Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I think I've pretty much won the battle against this new adult girl's mites, but now she's been wheezing. Took her into the vet where they took samples of everything, and she gave them a gift of urates, but the fluid looked green instead of clear (pretty bright, vibrant green??).

So they've gotten the results and she has an appointment this afternoon. The tests didn't show anything but lots of phlegm, so they intend to put her on antibiotics every three days, a de-wormer, and that I'll need to force-tube fluids. Meanwhile, she's going into shed though she already did a couple weeks ago (though I suspect that's a symptom of the mites that are finally croaking).

My question is, does this seem right? She's already on last-resort injected ivermectin for the mites (once every two weeks, three shots to go). It just seems like they have no clue what's going on, so they'll have me inject her with everything they can think of. She's a 9ft adult, but is this going to stress her system more than it's worth?

(for notes, her cage is newspapered, with temps at 75-97, and a large waterbowl she can fit most her body into if she wants)

97 DEGREES?.....OMG....SAVE YOUR VET MONEY....YOU ARE FRYING THAT SNAKE ALIVE....I BRED FUSCUS BACK IN THE 90'S....KEPT THEM AT 76 - 82 DEGREES....97 IS INSANITY....JC

It's the elevated temp I was told to put her at, since she's sick. The gradient is normally 75-85/90, but she was wheezing and sneezing/coughing badly, so I was told to bring up the temps on the hot side. I did, and she's been wheezing less and can breathe easier.

How am I frying the snake alive when she has a complete range to choose where she wants to be?

Find a new Vet. If they can't diagnose a problem, why are they pumping the thing full of anti-biotics? Wait till it sheds, most likely all your symptoms will go away.
-----
South Central Herpetological

The Green stuff is bile, which you may see every now and then, but more frequently when the animal is being treated with anti-biotics.
-----
South Central Herpetological

I AGREE!!!!

As far as temps, as long as she's got a full temp range to choose from, I don't see it being too big a problem (as long as she has the full range, as it's kind of hard to maintain such a wide gradient in an average sized enclosure).

Also, make sure to keep the humidity nice and high, as too dry an enclosure causes the lung tissue to dry out and become irritated. Some make the mistake of drying snakes out in this situation.

Lastly, with the vet, there's no reason to be shooting her up with all kinds of stuff. There are safe non-injectable alternatives to ivermectin, and she should not be subjected to the stress and potential side effects of antibiotics without a clear diagnosis. Do a search for a herp specialist in your area.

Good luck!
-----
"He who would stifle debate rather than engage in it, does so at the expense of his integrity and credibility"

Mike Curtin

The doctor in question is Dr.Lusk in Austin, and he seems to be one of the accepted herp vets in town?

We've been trying all sorts of alternatives along with Provent, but the mites were still occurring after aggressive treatments, so we moved on to the ivermectin. I've read up on it's bad effects, but she's acting normally on it and hey, the mites are finally dying off.
(now I don't have to worry about the rest of the collection)

She shed this morning and seems to be a bit more energetic already so I'm going to offer her food.
I suppose my question now is, what harm could the antibiotics really do? Mostly I wonder about forcing liquids into her gullet, which seems stressful and invasive.

I would agree, too.

Typical of what we're seeing in the US health care system these days, too. They don't diagnose the problem- bring a kid in with a soar throat, and they will often times just prescribe antibiotics whether or not it's strep, just in case.

Meanwhile, the stuff the antibiotics were created to treat are building resistances at a much faster pace because of all of the over prescription of antibiotics.

Are you keeping the snake in an enclosure that will hold humidity well?

Right now, both of my fuscus are in a vision rack, but I've got a couple of Visions here for them when the time comes.

I keep my other morelia in some PVC cages with heat panels- they do an EXCELLENT job of keeping in the humidity.

I'm in Austin too- I'll ask around and see if I can find a good herp vet.

//Todd

make that, 'sore' throat...

//Todd

I'd been keeping the enclosure on the dry side (just 40%) for the mites, but now that they're cleaned out I can start bring the humidity back up. What % do yours stay at?

I keep mine between 60% - 70%...

I've got an extra vision here I'm not using if you want to take a look? Shipping these things is a PAIN!

//Todd

I'm happy with her current setup, but thanks for the offer! I'll bring her humidity up immediately. Hopefully it'll make her feel up to eating.

You got it. PM me if anything changes...

//Todd

Little update-
Since she had a clean shed I offered her usual f/t food, and she seems vaguely interested but then passes it by. Wiggling the rat, even lightly tapping it once on her nose isn't provoking any interest. It'll be a little over a month now that she hasn't eaten.

And now that she's shed, she has a couple streaks of pink on the underside of her head, on the throat where the skin expands. Doesn't have any signs of mouth infection though, so I'm puzzled by this (she had it before when the mites were bad, but then it went away until now).

I suggest Provent-a-Mite (you can get it at www.pro-products.com) or Black Knight. No need for Ivermectin, that stuff is bad news when used over time. It is important to follow the directions on the label for these products.

I brought home a Savu python that needed a home. It was loaded with mites. Took 3 treatments with P-a-M to end the madness, and three treatments is alot for PaM, as usually a single treatment does it. Snake is fine. Really easy to apply. The use of injections is not warranted anymore.
-----
Mark