Adult ball python with a RI

[Slim]

Any thoughts on this treatment?

I personally would have never done that unless I was trained in proper dosage and dosing. I also would not have given an oral antibiotic to a reptile, not knowing how it could affect liver and kidney function. Baytril, with is a very common antibiotic used to treat certain forms of RI, is injected. And last but certainly not least, I would never pull something out of my medicine cabinet and given it to my snake without better guidance than something I researched on the internet.

Those are my thoughts, and remember, you asked for them.

Now, does it seem like you may have gotten very lucky? Quite probably so, but that does not mean it wasn't very risky, and we have no idea of what the long term effects of oral dosing might be.

Trust me, I understand being broke FAR better than most, but I also understand about programs like CareCredit and Veterinary Assistance Loans. Information on which, can be researched on the internet...

[ElizabethAkin]

I know. It wasn't exactly my first choice either.

Honestly the only reason I decided to try it in the first place was because I found comments on several different Youtube videos, etc. of people successfully using Amoxicillin and Cefradine to treat their snakes. Not to say that Clindamycin is the same thing, because obviously it's a different antibiotic. And I would never have used it had it not been listed on the website of a serpentologist. As for dosage, that was my major concern as well. I don't want to poison my snake with antibiotics. The Clindamycin capsules are 300mg each. The recommended dosage for snakes is 5mg. That gives about 60 doses per capsule. Obviously all I could do is eyeball it, but I erred on the side of caution and used very, very little of the powder.

I know trusting the internet is risky. But I was just at a loss as to what to do. Having absolutely no cash in hand, I figured a vet would refuse treatment without some kind of immediate payment. :/ I had a zoologist friend recommend some kind of sheep antibiotic. That seemed even more far-fetched to me...

I'm not one to get mad, everything you said is true. I know that. I'm not a vet, and under normal circumstances I wouldn't act like one.

My other question is this: I've read mixed things about RIs in ball pythons; raise the humidity or lower it? Half of the threads I read say to raise it, the other half say to lower it. His humidity has been lowered and his temperatures raised since I realized he was sick. However I also read that RIs can be caused by humidity levels that are too high or too low. So what do I do? Lower, normal or high humidity?

[ElizabethAkin]

That was what I thought too. But I also read that a warm, moist environment would make it worse, especially if it's bacterial...
I did notice mucous in his mouth this morning after I steamed him though, as if he had expelled some. I used the tip of the syringe to gently "wipe" it out. So maybe an increased humidity would be better.