HELP! pink belly on my new bp

[Skiploder]

Okay, then my other BP must be in the blue phase now.. her belly is barely pink but her eyes are very milky and her color is extremely dull.

When I took the older one to the vet, she listened for respiratory issues and examined him.. if there's another test for respiratory infection, I'm unaware of it.. so let me know if that is something that could be done as well.. she have him one dose of antibiotic on Monday and told me to come back in within 72 hours for a second dose.. she said she thought he had the beginning of a URI. I called this morning and added his pink belly to be examined during the visit today too.

As has already been stated, snakes make some raspy noises.

Some are natural noises they make when they are stressed - some come with being in shed. Since the noise coincides with your snake's imminent shed, there is a good chance that (in the absence of any other symptoms) there is nothing wrong with your snake.

What a QUALIFIED reptile vet does is observe the animal and look for signs like mucous, odd head positions, a recent history of food refusals, etc. to confirm the presence of a URI. Unless the odd breathing sounds are constant, they likely may mean nothing.

Once additional symptoms are observed, the vet then takes a bacterial culture - either from a tracheal wash or a swab. This is so that they can pinpoint the bacteria involved and what is susceptible to. Without it, the vet is guessing at the efficacy of the antibiotic. In the world of increasing antibiotic resistance, it is imperative to treat bacterial infections correctly - and on the first try.

Secondly, not all RIs are bacterial in nature. Some may be secondary opportunistic infections to another underlying disease.

So, again - if your vet heard a constant breathing irregularity and did not take a culture - then she did not do her job. On the same token, if your vet heard only an occasional crackle or wheeze during direct examination with no other symptoms and did not take a culture and then sent you home with an antibiotic regimen, well, then I'd find another vet.