Reptile & Amphibian Forums

The story started with a bcc who was regurging. She has regurged twice thus far, keeping down a tube feed of Hills KD and Dewormer (from the vet).

We went to the vet for a follow up, due to the fact that she regurged a pinky this past week. He was doing the usual check, then holding her upside down, and it took her a second to respond and right her self.

She is away (in another house) from all the other herps and animals etc. The doctor started with 5 injections of Baytril (.4) everyother day ( ill give the first one today), anyone else have any other thoughts?

I would greatly appreciate any insight and help!
Hunter

Hey, sorry to hear about the bad news. Have you tried giving her flygal? I have been told to do this to a snake who has regurged, and give them at least two weeks to re-try with food again. Once the snake has eaten it's food, wait a day, and give another dose of the flygal.

But to ease your mind and hopfuly it's not IBD, it could be a chance it would be internal parasites. Baytril is good, but also bad in a way. Sometimes Baytril will leave burns.
I have a female boa who has baytril burns from her last owner.

Good luck, and keep us posted.

The post above is correct most likely it is internal parasites or internal unrest. You simply can't feed BCC like BCI as they will gurge. And if you continue to attempt to feed without giving them time of or figure out what is causing them to gurge then you will continue to spiral them down-hill.

Baytril is def. not the answer, it is for respiratory problems and this simply isn't the case. In fact it could do more harm then good on a little snake. I'd say keep the animal in optimal conditions, keep it well hydrated give it two weeks from it's last gurge and try a very small fuzzy or something with hair. (substantially smaller then a normal meal) make sure it holds it down, then give it another two weeks and repeat. You need to work slowly to restart the animal and then use great care as to not invoke another spell or regurgitations.

Maybe look into a product called nutri-bac to replenish the animals good bacteria that can and most likely is serverly depleated due to parasites or regurgitation.

Also make sure you have a vet that knows what he or she is doing. Not to second guess your vet but the treatment is all wrong and I'm assuming costly.

I have nutribac which i ordered from bean farm about a month ago. I have been using that.

Also, she is fed very small meals every 10 days, as bcc should be from what i understand. Her heat is up (92 hot 86 cool).

I totally trust my vet, Dr. Mark Foy of West Columbia, SC.

She has been dosed with flagyll, twice, the second time being today...the first time was about a month ago.

He said he gave the baytril due to possible liver problems etc, 5 injections total, dosing every other day.

She is quarentined at another house, so what should i do besides the obvious?

thanks,
Hunter

ESPECIALLY after having regurged... feeding her sooner in this state would be like trying to kill her.

Another thing, anytime I have kept boas that hot, they have always regurged. always. in my experience, that is way too hot. maybe an overhead lamp that makes a 90some degree hotspot for a couple hours, and the 80something being the normal hotspot, but in my experience, they need access to a spot a little bit cooler.. my cool ends are mid to high 70's.

Also, keep this in the back of your mind... Vets, like other doctors, will take the longest route possible, in many cases, and use the weakest doses or medicines possible so to have you come back and pay for many more visits. It's unfortunate, but the money is not in the cure.. see what I mean?

I know 90% of the Vets I have spoken to claim to be experienced with reptiles/snakes, but 90% of those are evidently NOT. Again, anything to get you in the door and spend that cash.

Best wishes to you and your boa in the future.

take care, Joe
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Thanks and take care - Joe Rollo
'Tis not the stongest of the species that will eventually survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change' Charles Darwin

He asks this on every forum out there and has had many good replys and he does not think we are right. instead he takes the advice from people that do not know. Im done helping him, many of us have tried to help, poor snake.

-Dylan
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True Redtails

You nen to follow the advice from people that deal with BCC's. They can be dificult to deal with when the regurge. I really do not think it is IBD. I hope everything works out for you. Keep us posted.

-Dylan
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True Redtails

I'm curious about recommending food with hair. I thought I had heard that pinkies (if the snake is small) is better following a regurg just because the hair can be more difficult to digest? do you disagree with this?

thanks.. I'm definitely still learning a lot of this myself.
Patrick

Dylan,
Im sorry if you feel that i do not follow your advice, but i have to the letter...i bought the nutribac etc and everything else recommended in the CNW Forum.

I really hope it isnt the IBD...and i dont think it is. If i didnt care for this snake, why would i take her to the vet which costs money, and why would i bother posting here. Some of the things i do which is different from your advice is per the vets information, which i understand he is one of the better herp vets in the usa. IT is Dr. Mark Foy of Sunset animal clinic on West Columbia, SC.

He recommeneed that i feed her this upcoming monday, but will hold off for two weeks, as she was given some liquid food in her tube today.

The temps have been lowered down to 89 and 80. I appreciate all of your help, and believe me, i am doing everything that i can for this snake.

Also, to put yall at ease, the vet isnt one who just cares about making money...they didnt charge but $20 for the 5 injections of .04 cc Baytril.

Feeding will be held off and hopefully she will come back to normal.

IF i ever offeneded you Dylan, im sorry, i was just trying to do what my vet said, as he is a DVM, but i for one know that real world experience often beats out what people learned in school.

Please let me know any more info that yall have other than to hold off feedings and do what i have done since i last posted.

Im also more interested if i should feed pinkies or fuzzies to her...and continue with the injections.

thanks to all,
Hunter

Hang in there. It sucks having a sick animal. I think you are doing alot more than alot of folks would. I am sure you have and will be learning alot. Good luck!

Thanks for the kind words....

Good news too...Rosie (my large female) took down a large rat the other night, so we are over that hump of her not eating....thanks for all the help.

I read most of the reply's, and this thread seems to be going in all sorts of directions, with only one common denominator; this is not likely to be IBD.

I concurr with this; but not much else that was said.

1) My biggest complaint is the idea that veterinarians would risk an animal with slow or improper treatment to get more money. Whoever suggested this should grow up and your experiences are probably related to you being cheap. The #1 reason why proper diagnostics are not used immediately is due to cost concern from the client.

2) I know I don't have the whole story, and you may be relaying information wrong but... based on what you have told us I would consider getting a more herp experienced veterinarian; ask for a referal if you'd like. Why? Antibiotics should only be given if a bacterial infection is suspected, and then ideally, only once a culture and sensitivity has been done. (I realize that this takes time and in rush situations an antibiotic will be given until results are in from the lab). Baytril is not given in relation to liver problems, in fact, this is quite contraindicated. As mentioned, Baytril can cause tissue necroses, so ideally it should be given orally after one injection. I realize this is a challenge when dealing with a regurging snake, thus the pro's and con's must be weighed. Your veterinarian will have taken this into consideration.
3) Forget treating with flagyl and nutri-bac until indicated by your veterinarian. As mentioned, flagyl has it's place. Nutri-bac is questionable and the effeciecy of probiotics in general is someowhat unreliable.

You have been advised to be patient, and I believe this is the most important information given so far. In the meantime, try to digest what I, and the other posters have said, and decide what information suites you and your animal the best. Good luck
Ian

Thanks for your help, i agree with everything in your post except about the actual doctor, the actual vet. he is very experienced with snakes and herps in general, as that is his specialty. believe me, he knows his stuff on herps definately!

thanks so much
hunter