Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello,
I recently purchased a female Burmese Python. She is just shy of 8 feet, has a great attitude and appetite, but appears to have a respiratory infection. I rose the enclosure's temps with no luck, so we are going to the vet Friday morning (It was the soonest I could get an appointment. Apparently the doctor who works with large snakes is quite busy.) Anyway, I was just wondering how much the cost of Baytril for this size snake would be? The infection isn't too serious, she ate yeaterday without any problems. Money isn't a problem and I'm not worried about it, I just want to know what I'm in for.

Thank you,
Ryan

I can tell you for my retic that was 35 lbs it cost about 70 for a month. Its not to bad. Did you raise the humidity as well as the temps?
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0.2 Rotts
1.0 Super Tiger
1.0 Amel Retic
0.1 Ball Python
0.1 Red Tail
0.1 Blood Python
1.0 Green Ananconda
1.0 Emerald Tree Boa

We took in a 30 lb 10 footer and for a full exam and 2 months of meds was about 150. Not too bad-- and they answered all my questions after the visit-- i love my vet!

Its not too bad and well worth it!

Beth
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The rescue site: www.freewebs.com/okreptilerescue

Hey there!
The prices already mentioned are fairly consistent with other numbers I've seen. In fact, I took a 40lb burm in back in December with a mild case of RI. Vet visit was $45 and total bill came to $120, leaving $75 for the Baytril injections. Of course, where you live (city or rural, among other things) will have an affect on price.

Baytril appears to be the most common prescribed med for RI and rom what I've read, there's good reason for it to be. However, I'm not sure if I would specifically request Baytril unless you have good reasons to as there are other meds that are also known to be effective. Don't get me wrong, I have no complaints about Baytril, it worked fine in my case with no adverse effects, it's just that there are some other meds that other people have used just as effectively.

Talk to your Vet about it. Some of the other meds include, but not limited to: Fortaz, Amykacin, and some meds even use a different name but are the same, such as ceftazidime is aka: Fortaz. Some are more forgiving in the precise dosage area than others and some may be a tad more expensive due to their orginal form and how they need to be mixed & stored after mixing. But they're all pretty well within the same price range.

Regardless of the prescribed med, if the temperatures and humidity levels aren't maintained at appropriate levels, consistently, you're in for long battle. Read thru previous posts here in the forum as there are several good threads on temps & humidity requirements for effective RI treatment. Most of these threads can be found within the first two pages without having to search the archives.

Best wishes!
HH
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Due to political correctness run amuck,
this ol' hillbilly is now referred to as an:
Appalachian American

Excellent info---
I do want to add that my past experience with Amikacin has not been a pleasant one.
At least 80% of the burms we get in here have an RI-- at least 2 per month--
I no longer use amikacin-- Many of the burms we get are also skinny and I've noticed that the amikacin takes a harder toll on the snake, as oppose to the other meds available.

I feel that they get dehydrated faster than with the other meds despite frequent soaks and everything else.

This is just my observations but i'd go baytril over amikacin any day and I have had much better, and stronger, faster results with bayrtil.

Beth
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The rescue site: www.freewebs.com/okreptilerescue

Thank you all for the replies. I did raise both the temps and humidity, but nothing really happened. The price of baytril is nowhere near what I expected. The receptionist at the animal hospital said that most vets charge around the same for baytril and that it was expensive. When I heard the word "expensive" from an animal hospital, I did not know what to expect. After she gets better, I try to post some pics.

Thanks again,
Ryan

Beth touched on an area of concern with the use of amikacin, or any of the other aminoglycoside class antibiotics (gentamicin, tobramycin, kanamycin, etc.). Many don’t realize that it is highly risky to use them with any snake that may be physically compromised beyond the fact that it has an RI. This class of antibiotics should only be used with snakes that are in good physical condition, not underweight, or dehydrated, etc. It is a great antibiotic for RI’s, easily as effective as Baytril in most cases, it just needs to be used within certain criterion to maximize it’s effectiveness, number one of which is to maintain good hydration.

Mike mentioned some other safer alternative antibiotics like the cephalosporin class antibiotic ceftazidime. It is a great, safe choice for most RI’s, one of the best, but is a little higher priced. A really good additional one for snakes that are still feeding is ciprofloxacin, or Cipro. This is one of my favorites as it can be used for enteric infections as well as tissue infections. It is a fluoroquinolone class antibiotic just like Baytril, but is slightly more effective and has an equal or better spectrum of activity against pathogenic bacteria. It is fairly inexpensive; however the vet will need to write a prescription for it as it will need to be purchased at a pharmacy. It comes in tablet form and can be placed in a small food item. It is very safe and the dosage is not highly critical like amikacin. There are other highly effective antibiotics out there as well, but these are the most commonly used in snakes.

Kelly