not otherwise.


Sorry to bring this back up Justin. It just needed a leeetle more of BG's expertise.

[ed4281]

There is new research that shows that injection site is not as important as we used to believe, most young vets don’t even worry about the whole bottom third issue, which older vets always warn about.

Soaking is the fastest way to hydrate a dehydrated snake, snakes do not have a large subcutaneous layer like dogs and cats do so SQ fluids are not effective, and veins are very hard to hit let alone place a catheter in so I.V's are virtually impossible for a general vet to do on a snake that size. There are some zoo vets and exotic specialist that can do it however they are very expensive and hard to find.

Amikacin can cause renal failure but it is also a great drug that most reptile RI's are susceptible to, that dose however was correct and should not have caused any further problems unless the renal function was compromised in the first place.

I am very sorry for your loss however I don’t believe the vet is at fault in anyway. It just sucks that it was your friend’s snake that didn’t pull through with a decent treatment plan. If you would like to research anything I said feel free to look up the info on www.vin.com if you have vet or a tech that can get you access.

[CoolioTiffany]

When I had a vet visit for an RI in my Kingsnake, he had told me to soak the snake every other day to help with the RI. He also did say warm bath, not hot water. So I don't think soaking could have been bad for the snake, but the snake could have gotten some water in the lungs.

Though, since the snake was showing signs 1-2 weeks before the vet visit, it could have quickly turned into pneumonia during that time since reptiles go downhill quickly from being sick. The mucus in the lungs could have made the snake try to spit everything up but it couldn't so the snake drowned in the mucus in the lungs.

Just my thought on it, but I doubt it was pneumonia that could've killed the snake.

[Dave Green]

I think it depends on what "a soak" means. There is a big difference between a 1/2 inch of water that the snake sits in or enough that the snake needs to "swim"...

[Big Gunns]

I think it depends on what "a soak" means. There is a big difference between a 1/2 inch of water that the snake sits in or enough that the snake needs to "swim"...

BG meant to put this in his post. How deep was the water it was soaking in?

[kellysballs]

Doses should have been for 3 weeks. Injections should have been about 1/3 the way down the animal (from the head) and in the side under the skin. Otherwise it will be flushed out of the body.

This is not entirely true. Some medications need to be injected IM (intermuscularly) or IC (inside the actual body cavity)

Good explanation Ed!

[boasandballs]

This is not entirely true. Some medications need to be injected IM (intermuscularly) or IC (inside the actual body cavity)

Good explanation Ed!

I'm Lynn
Thanks anyways.

[Pinoy Pythons]

Im really sorry for your friend's lost. But after reading all of the details, Im inclining to what BG had explained. The administration of the drug may be an issue, but it wont easily affect or rather even kill the snake that fast. Plus the fact that spiders do have some equilibrium issues sometimes, it can be a contributing factor to a snake soaking in water, w/ difficulties in breathing.