Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have an adult BP with a bad case of stomatitis. I had been treating her with Baytril for thirteen days, and she seemed almost better and suddenly took a turn for the worse. She became lethargic, and in obvious pain. After giving her a warm water soak, she gave up a rather bloody urate sample. My vet did a smear, and found three different parasites, although she doesn't know how to identify them. One of her eyes is infected, and no longer looks vaible.

My vet knows little to nothing about herps, but is doing her best to study up and help me.

I took out all my snakes and checked their mouths. I took apart all my cages and thouroughly sanitized everything. I removed all substrate and put everybody on newspaper. I raised my thermostat to make sure night temps did not drop. She seems dehydrated, and I have been giving her Pedialylte orally, thru a syringe.

I have had this snake for about 7 or 8 years, and she feeds exclusively on F/T rats. She has not been in contact with another snake, and each snake has it's own feeding tub. Her temps are good and she has had no change in environment.

I took her off the Baytril, a and started her on a Silver Sulfadiazine cream. The vet gave me Gentamyacin drops for her eyes. (Seemed silly to me, but, whatever.) Since she is in such pain when I mess with her mouth, the vet gave me Lydocaine to numb it before cleaning. I am concerned about stressing her more than necissary, adn am treating her once a day, rather than the 4x origionally perscribed.

The vet is consulting with a herp vet long distance to identify and treat the parasites. (I have requested that she perscribe for all my snakes.)

What am I doing wrong? What am I doing right?
Is the Lydocaine OK to use topically? Is it OK to give Pedialyte? How much, how often? Vet wants to remove the bad eye. Is this a good idea? Would it help her be more comfortable?

I feel like a jerk for allowing this to happen. I am concerned about the rest of my collection. Haven't had fecals done in 2 years, and I don't understand where this came from.

I am at my wits end. I really appreciate any thought!

Thanks in advance.

Wow, it sounds like quite the problem on your hands.
The first thing I have to say you may not like. Stomatitis rarely happens with proper husbandry. The very few exceptions may be as a result of a wound being infected or what not. In any case, your snake has lived well in your care for 7-8 years so your husbandry is "okay". For whatever the reason this all started, you need to continue what you are doing, but also ask yourself what you can do to improve husbandry. There is always room for improvement.

Can I assume that this snake was originally wild-caught because of the parasites? Is the snake still eating? If so you can inject water into the mouses abdomen to help battle dehydration. Bloodwork is also going to really help to rule out systemic disease. Direct your vet to www.vin.com. It is a vet only, subscription service, but I can't recommend it enough for any vet. There are several herp vet experts waiting to help with any case. With this said, your snake is nearing it's end and you might consider taking a trip to a more experienced herp vet. Going out of town or across the state isn't out of the picture for most people.

It of course is hard to get the big picture with a discription over the net, but you know your snake the best. It is the hardest decision for a pet owner to make, but euthanasia may become the most humane route at some point in the near future.

Good luck with your snake, I wish you the best

I understand that this tends to be husbanry issue. However, I have searched and can not figure out for the ife of me where the problem lies.

I keep high end temps at 89-90, and loe end around 78. I use belly heat, and clay pot hides. All snakes have large water dishes. Humidity tends to stay around 50% or so. I soak the clay hides during shed cycle only. I have been using aspen shavings, but all are on newspaper now. I keep my tanks religiously clean.

The thing is, I try to keep the same conditions in all my enclosueres, so whatever it is I am doing wrong, makes all my snakes succeptible. I am afraid.

I had discussed the possibility of euthanasia with my vet, but she seemed think it was worth trying some more. That really makde me not want to give up on her.

Her temps have been raised a bit, so the cool side does not get under 80, and I am sure to not let temps drop at night.

This is a captive bred snake who was parasite free two years ago at last fecal exam. She has been on frozen rats exlusively, and not had contact with another snake in the last three years.(One unsuccesful breeding attempt, and I simply have not bred that snake again.)

Thanks again for your replies.

I know how easy it is for something to run rampant through a herp collection. I am racking my brain trying to figure out what I can do better. It's my belief that when you take a critter into a captive situation, you are obligated to provide it with optimal conditions for health and comfort. I am a poop-head.

Oh, one other thing. You asked if she was eating. No, she is not. She stopped eating about three weeks ago. I suspect that she has pretty much quit drinking as well. Asked vet about subcutaneous(sp) fluids. She wanted to hold off on that, and said to continue to give Pedialyte, orally.

I hesitate sometimes to give drug advice but this sounds like a real problem. Other antibiotics are much more effective than Baytril for stomatitis, but they are human drugs and most vets are not familiar with them. However, any vet can write a prescription for them. Fortaz (ceftazidime) would be a great candidate for an antibiotic in this case. The snake sounds fairly debilitated and Fortaz is not as stressful on the snake as gentamicin and amikacin, and has a wide safety factor. It has shown to be extremely effective in cases of stomatitis. Dosage is 20 mg/kg every 48 hours at 6 or 7 doses. Keep temps at least in the upper 80's with moderate humidity. The parasites can be treated later after the stomatitis has been cleared up. Always consult a vet before any type of drug treatment is initiated. Good luck.

Kelly

For pinpointing what you may be able to improve with your husbandry, I'd suggest going to the ball python forum. I'm sure there are many more people there who are familiar with the specifics for this species. You are on the right track with keeping temps to the warmer side. A slight word of caution though is that the ball python forum is rather busy and be carefull about the advice given.

I do lurk daily on several of the forums here. The BP forum is one of them. Thanks.