Reptile & Amphibian Forums

SOMEONE PLEASE HELP I HAVE A NORTHERN PINE AND BULL SNAKE THAT ARE SICK.IT STARTED WITH THICK,CLEAR MUCUS IN THE STOOL AND HAS PROGRESSED TO BLOODY AND MUCUS LIKE STOOL IN THE BULLSNAKE AND RUNNY MUCUS IN THE STOOL OF THE PINE SNAKE. THE SMELL IS ALSO VERY PUNGENT.I HAVE BEEN TREATING WITH ALBON {SULFADIMETHOXINE} 5% FOR SEVEN DAYS AND THEN SWITCHED TO EVERY OTHER DAY.IM NOT SEEING ANY REAL IMPROVEMENTS THOUGH. ALSO MY SNAKES HAVE NO APPETITE.HAS ANYONE ELSE HAD THIS PROBLEM AND ANY LUCK CURING IT ? IM TREATING WITH ALBON BECAUSE THIS SEEMS TO BE BACTERIAL.ANY HELP WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED THANKS

It sounds like a bacterial infection to me, and the drug of choice should be Baytril. I am not a vet...... but recently dealt with similar problems[ similar symptoms too]. A good way to find out would be to go to a vet and have cloacal smears done. My vet had me start Baytril before the results came back and it was the recommended drug after the fact so my snakes were on the road to recovery before the results even came back. I have only heard of Albon being used for Cocidia? Anyhow, the injections are easy to do yourself and if you go to a good reptile vet he should show you how to do it and give you what you need to cure the problem. You need to tell us about your husbandry and also where you get your feeders. Bacterial infections can come from dirty water bowls, dirty damp cages and from mice. My problem was most likely from a bad batch of mice, and my vet said it can happen randomly at any time for reasons unknown and he specifically told me not to freak on my rodent supplier because since the majority of my collection was not at all affected it was just one of those things.. Tom Stevens