TAZICEF? Anyone have any bad experiences with this antibiotic?

[predatorkeeper87]

First, put the snake in the refrigerator. I would have the snake necropsied ASAP to find out whether it had a bacterial RI that was resistant to the antibiotic prescribed or if it had a viral one.

Second, until you have that answer lock down your collection - nothing in or out.

Tazicef / ceftazidime (aka Fortaz) is one of the better broad-spectrum antibiotics for RI's. It does have a short shelf life and has to be kept frozen once reconstituted so a lot of vets don't stock it.

Since this snake was a rescue it could have been harboring the RI for a long time before you got it and took it to the vet, so even if the correct antibiotic were prescribed it may have been too late for the snake.

Snakes been preserved and a necropsy will be scheduled. My collection is on lockdown as we speak.

I was told that about the antibiotic with regards to freezing.

The thought of him maybe having had the infection for a long time was on my mind...but when I inspected him it didn't look far advanced at all...even the vet seemed to think we caught it fairly quickly. That leads to me to wonder if this was some type of quick acting virus rather than bacteria. I'll see if the necropsy shows anything.