Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Here's the scenario: After a couple of months of my normal retic (1yr and a half old) not eating (before which I would feed him a jumbo rat every week which he would voraciously eat) I noticed some swelling in his mouth and attributed to mouth rot/bacterial infection. The tank was always heated to about 85-90 degrees.
So I took him to the vet who agreed it was a bacterial infection at which point he injected him with an antibiotic and provided me with an antiseptic to apply to the infected area.
Two more months go by, he's not eating and the swelling is still there, so I take him to another vet. The vet agrees that it's a bacterial infection at which point he injects him with an antibiotic. He then provides me with 10 injectables and I inject the snake for 10 days with this antibiotic.
Guess what??? Nothing!!! He's still not eating (it's been close to 5 months now and he still has swelling in the mouth).
Anybody have any suggesstions/solutions? I will actually try to force feed him this weekend, even with the swelling, because I don't think he can go much longer without eating.
Anybody, somebody, HELP!!!!!

If he still has swelling and infection in the mouth, then that is the most likely reason that he is not eating. What kind of antibiotics did the two vets give you, and why did the first vet give him 'one dose' only out of curiosity ? I Had a friend just go through a bad case of this with a retic and he had to actually clean the retic's mouth out daily with peroxide and such, along with an antibiotic regimen ... hang in there and see if you can find a more experienced reptile vet in the area that may be able to show you how to clean the infected area correctly and such....However, that is a long time that the animal has had the infection so hopefully it can be treated. best of luck.
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Todd Spinosa

Also what originally caused the swelling? Check out the tank maybe something in there is adding to it. Find a more experienced herp vet in your area. good luck

pat
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Pat
1.1 (100% het albino) Retics
1.1 Coastal Carpet Pythons

As Todd pointed out, the retic not eating is most likely due to the condition of his mouth. What kind of cage are you keeping him in? How was the damage caused to his mouth and is he continuing to incur damage? Are the temps 85-90 throughout the cage or is there a cool side? What are the humidity levels? Does he have hide boxes? Retics are tough animals and as I found out (the hard way) can recover from most most issues without the need of injections. Also, please do not try to force feed him as you'll most likely make the problem worse. Give us an idea of his setup along with what caused the injuries and we'll be able to give you better advice.

The injection that the vet gave him (second vet, not sure what the first vet gave him) was Baytil, which was what I also injected him with for the ten following days. Along with washing the infected area with Chlorhexidern for 14 days straight. And I'm not sure why the first vet only gave him one injection. He was probably under the assupmtion that it would be enough?

As far as what caused the infection to begin with, I'm at a loss. I can only guess that it might have been the substrate that I was using (which I had used for the past year and a half with him and with no problems), but regardless I switched to newspaper.

Anyway, I contacted the second vet again and he contacted a exotics specialist who is now willing to take him in temporarily to hopefully get him well and eating again. If this doesn't work, then I'll really be at a loss.

On a side note, this is a perfect example of how expensive it can be to keep a giant and that just because a normal retic costs $100, a future owner should be informed to realize that the costs can and will exceed that significantly over the years.

Wish me luck!