Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My female borneo is sick, you can hear her breathing(and it looks like it's an effort for her to breathe if you watch her) , she has a swollen nose, and recently has stopped eating and has dicharge from her mouth. This sounds like mouth rot, right? The cage is around 87 at one end and 70 at the other, and I try to keep it at 60% humidity. My male kept in the same conditions is fine. I don't have a herp vet anywhere around me, I called my vet and they said they won't touch snakes. I know there isn't much I can do without antibiotics, but is it possible that she could get better on her own? I've never had a sick snake before. But I've always previously had easy to care for snakes. I don't want to lose her.

You are right in seeking out veterinary help for your snake, kudos to you

Try herpvetconnect and www.arav.com to locate a reptile veterinarian. Also call several vet clinics in your area and ask who they refer there reptile patients to. Realize that you may have to travel to the next town or so if you live out of the way. It is safe to say that every medium to large city has a vet that will see snakes regularly.

It is also important to review your husbandry and find out why your snake became sick. Keep in mind that just because another snake hasn't become sick yet doesn't mean that your husbandry is adequate. With that said, you may have good husbandry, but not superb husbandry, which is sometimes the difference for otherwise stressed out snakes.

Good luck with finding a vet and treating your snake!

Hey,
Good advice given. There is no question that there is something wrong with the husbandry when ever one of your animals comes down with something, like URI, and a subsequent, Stomatitis infection, which is secondary to the URI. Either way, you will have to treat the two pretty radically, to effect any change in its health. There are various ways to treat this, but without the necessary meds, your chances of getting it well, are rather difficult at best. You might be able to get your vet to call in for a prescription of antibiotics, or he might be able to get you the drugs, directly from his office. A good antibiotic to work with, with little side effects would be Amikacin or Ceftazidime, the latter being a little pricey. See if you can get your local vet to prescribe the antibiotic along with several doses to treat the URI and stomatitis. There is a company that I order from the does mail order antibiotics, however, the vet needs to call in the necessary prescription for them to release it.

Also, Enrofloxacin (Baytril) and Cipro (Ciprofloxacin), comes in an oral liquid form that is given PO, by mouth, and works great. This might be the easier route for you to take if you don't have the experience administering injectables. Again, if there is nothing that a vet will do this would be your only other option.

Send me your Borneo's weight, and I'll send you the appropriate dose for its weight.
-Angel
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In life you can fall many times, but you're only a failure, if you don't try to get back up!
Evil Canevil

short-tailed pythons and blood pythons. These species (curtus group) are more sensitive to amikacin and other aminoglycoside antibiotics than other boids and care should be taken. Always get exact weights and use half the standard python dosage on these species. Amikacin is an excellent antibiotic when used appropriately but can cause major problems if not used in a careful manner. Best to use only under vet supervision. Good luck.

Kelly