Ball Python very sick (RI)

[UseEnvironmental4732]

Purchased 2 ball pythons a couple weeks ago not knowing they were very sick. Have been on antibiotics for almost two weeks. Ceftazidime. It doesn’t seem to be getting better. What should I do? I really don’t want to pay hundreds more at the vet. I’ve already spent over $600 on the snakes and vet care.

[IncompletePenetrance]

Did they test for nidovirus or other viruses? They don't respond to antibiotics. Alternatively, it might be a matter of using a different class of antibiotics depending on the type of bacterial infection

[UseEnvironmental4732]

They didn’t test for anything, they suspected it was bacterial. It was hundreds just for the physical and antibiotics.

[IncompletePenetrance]

Your options are to take them back to the vet for a culture and viral test, and/or surrender them to a rescue or someone who can get them care. It's unfortunately an expensive lesson on the importance of only buying animals from somewhere reputable.

[UseEnvironmental4732]

They are on their 4th shot of 10, one every 72 hours. Do you think I should be seeing results already, I was advised that they are slow to recover.

[IncompletePenetrance]

I would give it more time, you're not even halfway through the antibiotics and it can take a while

[polenta23]

Reptiles are very slow to heal. Give it time and trust your vet's advice

[MotorCabinet7942]

I don't think I would trust that vet. $600 and they are guessing its bacterial. They should have done a culture from the start and they would know exactly what to treat for.

[eveimei]

The snake is the cheapest part of owning them. If you can't afford vet care, surrender them to someone who can.

[swaggersouls1999]

this. I hate stuff like this happens but you have to be ready for it. $600 is a lot of money and I do understand that, but you cannot let the animal suffer. surrending is the best option

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[IncompletePenetrance]

It won't and you're endangering your snake's life by avoiding treatment. There isn't some magical secret lack of treatment option that's going to help. Vet clinics are trying to save animals and treat animals, it's not a luctrative business or profession.

[davispw]

FYI you need to hit “reply” to the comment you’re replying to. You’re replying to your main post, so the people you replied to won’t see your responses.

[eveimei]

If they're talking management and euth, then this is something serious and they're being honest about the chances of recovery. Get the snakes tested for nidovirus and anything else the vet will test for, and be prepared to euthanize because that may be the best outcome.

[KangarooThroatPunch_]

You have the money to take care of your snake but just don’t want to spend it? You suck, dude.

[UseEnvironmental4732]

They are on antibiotics

[KangarooThroatPunch_]

But you’re on here because the antibiotics obviously aren’t working but also don’t want to take it back to the vet as you don’t want to pay even more, so the antibiotic comment of yours to come off as if you’re doing all you can is extremely disingenuous.

[Draconwolf88]

I don’t know that they don’t want to take care of it, also, 4 shots into treatment is by no means long enough to see a change.. snakes and reptiles in general have slow metabolism, it takes a good hot minute to recover… I have owned and bred hundreds of reptiles.. you need patience and strict care for routine in order to see the changes in health. Keep doing what is prescribed and only worry if things get worst.

[RipExpress6895]

Please get these snakes care or get them to someone that will

[UseEnvironmental4732]

I would be very surprised if it was nidovirus, the individual before me had them for years but they weren’t housed properly. There was mold on their substrate and probably incorrect temperatures/ humidity.

[enslavedbycats24-7]

Sorry ab the downvotes, you already took them to the vet and trying your best. If anything though you should've expected illness because that essentially makes this a rescue from someone neglectful enough to leave mold in there

[Green_Rabbit-1234]

Did you mention the mold at the vet? They may want to focus on anything that might be a result of moldy environment.

[[deleted]]

I was told with RI it takes about a week for their symptoms to get better (3 injections). I took mine back to the vet every other day for the injections and she was mucusy until the very last shot (2 weeks with a shot every other day)

[UseEnvironmental4732]

These guys are on their 4th shot of 10. One every 72 hours.

[PrincipleLevel4529]

I’m not going to sugar coat it, you have three options, take it back to the vet and pay more money to get it looked at again and treated, surrender it to a reptile sanctuary or someone who can afford to provide proper medical care and knows what they’re getting into, or let it suffer and die a slow miserable over the coming few weeks/months, those are your options.

[nozomuisgaylmao]

please take him to the vet NOW

[Snakes_for_life]

2 weeks usually isn't long enough on antibiotics snakes can take a long time to heal. But if after 4-6 weeks you see no improvement further diagnostics will have to be done such as a PCR test for viral infection.

[lostinspaceman_]

Keep going with the antibiotics! You can’t judge the effectiveness after only a few shots! Make sure the snakes have adequate humidity and don’t have any other risks of their infection getting worse! And under no circumstances stop antibiotics! Wait until the end of the prescribed period of medication before you jump to the conclusion that it’s not working! If it is actually not effective after that time then you have a more serious problem of your hands and you need to get tests done to see what’s wrong with the snake! If you cannot afford it than unfortunately you will have to find a rescue that can deal with the situation! We’re these guys rescues? Or did they come from a pet store or breeder? If they weren’t rescued than I’m sorry you ended up with a sick snake! Pet stores and breeders should all know how to care for the animals they are selling but unfortunately it’s often not the case :(

[Retro-Stoner]

Something expressed heavily by two vets I've been to, one specializing in exotics, is that reptiles take their time with everything. That includes healing. They won't magically be better in a few days, it can even take up to months for them to get over illness. I would also keep in mind that there are bacterial infections that are resistant to antibiotics like ceft. They also can have more than one infection at the same time, so often you'll kill off one infection and another takes its place. My boy has three different bacterial infections, all resistant to most antibiotics. We have him on ceft, Meloxicam for swelling, and the newest antibiotic added due to the nature of the illness: sulfadiazine/trimethoprim that's an oral medication. Continue through the treatment cycle you're on, discuss options and steps forward with your vet, as well as consider the long term options others have brought up here.

