Tee tree oil... Safe for corn snake?

Maddiek714 · 11-29-17, 06:07 PM

Recently, I've found an at-home remedy to "cure" my snake of his respiratory infection. He has no bubbles in or around his mouth, but he wheezes alot. I've read that a combination of Vick's vapor rub and eucalyptus oil will help with the problem. I don't have Vick's, bit I have something very similar. It contains eucalyptus oil, tee tree oil, and other essential oils. Before doing this experiment, I did research and found that tee tree oil can be harmful to snakes, but the person who said this was responding to someone who was actually rubbing the oil on their snake to treat mites. Would tea tree oil still be toxic to snakes if it were only inhaled by the snake? Thanks in advance.

TRD · 11-30-17, 03:45 PM

No, a vet visit you need for an RI.

Btw, just wheezing is not a definitive sign of an RI. How long has he had that anyway.

TeamSlitherin · 11-30-17, 05:00 PM

I would not use any essential oils To treat a snake. If you think he has an RI, your best bet is a vet visit. But what is the wheezing sound you hear? And how long has it been going on?

Maddiek714 · 11-30-17, 09:24 PM

My snake first wheezed on the car ride out of the reptile store 😞. He's an interesting fellow, he has always had white pupils (not from eye caps, they've just always been white). But the wheezing sounds like quick, sharp exhales and sometimes there's a clicking sound with it. I've checked his mouth a few times, there's never been any bubbles in or around his mouth.

akane · 12-01-17, 12:27 AM

Herbals can be quite strong actually and tea tree oil is one of the riskier ones for actually increasing respiratory problems, neurological toxicity, and nerve damage in the wrong situation or with repeated used. How strong it is actually is why I have it around but generally I am very cautious and the times I wasn't were on myself with an area of damaged skin taking months to heal from repeated application before I went to a doctor instead. I use it as a single application for fungal infections and some wounds on mammals and with extreme caution in fish tanks because miscalculations about how much is building up in the water is how people have killed fish quite frequently but I don't even want to use it and decided against attempting eucalyptus for my own chronic respiratory problems after prescribed inhalers weren't providing enough relief. If the situation is irritation of the respiratory or some type of excessive response to an internal problem then adding things like that to the air can increase the irritation and response by the body to protect the airway resulting in more damage or difficulty breathing. You can kill something as easily picking the wrong concentrated herbal and not measuring it out as buying livestock medications or other sources and not using it correctly. Plus if you really aren't sure what is causing the symptoms. You can't be sure what will happen when you try a treatment. Vague minor respiratory symptoms does not make a specific infection diagnoses but could be the result of multiple types of infection or other problems.

Captain837 · 12-01-17, 07:31 AM

I have used the eucalyptus oil/vics vapor rub treatment in the past with success. It was an initial treatment prior to going to the vet and ended up saving me a trip. The only reason I tried it was that it was recommended by a vet.
As for tea tree oil, the only thing I have used that for was to prevent our puppy from chewing on drip line which worked like a charm.