Vet visit Info....

Well, I took my big girl to the vet the other day... when it was all said and done, it cost me 183.00 for the visit. He said she has a RI (reason i went in first place) and he put her on Fortaz for what he said could be a case of pneumonia. I was also concerned that I thought she may be pregnant as she got the swells, and hasn't eaten, but she had also lost 5 pounds, so he did an X-Ray, and where were "eggs" in there, so thats also another plus. Now to see if all goes well because she caught a good chill when all the power went out here for a week.. (reason for the RI). She got chilled pretty good, but I was able to warm her up, so hopefully she will be fine as will the babies... Just gave her her second injecton today of her antibiotics, and all looks much better.... heres to hoping....

Hope it works out for you Sean. Its always fun to give a big boa a shot.lol Can you treat a gravid female? I know you have to worry about her first, but I didn't know if it would affect the babies. Good luck.

The vet didn't go with a secondary med? (frequently-usually do, with Fortaz...seems it does well combined with an aminoglycoside). Also, I don't know how the meds were provided, or if you were told this, but Fortaz has a very limited "shelf life" once constituted: it can be kept at room temp for 24 hrs, and refrigerated for 7 days. (I don't recall if there is a limit to how long it can be frozen).
As far as administration to a gravid snake, you probably won't have problems with the babies - rodent studies were performed and showed no gestational response/injury/impairment at much larger than normal doses (of course, we are talking about a reptile, lol). Just make sure she takes plenty of water - like most injectable ABX, Fortaz is nephrotoxic to our scaled friends...if she isn't drinking, you might consider soaking - much less stressful than trying to tube water with a gravid boa.

You could also SubQ the fluids to help combat side affects from the meds. It's a lot less stressful than tubing........ if it came down to that.

How long has it been between copulation and Xray? Just curious, cuz the look of the ovum could tell whether she has taken or not. I had Aurora Xrayed before giving her meds, and at two months, no skeletal growth was detected, but should have been if she took. But the ovum showed up plain as day, all spread around the lower 1/2 of her body.





Anyway, may ease your mind, or make it worse, HAHA, knowing if she has babies or not. Either way, I wish you the best of luck in this ordeal. Hope it all turns out well in the end.


Rick

she is due the middle of June if it took, but I didn't see anything other than ovum in there... the Dr seemed to think it was normal, and should go well. I on the other hand din't think the male was all that into it when it started, as I only saw them hooked up a few times, but stranger things have happened, will have to see how it all goes. I will keep everyone informed as it progresses... she seems 150% better since it all started, and is back to breathing normally. Also, it seems like alot of people that have snakes have an easy supply of the meds for them. Is there someplace to get stuff to treat snakes when needed rather than making a trip to the vet every time... seems like if you have a bunch of snakes, it could be pretty expensive if something bad happens to one or two of them. I know someone that had a sick snake, and he just took it to a local snake guy, and he gave it the injections... then again, the guy was kind of shady.....

Depending on the type of med you are looking for, there may be an online or local source. Most antibiotics, however, require a prescription...(I'd better stop here before I climb back on my soapbox and get started, lol)

Some things are worth a soap box Harald.

Antibiotics are not always good if you don't have the right one. The vet is needed to prescribe the right AB to battle the right microbe. Other wise your endangering the animals health, and not fixing the problem.

People are a bit too quick to self prescribe AB treatment to their herps. Probably have good intentions, but it don't always work out best.

A vet is recommended IMHO, at least for consultation if nothing else.


Rick

Absolutely... I can totally understand that. I was just wondering how some people seem to have and endless supply of AB to give to thier snakes every time they have a RI. Seems they either didn't finish off an old container and are giving old AB or maybe they jsut keep it on hand. I have been lucky, and this is the first RI that any of my snakes have ever gotten... Hopefully the last, but realistically... doubtful.

Most use Tylosin (Tylan 200) which is readily available at valley vet and many other sites. I have some too. But I wouldn't use it without talking to my vet first.

Originally Posted by crotalusadamanteus

Most use Tylosin (Tylan 200)

sez who?