Respiratory infection?!?!? help?

PureLine Exotics · 10-30-11, 02:07 PM

I am currently on a job site 8 hours away from home. I have my next door neighbours 14 year old kid taking care of my animals. He is basically taking care of my cat, but a few of my adult snakes are there too. he does not take care of my snakes, i have my mother in law take care of that. With this being said he has access to all of my animals, even though I have seriously restricted these things from being touched. Yesterday he took out my 7 foot pastel boa. She is very friendly, but still I RESTRICTED this form him. THEN he took her outside to show his girlfriend!!!!! I live in Alberta, Canada. IT IS ALMOST NOVEMBER! I do not know for sure how long she was out there, but today she is blowing bubbles!!! Please help me figure out what we can do, because as I said I am 8 hours away and cannot help my girl. Any info helps!
thanks,
Amber

youngster · 10-30-11, 02:38 PM

Wow, some people...

alessia55 · 10-30-11, 02:38 PM

My cages have locks on them. Considering your situation, it would be a good idea to invest in locks for your cages too, and give the keys to only your mother-in-law when she's taking care of your snakes.

PureLine Exotics · 10-30-11, 03:14 PM

is there any way to continue without a vet visit.? i would have to drive 8 hours and miss work to take her. my people wont.

Lankyrob · 10-30-11, 05:16 PM

It "sounds" like a RI but without seeing it is hard ot say. Personally i would be getting it to a vet asap.

PureLine Exotics · 10-30-11, 05:18 PM

thanks im gonna try

**millertime89** · 10-31-11, 12:29 AM

good luck, kick the kid in the nuts and make him pay for the vet trip

**lady_bug87** · 10-31-11, 07:50 AM

2 of my snakes are at. My moms and They are pad locked my green tree is padlocked locks are the greatest thing. I trust no one lol

shaunyboy · 10-31-11, 08:01 AM

at the early signs of a respiritory infection,i up my hot end temps by 4 or 5 degrees,for 2 to 3 weeks

if caught early enough this can let the snake sort it out without meds

its only carpet pythons i keep but it works well on them

cheers shaun

snake man12 · 10-31-11, 08:05 AM

Yeah up the temps and it could go away before getting to serious

red_tail_ale · 11-03-11, 09:23 PM

Usually I'd attribute that behavior to stress, but the bubbles and being out in the cold are good indicators of an RTI.

RTI's can hurt your snake, and you need to get her to a vet as soon as possible.
However, in your situation being so far away that's not possible. RTIs are bad, but they will not immediately kill your snake. My red-tailed boa had an RTI for four weeks before she was able to be treated (the only exotic vets were "on vacation"...sheesh).
Keep in mind, though, the longer they have the infection, the longer it will take to treat. My girl didn't get well until about 1 1/2 weeks after treatment finished.

But, you can do something to fight the infections and prevent it from progressing.

First, turn your heat up. If you run a day/night cycle on your heat source, try to have your day cycle run longer. If you have a ceramic "no-light" bulb, leave it on full all day. Try to keep the heat at about 90 degrees, as this will fight the infection. Obviously, you'll want to keep this on the warm side so your snake does not cook or get stressed (that will exacerbate the infection).
Second, lower your humidity. The bacteria will die quicker in a dry environment. But keep fresh water available for her so she doesn't dry up.

But above all, get her to the vet ASAP. If it goes on for too long, she may be in danger.

I took my 4 foot red-tailed boa to a local vet. They treated her with 3 injections of antibiotics. In the end it cost me $110 total, (about $20 per injection, plus a $50 exam fee, but this varies). But she's healthy as ever now. It's worth it.

Good luck!

Kcsearle · 11-03-11, 10:42 PM

I have no advice but all I want to say I hope she gets better soon

as for that kid make him pay for it!! And if you are paying this kid can I suggest him not being payed considering

Shmoges · 11-04-11, 03:55 PM

Firstly kill the kid so he isn't a pet caretaker option lol. Offer the snake higher temps to boost its immune system to combat the obvious RI reduce access to moisture. The next step is a vet visit but you can try home remedies such as buying some F10 disinfectant and purchasing a nebulizer (used for asthmatics) and try daily doses of that to cure it.

PureLine Exotics · 11-09-11, 07:01 PM

so we drove the long trip and i took my girl into the vet, chewed a piece out of my sitter, and locked the cages

i was given baytril and gave her 0.7 cc's daily for 5 days. i found out she is very comfortable with us, even getting an injection. she went into her blues on about day 4 which the vet told us was a healthy sign! she still was an amazing girl and easily took her needle even beginning to shed. we kept the temp at about 85 this whole process. she looks much better now, and i really appreciate all the help!

alessia55 · 11-09-11, 07:02 PM

Glad to hear the good news! Locks on your cages are a great idea

Glad you got those too!