Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I do not have a vet in the area that will see venomous animals. Nor do I have one that will give out any antibiotic without seeing an animal first.

I don't even know why my prize little gabby has a URI in the first place. Its been living in gabby heaven. Fine sifted cypress mulch, moss, misted daily or every other day as needed, shallow water bowl which I hook her into to make sure she drinks at least once a week. Thermostat regulated in a tub rack, warm end right over the heat tape is 86-88, cool side is 80-82. She moves back and forth to thermoregulate.

Should I dump all substrate, stick her on papertowels and let her dry out a little and up the temp a few degrees, as is standard with RIs? Ugh. I'm rather distressed over this. Its gotten pretty bad with alot of clear mucus being oozed out her mouth. She's been the keystone of health and eating heartily until a couple weeks ago.

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Brienne Earnst

DeviantArt Photo Gallery

Keeping mostly Morelia and Elaphe ssp.

That's a great looking gabby so I can see why you are concerned. It sounds like your set up is real good. I might recommend providing a larger variance as gabbies will also actively seek out slightly cooler temps in the mid 70's; I have found that temps too high with Bitis (particularly gaboons and especially rhinos) can lead to RI due to heat stress. So, here's my recommendations (if getting to a vet is out of the question):
- increase your temperature variance (75-88 is ideal)
- maintain optimal humidity levels (contrary to popular belief, snakes suffering from RI should actually have higher humidity levels rather than dry ambient air conditions).
- Keep stress to bare minimum
If you have access to medications, there are some fairly safe meds that work for RI but you should at least consult with a vet. I have used Fortaz, Baytril and Amikacin but each should be used for certain applications and species (Fortaz seems to be the safest bet).
Hope this helps a bit.
Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center

>>I do not have a vet in the area that will see venomous animals. Nor do I have one that will give out any antibiotic without seeing an animal first.
>>
>>I don't even know why my prize little gabby has a URI in the first place. Its been living in gabby heaven. Fine sifted cypress mulch, moss, misted daily or every other day as needed, shallow water bowl which I hook her into to make sure she drinks at least once a week. Thermostat regulated in a tub rack, warm end right over the heat tape is 86-88, cool side is 80-82. She moves back and forth to thermoregulate.
>>
>>Should I dump all substrate, stick her on papertowels and let her dry out a little and up the temp a few degrees, as is standard with RIs? Ugh. I'm rather distressed over this. Its gotten pretty bad with alot of clear mucus being oozed out her mouth. She's been the keystone of health and eating heartily until a couple weeks ago.
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>>
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>>Brienne Earnst
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>>DeviantArt Photo Gallery
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>>Keeping mostly Morelia and Elaphe ssp.
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Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center at Elawa Farm
Lake Forest, IL

Damn, Maybe thats what did it, keeping her too warm. I was upping the temp to help battle the RI like with other herps. I'll lower it back down.. Thanks for the advice.. Too bad I don't work at a store that has weekly vet visits anymore, usually I just slipped him a 20 and he'd slip me some meds that I needed. heh.
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Brienne Earnst

DeviantArt Photo Gallery

Keeping mostly Morelia and Elaphe ssp.

You are right, keeping temps up usually is recommended and I would still make sure the snake has opportunities to bask in a warm area if need be but just make sure there are cooler areas as well. They're pretty hardy animals so a little holistic medicine may just do the trick.

>>Damn, Maybe thats what did it, keeping her too warm. I was upping the temp to help battle the RI like with other herps. I'll lower it back down.. Thanks for the advice.. Too bad I don't work at a store that has weekly vet visits anymore, usually I just slipped him a 20 and he'd slip me some meds that I needed. heh.
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>>Brienne Earnst
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>>
>>DeviantArt Photo Gallery
>>
>>Keeping mostly Morelia and Elaphe ssp.
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Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center at Elawa Farm
Lake Forest, IL

I agree with what Rob said. I think you need to offer the snake more of a gradient in temps. This URI could very possibly be from heat stressing the snake and suppressing the immune system.

As a side note, and I don't want to harp too much about it, but part of responsible venomous snake keeping is making sure you have a vet that is willing to work with venomous animals or that you have the ability and the access to consult with a vet and get appropriate meds for your animals. Good looking animal, and I understand how hard it can be to meet all the requirements of safe/responsible venomous keeping.

Best of luck and I hope he/she gets to feeling better soon.

While its always great to have a herp vet nearby, many herp vets will not touch venomous under any circumstances (and I completely understand their reasoning). Oftentimes, hot herp keepers are forced to act as their own vets, HOWEVER, even vets who do not treat venomous species should be willing to consult over the phone, provide the proper meds, etc. I'm lucky in that I have two excellent vets who are willing to treat venomous (and we have a protocol set up for these occasions).

>>I agree with what Rob said. I think you need to offer the snake more of a gradient in temps. This URI could very possibly be from heat stressing the snake and suppressing the immune system.
>>
>>As a side note, and I don't want to harp too much about it, but part of responsible venomous snake keeping is making sure you have a vet that is willing to work with venomous animals or that you have the ability and the access to consult with a vet and get appropriate meds for your animals. Good looking animal, and I understand how hard it can be to meet all the requirements of safe/responsible venomous keeping.
>>
>>Best of luck and I hope he/she gets to feeling better soon.
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Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center at Elawa Farm
Lake Forest, IL

I agree that you were keeping her too hot and the daily mistings are not needed either... This can also cause URIs... It could have been the combo of the two...

I was expecting to get harped at for keeping an animal I cannot provide "proper vet care for", but yes. I do have a good herp vet nearby that i've gone to for years, however as you said, they absolutely will have nothing to do with a venomous animal, and I don't blame them at all. They are also very strict on not handing out any antibiotics or treatment on animals they haven't seen.. which sucks. So, i'm kind of screwed there. I do have some fresh amoxicillin but I don't think it will help herps at all nor do I know the effects it has on herps.
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Brienne Earnst

DeviantArt Photo Gallery

Keeping mostly Morelia and Elaphe ssp.

Any vet that I had to use had no problem giving me a swab kit and running test... The also had no problem giving me medication/injections as long exact weight was provided...

You might want to look around for other vets... I am sure you will find atleast one that will help you out... Even if you have to drive over an hour to the office... It will be well worth the drive...

I guess to first add about the vets, have you tried working with them? It's not hard to guess what their concerns are, however ask them to be clear. Perhaps there is a way to address this, like perhaps paying more for them to stop by your house after work, or perhaps if you brought the snake in a clear but very secure enclosure and good history record (weights too) so the DVM can at least visualize the animal.

The vet is following the strict guidelines set aside for a for vet/client relationships and is thus, respectable as a good vet. The VCR has a definition described by the local vet association which is good as law. Ask them if they have any ideas or referals for your gaboon.

Now as to the specific case, while the other posters have excellent, and quite likely reasons as to the cause, it cannot yet be ruled out that something else is occuring. It is still rather likely that a respiratory foreign body is causing these symptoms. Perhaps less likely if this is captive bred, but also still possible is that your snake is immunocompromised with a latent viral infection. As greg pointed out, you may have to learn the work of a vet tech and (with an assistant) grab blood and culture samples. Of course if I were anywhere withen a 10hr drive I'd kill for the chance to assist such a perfect snake

Ian