I greatly commend your concern and willingness to help the boa in this situation, and can tell that you are truly trying to help this person and I applaud you for that. However, I am concerned about the misuse and overuse of antibiotic treatment in reptiles. Antibiotics should never be used indiscriminately, and definitely not without a proper diagnoses and known weight of the animal for proper dosing.

I back calculated the dose of ampicillin that you had recommended using the dilution you stated. The accepted dosage for ampicillin in snakes is 75 to 100 mg/kg. Based on the dilution you stated, this would only be approximately 5% of the recommended dosage. Under dosing and overuse of antibiotics causes numerous problems, the most serious of which is the production of resistant bacteria strains. Baytril usage is a classic example of this. Resistant strains of some bacteria species are already showing up due to the widespread misuse of this antibiotic by uninformed private reptile enthusiasts. This is why it is highly recommended that any keeper see a qualified vet when attempting any antibiotic treatment on their animals.

Please don’t see the discussion in this thread as criticism, but as dissemination of information so people can make an informed decision. Thanks,

Kelly

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