Reptile & Amphibian Forums

my Burmese is sick. hes coughing up lots of Flem and weezing. the closest herp vet is 100 mi away and very pricey is there anything i can do to help him can i give him benadryl or any type of human meds? have you had similar experiences if so what did you do and what was the outcome thank bc

I'd say call the herp vet and describe what's going on, and see what he says. Definitely do NOT give the animal any human medicine on your own, though. Drug effects on different species vary pretty greatly, even in things that work great on a big range of animals. (e.g. fenbendazole for deworming... great stuff for just about anything mammalian, but kills porcupines. Who knew?)

Anyway, I hope the vet can help you. Good luck!

-P
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1.0.0 Normal corn snake (Frito)
1.0.0 Creamsicle corn (Tang)
0.1.0 Ghost corn (Raynham)
1.1.0 Bay of LA rosy boas (Rivet and Cali)

>>my Burmese is sick. hes coughing up lots of Flem and weezing.

These sorts of respiratory infections usually occur because the snake has been kept at too low a temperature. You can usually allow these things to work their course and the snake's immune system can fight it off if you warm up the temperature. Do not guesstimate the temps. Get a dependable thermometer that can measure the temp of the cage and the substrate (those indoor thermometers are good for this.)

I would warm up the cage ambient temperatures to somewhere in the mid 80s and have a hot spot (under tank heat - not a light) that keeps one end near 90° for at least a week or two. Don't feed the snake, don't bother it, and make sure it has a fresh water all the time.

Watch it for a week like this. If it doesn't show marked improvement, you will probably need to get it to a vet to get some systemic antibiotic injections.
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Chris Harrison
San Antonio, Texas