Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I received a ball a year ago that started showing symptoms of RI within a few weeks so I took her to the vet. After a few hundred bucks, shots and check-ups, she looked like she was as good as gold. Fast forward to last night. I went to go feed her and low and behold she looks sick again. Back to the quarantine room for her. She'll be at the vets first thing tomorrow morning but I've read that it's easy for an RI relapse every winter season once a ball has caught the RI bug. None of my other 30-something balls has or had RI before and they are all kept under the same conditions as this balls so it seems to support the relapse theory. My question is... should I give up and just put her down? I would love to make sure she's healthy but it seems crazy to spend $500 every winter. Thoughts? Tips? Cures?

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0.0.1 1983 boyfriend
1.0 2007 pug

Build an incubator and keep the snake at 90 degrees. Something is wrong with your setup and is causing the RI. This method is how I treat my balls. The use of meds is not necessary. My worst case took 4 weeks till the RI cleared. Good luck.
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John Light

I'll definitely try that out. Thanks for the tip. I'm just curious as to what I should keep an eye out for that's causing RI only in 1 snake but not the others in the same rack. I believe the snake came to me with RI and after the vet, it was thriving for months in this setup.
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0.0.1 1983 boyfriend
1.0 2007 pug

There are a bunch of different things that could cause it. You have got to check everything. hot and cold spots, ambient, humidity...so many variables.
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John Light

Make sure that when you take the snake to the vet that they are doing a swab and culture to find out exactly what needs to be treated and they are giving you the correct meds to do so not just some broad spectrum antibiotic - and keep treating even after the snake appears healthy.

Also the "incubator set up" as mentioned by John is an excellent method to help recovery. If you are dropping the racks temperatures for breeding you might want to consider removing this snake in the future as a precautionary measure.
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Tosha
JET Pythons

nihil facimus sed id bene facimus

All the antibiotics in the world may not world if that is a secondary issue.

Secondly, antibiotics can basically sterilize a snake of "beneficial" flora and create problems in itself.

What has been done as far as treatment?

SATAN

>>0.0.1 1983 boyfriend
>>1.0 2007 pug
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"Satan™" is a registered trademark of NERD, Inc. Any copyright infringement is punishable by ETERNAL DAMNATION and some other terrible stuff.

Hi,

I can't find the exact name of the antibiotics that were used the first time. My bf had taken her to the vet since I couldn't get time off of work. He said a culture was taken but couldn't remember if it was during the firat visit or during the checkup. I do remember giving a shot of the antibiotics every few days with daily nose drips. During this time she was in a 20g long tank with a heat pad and heat lamp. I kept the temp at 90 degree at the hot spot and covered 2/3 of the screen with a towel to help keep the ambient heat. There was a hide and water bowl with newspaper as bedding. She stayed in this setup for two months before i moved her into a vision rack. I'll try to find the paperwork for the vet checks for more info. Funny enough my bf mentioned that the vet said it might flare up again. The vet is pretty reputable and recommended by EBV.
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0.0.1 1983 boyfriend
1.0 2007 pug

Most likely Amakacin. Injections every 72 hours. Maybe gentomycin nasil drops too.

Hot spot could easily go up to 95F. Heat lamps dry out the cage and irritate the mucous lining of the snake..... I like heating pads which help raise the enclosure ambient and provide a hot spot. SNakes need humidity.... certainly when sick.
I would ask to have the snake treated with Flagyl.

You can buy it online. Look for Fishzole. You can buy it buy the tablet or a bottle... Metranidizole/flagyl are the same thing as Fishzole.

The dose is 125 milligrams per kilogram. So roughly speaking a 2lb snake would get around 100mg. THe tablets generally are 250 mg per tablet. You would then roughly cut a tablet in half and put this down the snakes throat..... Put the piece in the back of the snakes mouth and massage down at least 6" of the snake.
Repeat this process in 7 days. Then again in seven days.

THis will often "fix" a snake and greatly help. THis deals with protazoan infections in the GI which may cause a secondary upper RI. Besides killing protazoa it is also a limited bacteriacidal agent that helps kill bacteria.

SO there!

K

>>0.0.1 1983 boyfriend
>>1.0 2007 pug
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"Satan™" is a registered trademark of NERD, Inc. Any copyright infringement is punishable by ETERNAL DAMNATION and some other terrible stuff.

THANKS! GRACIAS! DOMO ARIGATO!

... heat lamp removed... some light misting to commence... and researching drug...

Much appreciated.
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0.0.1 1983 boyfriend
1.0 2007 pug