Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I noticed one of my full growns has a very bad infection on the vent yesterday. I was out of town for 9 days so unfortunately I didn't catch it earlier. I took him (or her, not sure) to the vet and she said the infection has made him very sick. She injected the big guy with some 72 hour antibiotics and gave him an oral IV. I have to take him in 3 days for another injection too. I hope he is going to be ok. The vet also said clean his infection with Hydrogen peroxide and apply either neosporin or vaseline to keep the wound protected..I wish I could have seen this earlier. I've had him for 12 years now and decided I would change his substrate to cypress mulch...wish I hadnt because I think that maybe what has caused this. Wish him luck.

P.S his name is Reason

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1.1.0 Green Tree Pythons
0.0.2 Ball Pythons
0.0.1 California King
2.0.0 Ball Pythons (pet sitting)

just wondering if maybe you should put him on paper towels until it clears up so the dust from the bedding and stuff dont get in the wound and irritate it even more...just a thought. interesting name by the way. def. hope he gets better!

I've never seen that before, I hope the treatment works and he makes a full recovery. Be sure to keep us posted on how hes doing.
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Pastel 1.0
Spider 1.0
Normals 1.2
Het Pied 1.0
Leopard Geckos 1.1
American Bulldog 1.0

Thanks guys. He is now being quarantined and is on some newspaper. It is really hard to tell how bad it is because he is prepping for a shed. I should have a new pic and an update in the next day or two. As for now, not much change; I just clean the wound about 3 times a day and make sure the temp is nice and high good for a sick snake!
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1.1.0 Green Tree Pythons
0.0.2 Ball Pythons
0.0.1 California King
2.0.0 Ball Pythons (pet sitting)

That's the best you can do for now -- newspaper and up the heat. You should see some sort of improvement after he sheds. I would probably switch out of the Cypress Mulch for all your snakes, just to play it safe. You don't want it happening again, and it's probably better to stick with what you know anyways.

I feel like the vet should have given you something better, since battling infection is your biggest concern right now. You wouldn't want the infection there to affect anywhere else in the body, and it's really easy to do in snakes. Any vet should have Chlorhexiderm Solution and SSD. Chlorhexi is much less abrasive than Peroxide, which can dry out the area if used too much, when you should probably be cleaning it a couple times a day. Chlorhexi is extremely sterile too, and used a lot to sanitize surgery instruments. Silver-Sulfadine Cream (that might be spelled wrong) is also great for reptiles, good at preventing/killing infection, and doesn't smother the wound. Make sure the wound can breathe with the amount of Neosporin/Triple-Antibiotic you are putting on it.

Did you know what the injection she gave him was?

I'm not questioning your vets practices by the way. Don't hate me I'm a vet-tech at an exotics-equipped animal hospital, and I know for damn sure that I am NO veterinarian, by farrr... I'm simply just speculating. I hope he gets better!
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Cheers!
• Chelsea Lynn Gardiner
(and Frank M. Wood)

Thank you for that reply. Very good information. Although, I am not sure where to get the treatments you referred to. Sounds like something only a vet has access to. are they commercially available?

Anyhow, They are treating her with Amikacin for now. Today was her 4th treatment and the vet says she would like to do 5-7 total. The snake's health overall has improved however the infected site looks a bit worse. I have been continued to keep it clean which is helping but as we (me and the vet) looked at it today, it appears that one or even both hemipenes maybe protruding. Either that or there is a growth right on the hemipenes. It is very difficult to tell because the swelling has caused a "bulbous" effect. I have been instructed to clean out the scab buildup once a day or every 2 days (gently of course) and continue to apply neosporin. I will see about new pictures by tomorrow. Thanks for your replies everyone!
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1.1.0 Green Tree Pythons
0.0.2 Ball Pythons
0.0.1 California King
2.0.0 Ball Pythons (pet sitting)

Well I went in for the 5th injection and the vet gave me the concentrated form of Nolvasan Solution. I just mix 1 ounce for every gallon and soak her tail either twice a day for 5 minutes or once a day for 10 minutes. She doesnt seem to mind too much though...almost like it is relieving I think. I will be getting injection #6 this friday. I really hope it gets a lot better by then because the appointments are adding up and they get more expensive each visit! Thanks for reading as always guys.
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1.1.0 Green Tree Pythons
0.0.2 Ball Pythons
0.0.1 California King
2.0.0 Ball Pythons (pet sitting)