BP with a RI has blood coming from his mouth?

[airkempo]

Hi everyone,

Just as of Friday I became a BP owner. As of Saturday afternoon I noticed my BP has a respiratory infection so I've been hectically on these forums trying to figure out what to do prior than going to a vet.

Just as a note, I am avoiding the vet because the pet store is willing to work with me on this and has offered to exchange the little guy out for a new one, even though that is a last resort (before the vet) for me.

BP is three feet long, male.

On Monday and Tuesday I did the 5min, check, 5min hot/boiling water + vicks + eucalyptus oil concoction once a day for those two days. I stopped because I found out that the eucalyptus is actually harmful to snakes (I feel bad for that).

I ordered the f10 vet disinfectant and the REPTIFOGGER that will be coming in tonight and I will run that once a day for the 7-10 days, for 20mins, as instructed on another thread on here.

The pet store suggested to increase the heat and humidity within his enclosure. So since Monday I've been running his heat pad 24/7 at 89 and a 100watt bulb for just during daylight. At night time, I'll increase his heating pad to 92/93.

Ultimately, which scares me the most, why is my BP bleeding from his mouth? I can tell it is mixed in with his saliva/drool by seeing it on the side of his face, and I found dried blood on the white paper towel substrate.

My guess is that it is either a terrible RI or the eucalyptus oil caused a lot of irritation to him :/

Any advise is great.

Thanks.

[MD_Pythons]

Why would you want another bp from them when they sold you one with an RI?

[Albert Clark]

Well, more than likely the blood in the saliva means that its a advanced RI at the least and might be pneumonia. The animal is also potentially infectious to any other animals in your care. I would ask for a refund too bc all the animals (reptiles) in the store are suspected to be infectious. Cut your losses and buy from a reputable breeder of healthy ball pythons right here on the forum. You honestly haven't had the animal for 48 hrs and should still be under a guarantee from the store. The onus is on them to take the animal for exotic vet intervention, not you. Those fogger and eucalyptus remedies are just symptomatic relief measures that don't treat the etiology of the disease.

[Kcl]

Best case scenario I can think of for blood from the mouth (when it's not the rodent's blood from a meal) is an open sore or similar. Worst case is probably from the lungs. Unidentified blood from the mouth is emergency vet material. In mammals or if you had the expertise to do so for snakes, the mouth could be opened to look for wounds and depending on the scenario may not need an emergency vet (minor scratches - probably can wait to heal, sores - urgency may depend on severity). Even just based on the RI symptoms mentioned, the snake needs vet care. The blood? The snake needs vet care urgently. Now whether you want to sink money into that or return the snake to the responsible party (the pet store) is a different question.

[Ba11er]

Sounds like your trying to do right by this animal but you don't have the knowledge that a doctor has, forums and Facebook can give misleading information.

The eucalyptus accident is one of ignorance but that's what happens when you try to self treat without experience. Go to the doctor, drool and blood on their own are bad signs but combined is very serious !

Your doing good but professional help is going to get this snake what,it needs . Wish you both the best. I would also stay away from the pet store that sold you a sick snake, RI's can be transferable.

[SDA]

Please don't self diagnose and treat a RI. You may get lucky and relieve some symptoms but you have no idea the cause of the RI. F10 (various designations of the product are actually different things) is not an antibiotic fit for animal ingestion. I know that there are those videos of DIY RI cures but for the love of your snake, if you are going to keep it, find a decent exotic vet that can do a culture and find out exactly what the RI is and evaluate this snake for other complications.

The only way to properly treat this is with a vet's aid. Surrender this pet if you do not want to take the responsibility but for your sanity do not get another pet from that pet store.

Good luck and I hope you can get this under control.

[OneEyedFox]

You really need to take the snake to the vet. Don't trust someone who sold you a sick snake. For future reference, don't ever use oil on your snake. Please take that snake to a vet to get the proper medicine and get expert help. I typically don't recommend taking snakes to vets unless it's something serious like this. Please, please, please take your animal to the vet.


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[airkempo]

Why would you want another bp from them when they sold you one with an RI?

Valid point. But the pet store has been extremely caring and guiding me to what (they think) I should do.

I don't think it was intentional on their part.

[airkempo]

Please don't self diagnose and treat a RI. You may get lucky and relieve some symptoms but you have no idea the cause of the RI. F10 (various designations of the product are actually different things) is not an antibiotic fit for animal ingestion. I know that there are those videos of DIY RI cures but for the love of your snake, if you are going to keep it, find a decent exotic vet that can do a culture and find out exactly what the RI is and evaluate this snake for other complications.

The only way to properly treat this is with a vet's aid. Surrender this pet if you do not want to take the responsibility but for your sanity do not get another pet from that pet store.

Good luck and I hope you can get this under control.

I appreciate the advice. It seems the best option here is to take him back to where I got him from. The store is a very reputable local place here in Austin so I believe they will do the right thing and treat him.

Just this being my first snake, buying all the new things, a vet visit/tests/antis arent in my budget right now.

[OneEyedFox]

I appreciate the advice. It seems the best option here is to take him back to where I got him from. The store is a very reputable local place here in Austin so I believe they will do the right thing and treat him.

Just this being my first snake, buying all the new things, a vet visit/tests/antis arent in my budget right now.

If they are a reputable place, then what you need to do is tell them you are going to take the snake to a vet and ask that they pay for the bill. If someone sells you a sick animal, they should at least have the decency to pay for the vet bills. I wouldn't even recommend taking back and putting it back into their care, because if the RI is so bad that there is blood in it's mouth, and they haven't told you to take the animal to the vet, then they are really neglecting the illness, and don't have the animal's best interest in mind. Many pet stores are like this, and it is best for you to take the animal to the vet, they should pay for the bill since the animal got sick in their care. I wish you the best of luck, please keep us posted.


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