Respiratory Infection New Blood Python

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Young Short-tails are very prone to RI's. I hope your's is caused by bacteria and not by a virus ( which would make matters considerably worse )

What is the RH and temps you keep him at? He should be kept on the dry side ( opposed to allmost all care sheets, I know ). Just keep his enclosure dry with a big bowl pf water on the cold side ( watch out that he doesn't turn the bowl of water upside down ).

Antibiotics are not for drinking. They should be injected. To avoid kidney problems, inject them on the first third of the body and change the injection site every injection.

You should only give antibiotics after receiving the antibiogram from your vet , in order to determine exactly the bacteria that is causing the RI. If such exam is not forthcoming your vet should give you a large spectrum antibiotic.

Please see with your vet wheter the antibiotic he prescribed is to be done intramuscularly or subcutaneously and be sure you know how to give the injections.

Is the short tail only discharging from its nostrils or is it also spitting mucous liquids? Pick him up and see if he "vomits" any discharge ( looks like water ).

If this is the case, he will be dehydrating very fast and you will need to give him a saline solution.

Miguel
 
Thanks for the well wishes guys :)


The vet took him off the water antibiotics now that he's on the injections. I have a pretty big water container in there and put him in it a few times a day to make sure he's drinking.
The injections are every 72 hours and the techs showed me how to give it when they gave him the first shot on Saturday, just under the skin. He's never spit out any mucous from his mouth. He was yawning really bad on Friday night (inside his mouth gross and stringy with discharge and he did it numerous times that night). Since took him to the vet and he had the first injection haven't seen him yawn.

The nasal discharge is minimal to completely absent at times now and when I listen to him breath its still rattly sounding.
I talked to my cousin whose bred various snakes for as long as I can remember and he said to crank up the heat to 90-95 and the humidity ranges from 55-65%.
The vet is going out on leave from today for 6 wks but will be reachable by phone tomorrow or Wednesday so when the results from the culture come back he can maybe prescribe something else.

I guess Amikacin is considered broad spectrum? According to this site
http://www.antibioresistance.be/aminoglycosides.html
"Aminoglycosides (Streptomycin, kanamycin, tobramycin, amikacin,...) are compounds that are characterized by the presense of an aminocyclitol ring linked to aminosugars in their structure. Their bactericidal activity is attributed to the irreversible binding to the ribosomes although their interaction with other cellular structures and metabolic processes has also been considered. They have a broad antimicrobial spectrum. They are active against aerobic and facultative aerobic Gram-negative bacilli and some Gram-positive bacteria of which staphylococci. "


Are RI's in snakes typically caused by staph? What makes young short tails so susceptible to them?
He seems a bit more spry now and it seems like the nasal discharge is drying up so maybe its working. Just wish that clicky rattle sound would go away :/
 
Your cousin gave you sound advice ( I would keep the RH lower ( around 50º )

Please make sure that you change the injection sites, in order not to cause problems ( potential necrosis of the tissues ).

There are multiple bacteria that can cause RI, some more virulent than others, some are always in the snakes system but lie dormant and "wake up" when something affects the snakes immune system ( for instance stress )

In my experience, young bloods are very prone to RI and I insist that people keep them in excessive RH conditions.

Try to avoid moving the snake ( it knows its way to the water bowl should it want to drink ) and do not try to feed her.

Hopefully you'll start seeing improovements soon ( if the antibiotic you are administering is effective )
 
Update: The culture came back with "Heavy growth of Aeromonis caviae and Enterobacter intermeidus" He's on the Amakicin shots still (I give him his last one tomorrow) but I can still hear fluid in his breathing. And he's yet to eat (I've almost had him a month).
 
Are those 2 bacteria sensitive to Amikacin ( the report should state that)?

Do not fret with food. It will only stress you and the short tail.

Keep her on the dry side and up the temps.

Still no loss of fluids through the mouth?
 
this^^^^^^and hes right about the temps even though we consider what type of snake it is. Dry and warmer have always been key for certain snakes in my side of the herp world, Ive wondered about higher humidity loving snakes but a bad shed is better than bad breathing.

