Quote Originally Posted by bearhart
One thing that they pointed out was that there was not conclusive evidence that oral Baytril does not work, and that they had positive experiences with it.
Oral Baytril is an "old school" method of treating RI's in ball pythons. It's a remedy that had worked for years in other larger bodied snakes (boas, burms, retics, etc) but due to the slower metabolisms of ball pythons we know today that it is largely ineffective in their treatment of RI's in p. regius. It will most likely do enough to make the symptoms go away, but will not eliminate the bacteria enough to prevent a potential relapse in the cooler winter months.

Many vets that do not stay current with literature documenting advances in reptile medicine are not familiar with how ball pythons are most effectively treated today ... Bayer, who holds that patent on Baytril, even recommends sub cutaneous injections specifically for treating respiratory infections in ball pythons.

The reality is that most of the cutting edge vets working with ball pythons (Scott Stahl, Charles Innus, Elliot Jacobson) are moving away from Baytil all togther in favor of third generation anti-pseudomonal cephalosporins or combinations of enroflaxin (or an aminoglycoside) and a cephalosporin.

Quote Originally Posted by bearhart
They also pointed out that there are some significant side effects to injections which include risk of necrosis in the muscle tissue as well as increased pain for the animal (which is certiainly true).
The side effects from Baytril injections are exclusively related to the 100mg concentration used for large bodied boids. The 22.7mg concentration that ball pythons should be prescribed does not "burn" the skin. This is often a common misunderstanding about Baytril injections. I've been treating ball pythons specifically with Baytril for well over a decade now and have never seen a single "burn" when using the correct concentration of the drug.

Hope this helps.

-adam