Your experience with RI's relapsing

[LLLReptile]

I've never had one of my own snakes come down with one, but I have helped numerous customers fix issues in their animals.

Out of dozens of animals with issues, the majority were due to improper husbandry of some kind. Fixing the husbandry fixed the RI in most cases, and for the small percentage that fixing the husbandry didn't fix it, a trip to the vet did. In the last 5 years, I've not heard of one of these kinds of customers coming back with a repeat RI that could not also be blamed on a return to the conditions that led to the initial RI in the first place.

However, there have been one or two where the animal(s) seemed to get sick for no particular reason, and I have read on a couple of forums of people with animals that contracted a viral type of RI. One such forum poster (this was years ago, so forgive me, the details are fuzzy) received a sick animal that ended up wiping out most of her collection. I remember that one story in particular because it was so sad, especially how quickly the snakes started passing away once the illness spread. I don't remember much beyond that, unfortunately, because again this was several years ago. I've never dealt with this in person, though, I just offer that as an "I read this once" anecdote.

So, if the RI's your snakes have were due initially to husbandry issues that have since been corrected, you're probably safe in assuming that as long as you keep up on husbandry, the RIs won't return.

-Jen