RI: Clean out her nose?

[Skiploder]

Okay, I'm obviously going about this the hard way... bear with me here. :/

I had just recently cleaned her tank, it was dry and clean. Low humidity and cold temperature drops at night are what I believe were the causes of her getting sick, our windows in our bedroom were left open for a few nights and it got pretty chilly. She's no longer in that room anymore, temperatures are now above 80 always and the humidity is up now too.

Her symptoms were the click and wheeze breathing with the throat bulge and her nostrils looked plugged up as well. No mucus was bubbling or anything out of her mouth, the vet said she was still in the pretty early stages of an infection.

He had offered to do cultures, but he said he was confident that based off of the conditions I just described above, he said he'd feel comfortable prescribing the injections we are now giving her.. I guess that's a shame on me with not getting him to do the blood work? I'll be sure to not make that mistake again.. this was my first vet trip with a snake and the vet has over 35 years of reptile experience, so newbie mistake was to go off of his confidence...

Her nose has been clearing up, one nostril looks clean now. She goes from raising her head to laying it down, but she is still breathing quite heavy.

Hi.

RIs can happen for a number of reasons and they are not always bacterial in nature. Even if they end up being bacterial, overuse and misuse of certain antibiotics has rendered many of them ineffectual.

It's not that blood work is required, it's more that the vet needs to culture any present mucous in order to determined (a) if the infection is bacterial and (b) what antibiotics it is susceptible to.

I've seen good reptile vets and bad reptile vets. I've seen reptile vets that are great with tortoises and awful with snakes. However, the two reptile vets I trust most would not prescribe an antibiotic until a culture was done. They may send me home with one until the culture has been processed, but they would be careful to select one that was broad spectrum and not widely used in order to insure effectiveness.

Now the euc oil/vicks thing is altogether another story. A forum member PM'd me the link to a couple of threads where this has been recommended. Several of the people who tried it did not even have confirmed RIs - clicking and wheezing noises by themselves in snakes can be normal in the absence of other symptoms.

Both vicks and euc oil can be respiratory irritants if dosed incorrectly. In a hobby where people routinely crap their pants over the very mention of pine being used as substrate, I am amazed that this practice would find any footing in the community.

Here's the deal - the euc/vicks treatment relies on steam as a delivery vehicle. Nebulized water and steam are excellent on their own as aids in relieving congestion. So the addition of a potential irritant seems silly.

As to the addition of F10sc to a nebulizer - it has actually gained traction in real veterinary circles. F10 is antibacterial, anti-fungal and a virucide. The dilution instruction in a proper nebulizer limit it to exposure levels routinely seen during cage maintenance. It was recommended to me by two vets and I have used it to great effect.

However, I apply if in situ - without removing the animal to a separate enclosure...which is why I have even more issues with the vics/euc oil treatment.

An essential aspect to treating illness in reptiles is to minimize stress. Any remedy that involves repeatedly removing the animal, handling the animal or stressing the animal is a no no (with the exception of administering required and prescribed medicine).

Bottom line:

You are at a point where to may not see improvement for a couple more treatments with the antibiotic anyway. If the animal is not showing any further improvement over the next 5 to 7 days, ask the vet for a culture.

Also, my suggestion would be to cease all applications of respiratory irritants. If you want to nebulize something, nebulize distilled water directly into the enclosure or hide for 20 min a day. The nebulized water itself may aid in loosening mucous or congestion.

If you'd like to try the F10, well I have a thread on here somewhere where I discussed how I use it and I believe Robert (Pit on the Prowl) has also outlined his success in utilizing it.