Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Well after waiting about a week and turning up the temp in the cage, I took my snakes to the vet. And my vet gave one of my snakes seven shots and the other snake four shots to be given once every three days. This drug is called Amikacin. It is used to treat severe bacterial infections and is primarily used in Ball Pythons. I have given my snakes a total of two shots and have seen no improvement. My vet told me that it takes a while for the medication to kick in since the dosage is low because they are young. Just curious, has anyone else experienced taking a snake to the vet for an R.I.? If so, did the medication take a while to kick in? Thanks!

I have. They (this vet treated, bred and raised snakes for 35 years) gave mine the same thing. Yes, it takes a long time. Reptiles have very slow metabolisms because they are ectotherms, so antibiotics, as well as their own immune systems, work much slower. I gave mine the full regimen and she was taking rat pups and had no symptoms three days after the last shot. Hang in there. Keep cage temps elevated.
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Jessica
0.1 pastel jungle
1.1 spiders
1.0 het pied
0.1 pied
1.0 VPI axanthic poss het snow
0.1 het VPI axanthic
1.1 het clown
1.0 DH Jolliff snow
0.1 Albino het Jolliff snow

Oh well thanks for making my night! I was so worried! But just curious, how many shots did the vet give you? Also, just so you know, the snake had the R.I. when I bought it and since I was a beginning snake owner and the symptoms were in the beginning, I didn't realize it. Then I bought a new pastel and put it in there unknowingly that the other snake had it! And so now they are in separate cages and both have it...

My vet gave me 5 shots. My ball got a bad RI. It was probably do to stress of shipping (of the 15 snakes we aquired this year she was the only one that got anything). She was about 8-9 months old at the time. I took her to the vet the morning after I saw symptoms. The first vet I took her to treated her less agressively with oral Baytril and temp raises. After a week of treatment I noticed that her symptoms were getting worse. I took her to a different vet that ran an emergencey clinic (due to work schedule I wasn't able to get her in during normal working hours). He gave me the amikacin. I looked up amikacin in the Merck Veterinary Medicine Manual (used by vets to look up drug treatments of choice, etc.) and sure enough that is the one to give for snake RI, so I just trusted him and gave the shots. He prescribed one shot every three days, so that was 15 days of overall treatment. He also had me give water by syringe daily (not forced with a tube, just gently open the mouth and drip it in far enough back to miss the trachea) and assist feed a mouse pinky once a week. The reason is because antibiotics are hard on the kidneys. With a slow metabolism and an animal that isn't eating, you wan't to protect those kidneys as much as possible. She came out of it just fine

I am new to breeding and to ball pythons too, but we have a 19 year old boa. I am just fascinated by the genetics of the balls and their much better size and temperment!

Best of luck and well wished for your little ones. Keep them seperate.
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Jessica
0.1 pastel jungle
1.1 spiders
1.0 het pied
0.1 pied
1.0 VPI axanthic poss het snow
0.1 het VPI axanthic
1.1 het clown
1.0 DH Jolliff snow
0.1 Albino het Jolliff snow

YES! the meds are VERY hard on kidneys-- when we use the meds- we give them the injection and soak them immediatly either before or after the shot.
We soak them 2 days after as well.

I have a not-good story about Amikacin--

Took a big burm- 10-11 foot-- into the vet for the shots- when we picked him up he was literally hauking lugies on the cage walls.
Took him in and they gave us the shots- we got 5- so 15 days- no difference.
Took him back- they gave us more shots- and I asked why the doseage was different on the 2nd set.
The tech said that it was the same dose...
Took it home- they had moved the decimal point over the first time and gave me WAY less than he was supposed to get.
I don't recall the exact doseage as its been 2 years ago but I was furious. All the vet did was not charge me for the trip... still didn't 'fix' the snake...

grrr.

check and double check your doseage

soak soak soak the snakes!
~Beth
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Yeah that is pretty much my routine every three days etc. Except I don't have to give water through a syringe unless they aren't urinating. But they are and I also see them drinking water. And I don't have to force feed because I feed them once a week and even though they are sick, they never refuse a meal. Lol So I have five more shots for the bigger one and 2 more for the little one. I will keep you posted! Thanks for all your help!

KEEP the animal well hydrated. The aminoglycosides are often nephrotoxic!

Lee