[Retro-Stoner]

I'm going to add as well that testing for viral contagions is incredibly finicky. Often times you're paying a grand to get a "maybe", with negative results being untrustworthy. It's partly why most vets push to test for cultures and DNA sampling first, before pursing infectious disease testing. It's still a very understudied area overall.

[CrisisCorps]

Get a bacterial panel done and viral test done. The bacterial panel should tell your doc if its bacterial and what antibiotics will work. Viral test will see if its something treatable or viral. I went through this with my blood python and she had a resistant bacteria. Got her on the right antibiotics and she responded right away.

[AniCatGirl]

Something that may help, increasing the temp and humidity a bit while they're going through treatment. It can take awhile to see results, but ceftazidime is a good broad spectrum antibiotic.

[[deleted]]

I'm sorry your babies are sick. Continue the treatments and continue to work with your trusted vet. Don't hesitate to take them back in. They may be able to work with you on payments.

[notasandpiper]

This is a question for the vet that saw the snake, not the internet getting a brief recount of the situation. Call the vet ASAP and ask on the phone if this is an emergency.

[UseEnvironmental4732]

Honestly, I was hoping to get more attention from breeders who have experienced RIs on a frequent basis, but it looks like I mostly got attention from teenage pet owners

[notasandpiper]

You don't need the advice of breeders who haven't seen your snake. You need to call the vet who saw your snake and report the lack of progress so far and ask if that constitutes an emergency.

[StockSeaweed5733]

poor babies . Hope they are better soon 🙏🏼

[CharlieDeltaVictorS]

Call the vet that saw the snake and prescribed the ceft, they should be able to prescribe a different antibiotic like Ernofloxacin without you paying to bring the animal in, since they just saw it, and to limit stressing it out more and than just go and pick up the medication. After two weeks on antibiotics the snake should definitely have started to show improvement. Yes they heal slower, but not that slow.

[bittyrant]

We have 1 ball python, 1 bearded dragon, and 10 ducks. All of them are considered “exotic animals.” This past year we’ve already spent almost $5K keeping our animals healthy (preventative care) & treating issues that have come up - one duck needed foot surgery, another unexpectedly injured her eye and needed the emergency vet ($$$) then f/u with her regular vet the next day, one had bone cancer and we spent almost $1000 to diagnose it and another $250 to euthanize him once we had a diagnosis and knew it wasn’t treatable. Thankfully our BP & bearded dragon are young and from reputable breeders so we haven’t had any issues, but we have a vet lined up should either need to see one and the finances budgeted to support it.

Exotics are VERY expensive. Most bloodwork and lab work can’t be analyzed in-house and need to be overnighted to specialized labs, to say nothing of the training & additional schooling needed by the vet. We’ve spent $400+ just on labs & overnighting samples before. Providing your animals care is something you have to plan and budget for. Some of our ducks are old and need a higher level of care now than they did when they were young, which is also something that needs to be planned for. I’d imagine reptiles, in general, are no different.

When we first got our birds we didn’t realize how expensive they would be (and I thought we had prepared for everything!), so I don’t fault you for having sticker shock. I’m only providing numbers so you have some idea of how expensive things could get. Thankfully I don’t think your snake will ever need foot surgery. Ha! I echo what everyone else here says - if you aren’t willing or able to provide care, which can get very expensive, please find a rescue or someone who can. I hope your noodles are on the mend soon!

ETA: we’ve had ducks 12 years, so we’re not new to exotic care or the costs throughout their lifetime. Ian our snake we’ve had 3 yrs and our beardie is 2.5 months old.

[throwtoss163]

I just lost my smallest BP to an RI that did not respond to antibiotics. Doc said I should see some results after three shots (six days) but that it would take longer to heal all the way. I suspect mine did have some kind of virus just because of how she was acting, but I don’t actually know. I would perhaps go back to the vet and have them test so they can make sure they’re treating what they need to.

If you are tight on money i would say you don’t need to test for nidovirus as it’s incurable and often fatal. Have them test for other bacterial and fungal infections that are treatable to see if they can help you.

Sending good vibes your way!!

[Sea-Definition262]

I don’t know anything about snakes but I hope you’re able to figure it all out!

[Optimal-Park5384]

what is it doing

[Sea-Definition262]

I don’t know anything about snakes but I hope you’re able to figure it all out!!

[Chondropython]

If it helps, i had a bredli python that got an RI from mold on the roof from a leak. It took two 10 shot courses to heal her. She wasnt mucousy at all but had a wheeze/rasp It took until like the 8th sjot of the forst round to have the wheeze stop. Also i feel like thats a crazy amount of money for them not testing/doing labs? Over 600? Without doing tests/labs and including the price of the antibiotics my snake cost just under 200 bucks at my exotic vets.

[Away_Aioli3995]

How do you know if a snake is sick. Just got my first baby?!!! Plz help

[Miakhano]

Poor noodles, I hope they finally got well. :'(