WLP respiratory issues part two

[Elfmaze]

I decided to move this to a new thread cause its changed from a general care to save this snakes life type fight. my male white lip i've had for two weeks came to me with a sligght respirtory infection. he was getting oral meds for a few days but after fighting and almost hurting himself trying to avoid the oral meds we switched him to baytril injections of 2cc's.
Neither white lip were interested in eating as much as defensive strikes today. but the bigger problem is even with daily soaks in my wash tub the mal(also mid shed process) Is very wrinkly and badly dehydrated. i can't get him to drink. how can i emergencely rehydrate a snake???

[Elfmaze]

ok so i got him to drink from a bowl of water, but he threw it up about five minuits later. gave him another injection.

The female we gave her her oral 4cc's of baytril. BUT this is the second day in a row that not all of it got swallowed. i estimate 2cc's got rejected both days. should i just switch her to the injections as well?

[hhmoore]

Tip number one: when pushing fluids with a skittish snake, leave them alone!!!! trying to handle them, even to put them back in their enclosure will frequently prompt them to spill their guts (gotta lighten the load to speed their escape). I don't know what you are currently keeping them in, but a 15 qt sterilite should hold a yearling WLP for soaking (don't even worry about making air holes, they are not airtight, just put some water in - about half the height of the snake - cover and leave in the enclosure (if it fits, in a suitably warm area if not) for an hour or so.
(furnace guy came, so I was away for awhile...)
Tip #2 Get a feeding catheter and large syringe. It means you have to go back to opening the snake's mouth again, but it guarantees water going in...and you know just how much. Your vet should supply both, but you may be able to get them locally - check feed stores, farm supply, etc

I am not a huge fan of oral antibiotics with snakes (at least for this type of problem), though sometimes they are a feasible option. Switching the female to injectable is feasible, but I thought you said she was improving? Might be worth just trying to improve upon your administation technique for the last few doses, if that is the case. If she is, in fact worsening, injections are (IMO) the way to go. The question is, did your vet provide you with prefilled syringes, or did you purchase a bottle of Baytril? (again, yearling WLPs are not all that big, so a 2cc dose does sound excessive - makes me wonder about the actual size/weight of your snakes, and the concentration of the Baytril). If you were given prefills, you likely won't have enough of them to make the switch and continue treating the male (without another trip to the vet)

[hhmoore]

quick note - be careful with the water temperature. You only want it in the mid-high 80s, which should be just slightly cool to the touch. Many people go too warm with the water (remember snakes body temperatures are dependent on the surrounding conditions...if you put them in 100 degree water, their body temp will quickly be 100 degrees)

[Elfmaze]

the snakes are 502 grams for the male and 603 for the female. the injections are preloaded. and he said i can get more if i switched her over. She has been improving but still has some mucas...i just don't want to have to start all over with her as well...

[hhmoore]

are you sure you are giving 2cc? not 0.2cc?
I just don't understand why they would dilute it to that much volume for injection (though, I suppose there could be lower concentration than the standard small animal formula)

[Elfmaze]

oh snap yeah.. .2 and .4

[hhmoore]

It's been a couple weeks - how are they doing?

[Elfmaze]

It got pretty dicey in there. At one point with my male we were having to force him to drink be physically putting his face in the water bowl twice a day. He was more shrivled up than a prune after sitting in the hot sun for a week. BUT he seems to have made a full recovery from it and has even eaten! The female Still hasn't eatten since i got her. A shed last week and when i tried to feed her after she was don eher meds was an interesting experience.

She didn't eat but did kill the mouse. She was brutal to it. Bit it multiple times like a black mamba would. then when the mouse tryed to run away bleeding she followed it bit it again and wrapped it. When it was dead she looked at it and though about eating it but soon decided it wasn't worth it an dleft the little bloody ball of mouse just sitting there. I wonder if her tooth is still hurting her. Or if she originally broke the tooth killing like this?

[Elfmaze]

FINALLY!!! THEY ARE BOTH EATING!!!! Woot, Now if i can just get my older ball eating agian we'd be in buisness.