Corn Snakes -Persistent, Severe Respiratory Infection? Sinus Problems?

No, the fungal cultures did not come back, we opted to go ahead and initiate treatment because the cultures take 6+ weeks, apparently, and they were worsening.

However, after the first treatment, one of the snake's has worsened so much overnight, I'm not sure it's such a good idea anymore. I'm also not sure it's a good idea because I feel like the drug is making ME ill because of the constant required interference with the nebulizer.

And, my vet today pretty much told me he was giving up. Nobody will call him back for a consult.

So, I'm extremely depressed and have a migraine and have to figure out what I am going to do next.

Originally Posted by hhmoore

and I wouldn't breathe that stuff.....

Just curious, does the Ampho treatment mean the fungal cultures came back positive?
I'm guessing that the reason for nebulization is twofold - a) to directly coat/treat the airways, and b) to attempt to minimize systemic absorption. Ampho is metabolized pretty slowly...I know it can be found in urine for several weeks after cessation of IV administration (that's in humans). I'd be concerned with nephrotoxity, were you advised to push fluids?

Worsened in what way?

After Sharra, the oldest female, had the first breathing treatment of the Amphotericin B, the next day she literally had so much fluid buildup and was wheezing so badly I could see the fluid buildup in her throat and a little behind. I actually tried to sample some of it to take to the lab but she pushed it back down and i couldn't get it out.

Small update:

Have been speaking with my dear, good friend Tom Harbin, DVM, since my vet here in Gainesville is at a loss and has pretty much given up. We came to this decision:

I stopped the nebulizer treatments on the three corn snakes because:
1) The medicine was making me sick.
2) The medicine was making Sharra almost keel over and die.
3) The fungal culture STILL has not returned and I believe the sample will prove inadequate so I will not continue to harm myself and the snakes with the treatment until I have something more definitive.

Tom Harbin suggested to me going back to the Baytril, so that's what I've been doing. Every 3 days, I have been injecting .10cc of Baytril into a small fuzzy mouse. They are all still eating with no problems. I've done this 4 times, and none of them are showing any improvement.

If and when the fungal culture comes back, if it's negative, perhaps I'll speak to the vet about combining the Baytril with another antibiotic and perhaps a steroid, and inject those into the fuzzy as well to see if that maybe helps? I am at a total loss here.

I've attempted to contact Dr. Elliot Jacobsen via e-mail and phone, but I don't know if he's just not getting my messages or if he's on vacation or something. Dr. Rossi still has not returned my vet's phone call, neither has Dr. Stahl.

Grr, Argh.

The only thing is, all you've got is negative cultures....not much indication for changing, or combining, antibiotics. Did you ever do the fecal?

Negative bacterial cultures - the fungal still has not come back.

We did do fecal samples on all 3 snakes - Results as follows:

Adore - Normal
Sharra - An egg of something that 3 vets at the clinic had no idea what it was/could not identify
Argent - Egg of same thing that Sharra had, as well as something apparently "mite-like" in the feces - My snakes don't have mites, so I have no idea what on earth this could be.

We got further fecal samples on Sharra and Argent and sent them off to another lab with a veterinary pathologist. Stilll awaiting results.

I wonder if there were any kind of chemical agents used during the cleaning of the place before you moved there? Almost sounds like some sort of allergy or respiratory irritation due to environmental causes. Do you have a reptile room or are your animals located in a central location? If its just a smaller room, I would try using an air purifier to get rid of any possible air irritants and allergens. I talked to a friend of mine who works as a vet tech at a vet office that specializes in exotics plus he has a nice collection of reptiles himself. Also, if that does not alleviate any symptoms, maybe take the snakes to a vet that specializes in more exotic animal species, like reptiles. I heard the UF small animal hospital is one of the best in the country and it can't be too far from your location.

Someone else mentioned the air thing, I would think if that were the case more snakes would be sick, but it wouldn't hurt to try the air purifier. Do you have one? Wanna come over?

Yesterday was week 6 on the fungal cultures and still no results.

They've had 6 treatments of .10cc injected fuzzy mice, no improvements.

Sorry, I have no air purifier. I could still come over sometime anyways.
I am sure snakes are like other animals and different things can trigger their allergies. Just like any other animal, each snake's body is different.
What kind of substrate are you keeping them on?

NM, I read back and see you are keeping them on newspaper now.