Weve had many discussions on other sites however about certain Blue Tongue Skinks that come from humid areas having more breathing issues when kept dry, this is more of a question to Miguel, just curious what you think on that. Its obvious why I brought that up, but I became interested in it because mine in fact reacts that way.

Hope your snake does well girl.
 
I know nothing of Tiliquas ( blue tongued lizzards ) beyond the belief that they came from dry areas ( I understand now, from your post, that some derive from humid environments ).

I imagine a snake can get an RI in a dry environment, with the cause for that RI being the onslaught of bacteriae that inhabit the snakes system and get wild for any number of reasons, namely, if the snakes immune system is affected.

What I know is that RI's develop much more in humid environments, and that, even with snakes that thrive in those humid environments the rule is to dry out the system.

At the end of the day, too humid is far worse than too dry, even for tropical, rain forests snakes, considering the closed confines we keep them in.

Returning to the short-tails, I know of 6 yearlings that got an RI and, with the exception of one who died ( last week ), it took more than five months to cure them definitively ( relapse after relapse ).

So the trick for me is too ( going against all care sheets you see out there ) keep them dry and warm, and let them find the water( and inherent humidity ) if they need it.

M
 
Miguel;4601995; said:
I know nothing of Tiliquas ( blue tongued lizzards ) beyond the belief that they came from dry areas ( I understand now, from your post, that some derive from humid environments ).

I imagine a snake can get an RI in a dry environment, with the cause for that RI being the onslaught of bacteriae that inhabit the snakes system and get wild for any number of reasons, namely, if the snakes immune system is affected.

What I know is that RI's develop much more in humid environments, and that, even with snakes that thrive in those humid environments the rule is to dry out the system.

At the end of the day, too humid is far worse than too dry, even for tropical, rain forests snakes, considering the closed confines we keep them in.

Returning to the short-tails, I know of 6 yearlings that got an RI and, with the exception of one who died ( last week ), it took more than five months to cure them definitively ( relapse after relapse ).

So the trick for me is too ( going against all care sheets you see out there ) keep them dry and warm, and let them find the water( and inherent humidity ) if they need it.

M
Click to expand...
Yeah I think sometimes people forget how important it is to have multiple humidity and temp levels in an enclosure, rather than an animal not being able to judge for itself a bit more. I understand a lot of people dont have the room or money for the biggest and most elaborate enclosures but they need to try and consider that when deciding on an animal too. I know some herps are more straight forward, but I would think bloods would be a great example of needing a bit more thought put into the caging environment.

Well I hope hers pulls through.
 
Miguel;4600572; said:
Are those 2 bacteria sensitive to Amikacin ( the report should state that)?

Do not fret with food. It will only stress you and the short tail.

Keep her on the dry side and up the temps.

Still no loss of fluids through the mouth?
Click to expand...

Well he did have none lost thru the mouth but when I gave him his last injection he spit up a fair amount of water.... BUT he was soaking in his water bowl when I got home an hour or so before(I've been keeping the humidity low). So presumably tanked up on it and when he got held down and popped with a needle stressed him out enough to make him puke? :( He had never done that before and the needle really seems to upset him.

On the print out from the lab it does state Amakin is effective. It also lists Chloroamphenicol, Enrofloxacin, Gentamicin, Marbofloxacin and Trim/Sufla as "S/S" as well.
He was 114 grams when I first started the antibiotics, now down to 88.
 
jason longboard;4606600; said:
Yeah I think sometimes people forget how important it is to have multiple humidity and temp levels in an enclosure, rather than an animal not being able to judge for itself a bit more. I understand a lot of people dont have the room or money for the biggest and most elaborate enclosures but they need to try and consider that when deciding on an animal too. I know some herps are more straight forward, but I would think bloods would be a great example of needing a bit more thought put into the caging environment.

Well I hope hers pulls through.
Click to expand...


Thanks me too. :)
 
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