The problem is that he was at the end of his winter brumation when this started, and he actually hasn't eaten now for almost 6 months. He normally fasts for up to 4 months and doesn't lose any weight, but he's currently 300 gm down (10% of his body weight), and I'm concerned he won't have the energy to fight the infection.

He's normally a very eager feeder, grabbing 3 or 4 large portions at every feeding (usually every 2 weeks). This time I offered him 3 very small sections of chicken wing, and held the ends as he fed, to make sure he could easily ingest without blocking his airway. He fed very slowly for him, but I'm happy he has got something inside him. He is drinking as normal, and passed urates the other day.

I am concerned that it does require energy to digest. If I stick to small meals, would you normally feed him on his regular schedule, or more or less frequently?

For now I would stick to his regular schedule, just smaller meals, and bump him back up to normal when you stop the meds. I thought he had eaten fairly recently though?

He took one very very small piece over a week ago but then refused more, so I'm not counting it. I'm starting from yesterday's proper meal.

Fingers crossed he continues to improve!

Thanks, I am a lot more hopeful now than I was a week ago.

Im happy he is improving! Looking forward to more updates!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I finally tried steaming
 

Thanks to all enquiring after Samael's health. I'm now over half way through the course of antibiotics, and I thought we were through the woods until last night when he went back to gaping and wheezing, and again had a thread of white mucus in his mouth. :(

As snakes don't have a cough reflex (which I only just found out when researching this), I think the quite violent wheezing and contorting are the only way he has of ejecting mucus from his lungs and airway.

I went back in with a soft pipette and baby toothbrush, and cleared his mouth of what I could, and he seemed better, but still breathing with some effort, so I decided it was worth trying the steaming idea. As has been pointed out to me, breathing warm steamy air is not a cure for an RI, but may temporarily relieve some of the symptoms.

I boiled water (no additives, just water) and put it into 2 Pyrex beakers (from a coffee press) and stood these in a small tub, inside a larger tub with him in it, with a towel over the top to prevent steam escaping from the airholes. I left him in that warm steamy atmosphere for 30 minutes under very close observation to ensure he did not come into contact with the hot water.

He stopped wheezing and gaping in the tub, and seems OK this morning (although I do understand I'm probably just projecting my own wishes onto him...), so I think it at least didn't do any harm and might have made him more comfortable in the short term. I'm going to continue doing this on a daily basis for a while, at least until I have finished the antibiotic injections.

He has now had three sessions of this wheezing and mucus projection, one at the start of all this, one a month later, which prompted me to start the antibiotics, and then this one, in the third week of antibiotics. Between these episodes he's seemed fine.

Can anyone with experience of RIs tell me if this seems normal? Do they often relapse after seeming OK, or it is usually all done once the symptoms stop the first time?

Here are some photos from last night - holding his mouth open with a plastic pipette to clear the white mucus thread; him gaping to breathe after clearing (but at least with an unblocked glottis); and him in the steaming tub.

Poor baby. Sometimes we just have that one baby that’s always sick [emoji16] You’re doing great, Helen. I have very little experience with RI’s, so I’ll let someone else that knows, answer your question.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks for the sympathy. These snakes are usually so resilient I'm not used to having to nurse them - but thankfully he's a very patient patient. Can't imagine doing this with something less tame....