Vet Visit

[BWyant]

Alright, got the transport out of the way. Have my pillow case and my Rubbermaid ready. Next question, assuming Monty does have a respiratory infection, (which I'm beginning to doubt, thankfully) how much is it gonna' cost to get him fixed up? Just wondering what the damage might be.... Also, will the doc sex and weigh him if I ask? Or does that cost extra? Or doctor by doctor?

Thanks for all the help, folks.

[Skittles1101]

Your best bet is to call the vet and ask them. It varies.

[The Serpent Merchant]

It varies, if he has a RI then expect a charge for the visit, one for the culture, and one for the Meds. My local vet charges about $120 for all three.

[satomi325]

All vets price differently, but exotics are typically higher than a companion animal(cat/dog) vet.
The meds are pretty cheap. Its the office visit and tests that are expensive.

When I took a rescue in to treat for RI, the office visit was about $60. The antibiotics were $10. The bacteria culture to find out what kind of antibiotics to use was about $100-150+.

If you suspect RI, you need to get a culture done. If the vet prescribes antibiotics without a culture, request for one or get a new vet.

Sexing may be extra, it may not. Depends on the vet.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

[MMReptiles]

The common misconception in this hobby is that a vet visit is needed for an RI. This is sadly not the case at all, and is a waste of time and money for you, the keeper, and stressful for the animal.

The first thing to do is make sure the husbandry is 100% on par. Everything from heat/humidity to substrate and the like. Whenever I deal with an animal with an RI, I switch it to a hide, water dish, and paper towels. I change this often and disinfect the cage often, just to help get rid of the fact the illness will be in the enclosure, and I don't want the animal to get sick back to back type of deal.. That being said- when humans get sick, we get a fever, warming up helps fight off the yuckies attacking our body. The same is true with your snake, except the snake can't heat himself up to fight it off, you need to help him with that. Bump him up 2-3 degrees, it'll make him active, he may not even "like" it, but he NEEDS it to fight off the infection in his body. Go to your local drugstore, pick up some chlorahexadine, and put a few drops in his water dish. This is a simple antibiotic that in the long run, will help him a good bit.

Now- for the above poster saying "a vet giving meds without a culture" this is rather silly. There are 2 types of RI's found in reptiles. Bacterial and Viral. Obviously, the Antibiotics will treat the first, but not the second. HOWEVER, the antibiotics will help with the possibilities of secondary infections due to a weakened immune system. You must also realize- most of the RIs found in snakes are bacterial and very easy to fix. Should it be a viral RI- there is no cure, the RI will be there and will come back whenever husbandry and conditions fail to suit the proper needs of the animal.

Some vets- the culturing actually will cost more than the antibiotics. Skipping the culture and saving yourself the money and using it towards better husbandry/or whatever else is a far better option than pushing for a culture.

[satomi325]

Actually there are 3 types of RI. Bacterial, viral, and fungal. The above poster is correct that there is no treatment for viral RI. However there are many types of bacterial RI. Not all antibiotics can treat certain bacterial RI, which is why you need a culture to target what kind of bacteria the infection is and what kind of antibiotics you need to treat the targeted bacteria. For example, Baytril is often used as a default antibiotic. But the thing is, Baytril may be ineffective towards certain bacterial RIs. So yes. Get a culture done.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

[hypnotixdmp]

Imma have to go with sato!!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Annarose15]

Alright, got the transport out of the way. Have my pillow case and my Rubbermaid ready. Next question, assuming Monty does have a respiratory infection, (which I'm beginning to doubt, thankfully) how much is it gonna' cost to get him fixed up? Just wondering what the damage might be.... Also, will the doc sex and weigh him if I ask? Or does that cost extra? Or doctor by doctor?

Thanks for all the help, folks.

Everyone already addressed the RI questions, so I'll take this one. Your vet ABSOLUTELY should be willing and able to sex your BP, or else he/she does not have the experience you need in a vet. Weighing is part of any animal's standard exam. Any vet that charges you extra for either of these is ripping you off, and you again should not return to.

[MMReptiles]

Actually there are 3 types of RI. Bacterial, viral, and fungal. The above poster is correct that there is no treatment for viral RI. However there are many types of bacterial RI. Not all antibiotics can treat certain bacterial RI, which is why you need a culture to target what kind of bacteria the infection is and what kind of antibiotics you need to treat the targeted bacteria. For example, Baytril is often used as a default antibiotic. But the thing is, Baytril may be ineffective towards certain bacterial RIs. So yes. Get a culture done.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

Yes, I did forget to mention fungal, mainly because personally I've never dealt with it nor seen it myself in any animals, I suppose this would be treated differently.

Most RIs can be treated just fine with Baytril and good husbandry, and some simple treated water. If your BP can't recover from an RI, you are doing something wrong. I have treated everything from colubrids, to boids, to monitors for RI, and I have NEVER found a case of RI serious enough to need to waste money at a vet.

[BWyant]

Yes, I did forget to mention fungal, mainly because personally I've never dealt with it nor seen it myself in any animals, I suppose this would be treated differently.

Most RIs can be treated just fine with Baytril and good husbandry, and some simple treated water. If your BP can't recover from an RI, you are doing something wrong. I have treated everything from colubrids, to boids, to monitors for RI, and I have NEVER found a case of RI serious enough to need to waste money at a vet.

Can we make an exception for the guy that's owned a snake for all of three days now and take Monty to the vet if I wanna' waste a little bit of money?

I'm honestly hoping that the wheezing is actually just heavy breathing. I don't hear him doing it all the time, generally just sometimes when he's active or when I've had to pick him up. When I got him from my buddy, he didn't have a UTH, just overhead. It also seemed like his cage hadn't been cleaned in quite some time, some of the aspen bedding was stuck to the bottom of the tank, I'm assuming because of urine. I've fixed that up and husbandry is pretty good. Just went ahead and put him in a new tank since I was planning on getting a BP anyway, but I ended up getting him for free along with his cage. Humidity might be a little high, haven't quite got that exact yet, but warm side sits around 89-92 and the cool side is about 77-79.

Should I feed him tonight or wait until after the vet visit tomorrow or wait for a few days? I was told that he hasn't eaten in about 4 weeks. He doesn't appear too skinny to my untrained eyes though.