Quote:
Originally Posted by danktat
Doesn't appear to be. This sound is different than a normal gasp from clogged nostrils. The force behind it is intense and the body gets very tensed up. I will keep an eye on her and see what the vet says if this persists.
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oops...here I go again...walking away from the keyboard before I hit enter and missing posts. Sounds like she does have a little cold or something. good luck. If you do go to the vet and get some antibiotics...double check the dosage before actually giving it. Some of these vets give some pretty screwed up dosages and end up blowing kidneys.
I have no idea if you have treated RIs before so I'll just assume you haven't for fun and tell you what I do if I have to treat with antibiotics.
Amikacin, I do 5mg/kg IM initially and then half that (2.5 mg/kg) every 72 hours for a couple of weeks
Baytril, I start out at 10mg/kg and then 5mg/kg every 48 hours no more than 5 total injections or PO doses. If given PO, keep it at 10mg/kg for all doses and mix it with some ensure or something so it doesn't burn going down.
Both of these antibiotics will dehydrate and can cause kidney failure. Simply making sure she's well hydrated while being treated will prevent this.
Baytril injections are cytotoxic. This means tissue damage at the injection site is somewhere between possible and likely. If you cut it with a little injectable saline, you reduce the risk of "baytril burn" scars.
10mg of baytril per kg of snake does not mean that if your snake happens to weigh 2.2 pounds or exactly one Kg that you draw up 10mg / 10 CCs of baytril. Use this formula. weight times dosage divided by strength. Let's say your snake weighs .75 kg then you multiply that times the dosage (10)..you get 7.5. The baytril you will get comes in 22.7mg per ml strength. So 7.5 divided by 22.7 = .33 ...that's how many cc you draw up into the syringe. Using a little 1cc insulin syringe you would pull up about 3 and 1/2 10ths of a cc. If you are injecting and not doing oral, then you would give that dosage at first and then cut it in half for the next 4 shots given every other day.
Typically, if the dosage is less than a half CC, baytril burns don't happen...at least I've never burned one on such a low dose. It's the big ones that need like a whole cc or 2 that tend to get burns and need it diluted.
Very important to inject in the upper 1/2 of the snake's body towards the head. If you inject towards the tail half, you can blow the kidneys and kill your snake...slowly and painfully. Antibiotic shots cause local soreness. If you have ever had one...you know. SO be nice and rotate sides. Don't keep shooting in the same spot. That's mean
There's a nice little back strap next to the spine. If you roll the skin up a bit with your thumb and inject under the skin at either side of the spine along lengthwise...that's a pretty good injection site...you can easily go IM there or SQ.
If your vet tries to tell you to give baytril daily...whack him with a hammer and tell him to please call Bayer (That's who makes it) and speak to someone about dosages for reptiles. cats and dogs don't easily overdose on it (It takes a LOT for them to OD) and they metabolize it much faster than reptiles do ....too many vets just try and pass off mammal doses...and they kill people's snakes.
