So, is there an official verdict on RI prevention??

[Ash]

I've been on this forum for a while, and the information regarding respiratory infections is pretty inconsistent.

For those of you with large collections, what do you do to prevent them?

What do you do about it when an animal comes down with one?

Is misting bad or good?

Is soaking in warm water helpful or harmful?

Any input is appreciated!

[dr del]

Hi,

I think the info will always be inconsistant because there is no one cause of RI's.

It seems to be a member of the animals normal body bacteria/fungus/virus load becomes a problem when the animal has a suppressed immune system for some reason.

Since there are quite a few things that can cause immunosuppression ( is that even a word? ) like stress, low temps, injury, overbreeding, other health problems I think all you can do is try your best to keep the animals in optimal health and conditions and hope.

Then there are the infections that come in from other locations and get transferred by poor quarantine or simple bad luck.


dr del

[RobNJ]

Hi,

I think all you can do is try your best to keep the animals in optimal health and conditions and hope.

x2...

Proper temps and humidity, clean environments(not only inside enclosures, but outside as well), keeping stress inducing activity to a minimum, quarantine, etc...

[kitedemon]

Super clean and perfect husbandry. 90% of all sickness in reptiles can be traced to husbandry causes. There are exceptions but if you count quarantine as husbandry it reduces again.

Most bacteria do not do well in dry environments most fungus the same can be said virus don't care at all. High humidity and poor ventilation stagnate air are know to increase the bacterial fungi that can cause RI enough ventilation is important (and the thorny part how much is too little??) I use the one change an hour rule (very very low by human standards) The test I use is dry substrate and no animal measure the RH and then remove the water bowl the RH in one hour should be close to the rooms RH. If it is still quite high and the enclosure has no source of humidity I'd add more ventilation. A poor shed here and there is better than a case of RI.

RI cases need to be cultured by a vet and treated with antibiotics that have been proven by the culture to kill that particular strain. With the number of bacteria (5 followed by 30 zeros) a culture is very important guessing and using a broad spectrum may not effective and sadly after the antibiotics have been given the results of any culture are tainted. Cultures need to be done before any drugs are given.

I would not mist for ri I would allow the enclosure to dry out some. not lots just some.

I have no idea about soaking but stress is never good and I would be concerned that adding stress to be worse than any benefit may or may not be gained by soaking. Some snakes tolerate water better than others it depends on the snake. I would likely avoid it myself. Especially if we speak of balls. Other snakes may need to soak I can only really speak about royals.

[Shadera]

If you're using a nephrotoxic injectable to treat the RI, soaks can help. Most vets will recommend it at the time they set you up with your meds.

Other than that, pretty much all that has been said above, I'd agree with. Just do the best you can, and deal with it quickly if it happens. I've never had one pop up in my collection, but have unfortunately been sent snakes that were drooling straight out of the shipping bag. /headdesk

[Skiploder]

I've been on this forum for a while, and the information regarding respiratory infections is pretty inconsistent.

(1) For those of you with large collections, what do you do to prevent them?

(2) What do you do about it when an animal comes down with one?

(3) Is misting bad or good?

(4) Is soaking in warm water helpful or harmful?

Any input is appreciated!

(1) Quarantine all new arrivals - properly. Make sure all your husbandry parameters are correct.

(2) Go to a real herp vet. Pick out a vet before you need one.

(3) Avoid misting. Misting coupled with improper airflow creates mold and bacteria proliferation. It is easier to create a humid micro rather than a macro environment. Use a humid hide rather than turning the whole enclosure into a petri dish.

(4) Harmful. Anything that causes stress can adversely affect the immune system. If dehydration is an issue, there are other ways of dealing with it.

The most common cause of RIs is the suppression of the immune system due to stress resulting in normally present bacteria adversely affecting the animal. Unnecessarily mucking with your snake, bathing with it, strutting about with it, keeping it improperly are all stressors.

Many vets will not bother to culture an RI, which results in an inappropriate antibiotic being prescribed which results in more stress and ineffective treatment. You need to demand that a vet properly culture the infection to determine first whether it is indeed bacterial and second what antibiotics it is susceptible to.

[captainjack0000]

bathing with it

Dare I ask?

[WingedWolfPsion]

I haven't had an RI pop up in over 2 years now, and the incidence decreased dramatically since I stopped cooling for the breeding season. Ball pythons don't do well with cooling.

Strict quarantine will keep bad bugs out. I quarantine for a full year, now.

[Emilio]

I have to agree with Doc to many variables to pin down a specific method as to avoid RI's all together what works for me might not work for you.

I'm one of those guys who's collection is purely run on ambient temps. My winter temps are always 78-81, my spring temps go to 79.5-83 and my summer temps 81-85.

This has given me ZERO issues..

So in my view temp's and stress level like other's have posted are the key. I never handle my animals for more then 20 minutes at a time and there set up's always stay the same.

While I know slugs are not part of the OP's question, I believe slugs to be an indicator of husbandry problems.

115 Viable egg's to this point 5 slugs.

[Ash]

Considering how extremely variable conditions can be for ball pythons in the wild, do any of you think that illness in captivity might be somewhat related to the sterility they live in during infancy?

I've heard for a while that children who are allowed to get dirty as babies tend to have stronger immune systems as adults and are less likely to develop allergies/asthma.

Do you think it might be possible that keeping their enclosures SUPER STERILE might be doing some harm?