Reptile & Amphibian Forums

What medications are recommended for a snake with a cold?

Thanks in advance.

Joel Thomas

NyQuil , LOL J/K
You are not joking though correct?
If you are talking R.I. People use Amikacin
Some use Baytril
and others use Tylosin.
I've had better luck in the past with Tylosin
versus Amikacin or others.
Most recommend a vet check with swab slide smears .
This includes testing to decide which Antibiotic
would be most effective.
Kelly Haller or Joley have the medical experience I do not
. . . Lar M
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Boas By Klevitz
Boas By Klevitz

I have a young male (06) that is showing signs of a cold (bubbles) in his nose and periodic slight mouth opening, all fluids are clear so far, so I am looking for the best drugs to treat him with.

We are off to the vet on Monday, but I think I get better advice here as to what to treat with.

Thanks
Joel

I do not believe in Reptile Medicine or Human Medicine much either.

However, if you are going to take that animal to a Vet, make sure that you mention the possibility of a Fungus infection.

Most Vets do not know how to test for it and misdiagnose.

I found out years ago, that most R.I. symptoms are a result in Fungul infection and most Vets cannot affectively test for it or treat it and why so many R.I. infections go untreated or at the very least " might clear up on antibiotics , but will usually come back. "

If you would like to know how to cure a fungul infection " high chance that is what it is, " then you can send me an e-mail.

If not, good luck with traditional and crappy and non working treatments that will at the most clear up the animal for a while but it will get the symptoms again, as soon as it is stressed, " at least that is what happens most of the time wether those out there want to admitt it or not. "

Give me a shout if you would like, I will give you my suggestions and you can listen or not..........JJ

Thanks John for your input I will pursue that info with the vet.

Joel

its much better to go to the vet and have a swab/culture done. the main reason is that if you are prescribed, lets say, baytril. if it is a bacterial uri, and its resistant to baytril, the snake just went through injections (or oral doses) for no reason. its always better to know what type of bacteria you are dealing with and what it is sensitive and resistant to, via culture swab
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retic is king of kings

1.0 Tiger Retic
1.0 Albino Tiger Retic
0.1 Striped Tiger Retic (het albino)
0.1 Salmon Boa
0.1 False Water Cobra

While obviously dependent on condition and need, I have listed below the more common antibiotics, and their classes, that are used in boids to treat the majority of bacterial infections. While culturing and antibiotic susceptibility testing is highly recommended, it is not always possible, or accurate in the identification of the causative organism.

Tylan, or tylosin, is a macrolide class antibiotic that is mainly effective against only gram positive bacteria. It has been used successfully to treat chronic RI caused by Streptococcus and Mycoplasma bacteria in reptiles. Some people confuse Mycoplasma with bacteria of the genus Mycobacterium, which causes tuberculosis, but they are completely different. Tylosin will work well if the causative organism of the RI is Mycoplasma, otherwise it will usually be ineffective in resolving any other types of infections. John touched on this in his post, but if you are getting reoccurring RI’s in some of your snakes, and other antibiotics have failed even though environmental conditions appear to be good, you may have Mycoplasm in your collection. Another aspect of tylosin is that it has a very wide margin of safety.

Baytril, or enrofloxacin, is in a relatively newer class of antibiotics called fluoroquinolones. This class also includes the antibiotic Cipro. They are both used in reptile medicine, with Cipro being slightly superior to Baytril. The main drawback with Baytril is that it will sometimes cause tissue damage at the injection site. Cipro is given orally, but I believe there is now an oral form of Baytril as well. The advantage of these antibiotics is that they are relatively safe, and very effective against most gram negative bacteria, and they penetrate tissue well, so they are a good choice for most RI or other tissue infections. The oral administration of Cipro has also shown to be very effective against intestinal infections. There are other newer generation fluoroquinolone antibiotics that are broader spectrum, but they are very expensive and haven’t been used with reptiles that I know of.

Amikacin is an aminoglycoside class antibiotic that is mainly effective against gram negative bacteria. It has about the widest spectrum of activity of all the aminoglycosides. It is a potent and very effective antibiotic against most reptile RI’s and stomatitis (mouth rot), but it has the drawback of being toxic, and proper dosing is very important. Overdosing will cause liver and kidney damage, and ultimately death several weeks or sometimes months later. Clean and drinkable water must be available at all times when using aminoglycosides, however artificial hydration has not shown to be needed. If care is taken, it can be safely used. Additionally, blood and borneo short-tail pythons are very sensitive to the aminoglycosides, and the dose needs to be halved for these species.

Fortaz, or ceftazidime, is a third generation cephalosporin antibiotic. It’s mainly effective against gram negative bacteria, and many of the more antibiotic resistant forms. It is relative safe and works well against many RI’s in reptiles, as most of these are caused by gram negative bacteria species. Ceftriaxone, another third generation cephalosporin, has also shown to work very well on severe cases of stomatitis.

There are several issues concerning the use of penicillin class antibiotics with reptiles. One problem is the limited spectrum of activity, as penicillin will only be effective against a small number of bacterial species that cause illness in reptiles. Another critical point is that bacterial resistance to penicillin develops rapidly, and many species are now resistant to it. Penicillin group antibiotics, including extended spectrum ampicillin and amoxicillin, have short half-lives in the body and must be given daily. Additionally, they require large doses as in 50 mg per kg body weight or more to be effective on even a susceptible organism. One nice thing however is that penicillin is quite non-toxic and has a large margin of safety.

As John stated, respiratory fungal infections do occur in boids, and these would be unresponsive to conventional antibiotics. However, fungal infections usually show up in boids that are even more immuno-compromised than boids that acquire most bacterial RI’s. These boids can have weakened immune systems that are caused by either environmental conditions and/or their individual genetics. Anti-fungal agents for use in reptiles have not been studied to near the degree as antibiotics.

And lastly, there are three main reasons why a specific antibiotic treatment will fail with regards to a bacterial infection. The target bacterial species is resistant to the antibiotic being administered. The dosage of that antibiotic is incorrect. Or, the environmental conditions of the snake being treated are sub-optimal (temp, humidity, etc). Just keep in mind that the bacteria that is causing the RI has always been in the snake. Something within the snake or its environment has changed to lower its resistance and allowed the bacteria too overcome the snake’s immune system. If the fluid and bubbles are still clear, you have caught it early and it should come around without major problems. Additionally, if caught really early, adjustment of the environmental conditions alone (temps, humidity, etc.) can sometimes be successful in treatment of the RI without the use of antibiotics. Good luck and let us know how it turns out.

Kelly

I appreciate the time you and others took to answer my question. Your answer was the one I was waiting on as I knew it would answer my question and even some questions I had not thought of.

Thanks and Be Well.

Joel