Novek
03-04-13, 01:50 PM
Hey all, I'm posting this for a friend in hopes that maybe one or several of you could help (I don't have any ball pythons myself). His ball pythons are suffering from a respiratory infection and I'm at a loss for providing any additional advice. I've copied and pasted this from another site forum:
Since April of 2012 I have battled with a respiratory in my small Ball Python collection. As far as how it started, I believe it was a mixture of things. I live quite northern and our winters are very dry. That, coupled with my inexperience, have given me quite the headache and done a number on my wallet.
I noticed wheezing and blocked-sounding breathing from two male ball pythons. They had lots of bubbles in the mouth but still had an appetite and would move plenty. I Googled the symptoms and found that it seemed like an early-stage respiratory infection. I was using Aspen bedding and had these guys in a very large terrarium with three other males. I had my heat lamps on timers (I know, I know). I was able to get the temperature about 4 degrees warmer too as I thought that would help. It didn't. Following that, I made sure to be extra sterile and changed to using paper towels as substrate.
I brought both snakes to a vet and had them treated with Baytril. I noticed the bubbles would reduce and the breathing seemed a lot better after a couple of weeks. I thought the infection had gone away so I stopped reading and figured that would be that. I noticed during regular rounds that a different male had the symptoms again; then another one. I decided to take the plunge and buy snake racks so at least I could quarantine the snakes and use a thermostat to control my temperatures; which I had struggled maintaining in the past. I continued with the Baytril injections on all five males.
Weeks passed and I noticed it in a female. I had my females separated from the males and was very alarmed that this had happened. This puts us at around October with only the original three infected. I started a Baytril schedule and had them treated every 3-4 days for 8 treatments each. This kept them healthy and they were still eating. I had them quarantined in separate tubs. Let's fast forward to today.
I have the quarantine rack in a separate room and have been swabbing their mouths, rinsing it with saline, and then orally treating with Apo-Sulfatrim that have been crushed down and mixed with saline. I have lost snakes in this battle. My eight-bin rack has a snake in each bin that are infected. I am awaiting the results of the mouth-swabs I did. When the lab grows the culture, they can advise me with the best medicine to treat with.
I've purchased snake racks, high-quality thermostats, a heat gun, new hide boxes and water dishes that were easier to keep sterile. I'm still using paper towels as substrate. I'm washing their water dishes every two days. I have documented each date they eat and record the weight of the rat/mouse. I also record their weights each time they shed. The sheds are always in one piece and for that reason, I don't mist them. The water in their dish seems to provide ample humidity.
I fear my female fire may pass soon as her body is fairly limp. She weighs in at about two hundred grams. This infection hits smaller snakes faster. My male fire of two hundred and fifty grams just passed a few nights ago. I pried his mouth open to check inside and it was yellow/brown mucous. The same was found in the female pastel that passed last week.
With the exception of the female fire, the rest are now eating live mice as they no longer show interest in frozen thawed rats. I am treating her with Baytril later today and have been swabbing her mouth and flushing it with saline. I also let her swim around in a pool of warm water.
It seems like the Baytril kept the infection at bay in the beginning but didn't cure it. The original three are still in quarantine.
I hope I've provided enough information for someone to shed some light. I could have left out information but wanted to present it all for assessment. I do not want judgement on allowing this to happen. I beat myself up over this and feel like I am providing them ideal living conditions now. If not, of course I will adapt to the proper. I want to expand my collection but not without knowing this is gone for good.
Please help.
Thanks.
Since April of 2012 I have battled with a respiratory in my small Ball Python collection. As far as how it started, I believe it was a mixture of things. I live quite northern and our winters are very dry. That, coupled with my inexperience, have given me quite the headache and done a number on my wallet.
I noticed wheezing and blocked-sounding breathing from two male ball pythons. They had lots of bubbles in the mouth but still had an appetite and would move plenty. I Googled the symptoms and found that it seemed like an early-stage respiratory infection. I was using Aspen bedding and had these guys in a very large terrarium with three other males. I had my heat lamps on timers (I know, I know). I was able to get the temperature about 4 degrees warmer too as I thought that would help. It didn't. Following that, I made sure to be extra sterile and changed to using paper towels as substrate.
I brought both snakes to a vet and had them treated with Baytril. I noticed the bubbles would reduce and the breathing seemed a lot better after a couple of weeks. I thought the infection had gone away so I stopped reading and figured that would be that. I noticed during regular rounds that a different male had the symptoms again; then another one. I decided to take the plunge and buy snake racks so at least I could quarantine the snakes and use a thermostat to control my temperatures; which I had struggled maintaining in the past. I continued with the Baytril injections on all five males.
Weeks passed and I noticed it in a female. I had my females separated from the males and was very alarmed that this had happened. This puts us at around October with only the original three infected. I started a Baytril schedule and had them treated every 3-4 days for 8 treatments each. This kept them healthy and they were still eating. I had them quarantined in separate tubs. Let's fast forward to today.
I have the quarantine rack in a separate room and have been swabbing their mouths, rinsing it with saline, and then orally treating with Apo-Sulfatrim that have been crushed down and mixed with saline. I have lost snakes in this battle. My eight-bin rack has a snake in each bin that are infected. I am awaiting the results of the mouth-swabs I did. When the lab grows the culture, they can advise me with the best medicine to treat with.
I've purchased snake racks, high-quality thermostats, a heat gun, new hide boxes and water dishes that were easier to keep sterile. I'm still using paper towels as substrate. I'm washing their water dishes every two days. I have documented each date they eat and record the weight of the rat/mouse. I also record their weights each time they shed. The sheds are always in one piece and for that reason, I don't mist them. The water in their dish seems to provide ample humidity.
I fear my female fire may pass soon as her body is fairly limp. She weighs in at about two hundred grams. This infection hits smaller snakes faster. My male fire of two hundred and fifty grams just passed a few nights ago. I pried his mouth open to check inside and it was yellow/brown mucous. The same was found in the female pastel that passed last week.
With the exception of the female fire, the rest are now eating live mice as they no longer show interest in frozen thawed rats. I am treating her with Baytril later today and have been swabbing her mouth and flushing it with saline. I also let her swim around in a pool of warm water.
It seems like the Baytril kept the infection at bay in the beginning but didn't cure it. The original three are still in quarantine.
I hope I've provided enough information for someone to shed some light. I could have left out information but wanted to present it all for assessment. I do not want judgement on allowing this to happen. I beat myself up over this and feel like I am providing them ideal living conditions now. If not, of course I will adapt to the proper. I want to expand my collection but not without knowing this is gone for good.
Please help.
Thanks.