Respiratory Infection Concern

[gracencleo]

Hello everyone. I just recently adopted a 2 year old female BP. I have now had her for a little over 4 weeks. In this time she has not eaten for me, despite being offered different types of prey 3 times. On top of this, she has a respiratory infection. I noticed frequent "yawning" and a slight wheeze about a week into owning her, so I took her to the vet immediately. The vet confirmed my fear, she indeed has an RI. Over 2 weeks she had 4 injections of Amyglide(sp?). Unfortunately I saw no improvement in these two weeks, so the vet decided to move to Baytril. After two injections of Baytril over one week I still am not seeing signs of improvement. The vet is very knowledgable with reptiles and I trust him. I travel an hour to take Cleo (that is her name) to him, but I am worried for my girl. I researched BPs extensively before adopting her. The conditions in her enclosure are optimal. I have hygrometers and thermometers on both the cool and hot side, and the conditions have been within range for the past 4 weeks. Does treatment of an RI start working immediately? Do symptoms get worse before they get better? She is not open mouth breathing, but she is still "yawning" a lot, wheezing, and occasionally making gurgling sounds. You can see bubbles at the corner of her mouth and sometimes if I am handling her (Which I am trying not to do too much as she does not feel well) you can see bubbling at the nostril. Also she is 1300 grams if that helps and I am kind of estimating her age. She has another appointment in 2 days for another injection and follow up appointment and I know I will not sleep until I get some clarity. I just want her to be healthy and feel better. If anyone can shed some light on how BPs recover with antibiotic injections please help me out.

[ClockwerkBonnet]

What are your temperature and humidity levels?

[gracencleo]

Humidity ranges between 55% and 70%. I try to keep it around 60%. Temp on warm side right now is 89.2 with the hot spot being 93. On the cool side temp is 78.2. These are usually true to what my temperatures always are. they may drop a degree or 2 at night.

[Albert Clark]

Reptiles heal very slowly and their enviornment needs to be cleaned very well during bouts of illness. I heard you mention the thermometers and hygrometers but how are you REGULATING the heat? The recommended frequency of treatment for RI in reptiles ( depending on pathogenic identification) is daily injections. Especially with Baytril, should be for at least 10 days straight. Sometimes it may be longer and as long as 30 days. The reptile needs to remain hydrated as well, so soaking the animal should be part of the treatment plan especially if the reptile isn't drinking enough water on a daily or frequent interval. Consider going over the frequency of the injectables with your Vet and or consider a second opinion. If you do REGULATE the heat in the enclosure (thermostat) consider also bumping up the temperature on the settings of the thermostat. Remember, reptiles don't show signs of illness right away and they also heal slowly as well.

[gracencleo]

Yes the heat is regulated with a thermostat. I will likely end up getting a second opinion. Thank you.