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URGENT! Snake spasming, opening mouth, and making noise, PLEASE HELP!!!

Oh yeah I wouldn't do that. The dose they give is for turtles not snakes and to be honest I can't recall a time that a snake was put on Tetracycline. Plus the dose is for it to be injected sub q, under the skin and the stuff you get from the store is not sterile to be used that way. So if you tried to inject it you might end up with a lot more problems then help.
 
Personally I would not use anything that might irritate his airways if it happens to be no RI to be honest. Strong odors might cause irritation or stress. I would be afraid to cause another series of spasms. Think of how you would react to strong odors like vapo rub after a vast choke on something, I can't imagine I'd like it. Sorry to confuse you but I feel I need to say this. Something to sooth your throath would feel better, right?

I don't think it is an RI to begin with.
 
Yeah, I'm actually reading about the tetracycline use in snakes now, and from what I've read its seldomly used. Man, I so wish there was more I could do for him in his situation. I'm getting ready to go pick up some vapor rub in awhile to try the method I mentioned in my earlier reply. From what I've read about the vapor rub, it's had such good effects on snakes with RI's that it has been successfully used to treat them on occassion. I won't let this in any way replace a vet vist though, don't worry. I'm going to keep looking for awhile online to make sure I'm doing only what is best for him as far as the vapor rub goes, and nothing that will be irritating or harmful. But, if anyone has any experience with using this method please chime in.
 
visceralrepulsion said:
Yeah, I'm actually reading about the tetracycline use in snakes now, and from what I've read its seldomly used. Man, I so wish there was more I could do for him in his situation. I'm getting ready to go pick up some vapor rub in awhile to try the method I mentioned in my earlier reply. From what I've read about the vapor rub, it's had such good effects on snakes with RI's that it has been successfully used to treat them on occassion. I won't let this in any way replace a vet vist though, don't worry. I'm going to keep looking for awhile online to make sure I'm doing only what is best for him as far as the vapor rub goes, and nothing that will be irritating or harmful. But, if anyone has any experience with using this method please chime in.
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I think vaporub maybe irritating if there is no mucus in the airways.... and I'm pretty sure such a strong odour causes stress. How do you know if he feels worse from it? I think REST is the best you can offer him right now since you don't know what is going on. I do understand you feel helpless, I've been there but you better restrain from doing too much. Doing too much in this case seems a higher risk than doing too little IMO. That's a general thing I learned the past few years from dealing with ill snakes.
 
visceralrepulsion said:
Oh, and from what I've read vaporization and nebulization are frequently used as part of treatment in cohesion with antibiotics.
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You don't know if he is gonna have antibiotics... if you can't restrain from doign something, maybe you can take a look in his mouth to see if there is mucus. If there is no mucus, it is most probably not an RI. He is not even breathing weird right now, is he? Is he having bubbles from his nose? I'm pretty sure than it is at least not a severe RI...
 
I don't want to overdo it either. He may be making noises, but I haven't heard any. The vapor rub isn't used in a manner in which the snake should be too highly effected by it in a negative way. I did consider, and I'm still considering what to do right now. I did purchase some vapor rub though in case. I took into consideration what you said, and kind of met in the middle on the vapor rub - I bought baby chest rub, instead of the normal Vick's rub. Its definitely not as potent, and actually smells really good in my opinion =p. I believe it has eucalyptus oils in it instead of the stronger Vick's menthol or whatever. I don't think him smelling this will be anymore harmful or stressful than when he happens to get a whiff of my perfume, or when I'm handling him and smothering him with kisses, to be honest. Either way, like I said, I'm not going to do it forsure yet.
 
Oh, I did see a string of mucus stretch from his tongue to the roof of his mouth earlier when he was opening it frequently. This is a lot of why I'm leaning toward an RI. From what I know, snakes shouldn't have that much saliva in their mouth in a normal event.
 
I would not do any at home remedies, not knowing for sure if you're dealing with an RI.
*If you have dealt with an RI before & know the signs, that would be a different story.
I agree that it could make things worse for the snake, if it's not an RI. Let's say he just had a piece of aspen stuck in his mouth, & he was trying to free it by flailing around, & having a foreign object in his mouth or throat could cause excess saliva/mucus. You may end up aggrivating the situation.
 
nwheather said:
I would not do any at home remedies, not knowing for sure if you're dealing with an RI.
*If you have dealt with an RI before & know the signs, that would be a different story.
I agree that it could make things worse for the snake, if it's not an RI. Let's say he just had a piece of aspen stuck in his mouth, & he was trying to free it by flailing around, & having a foreign object in his mouth or throat could cause excess saliva/mucus. You may end up aggrivating the situation.
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Quoted for emphasis. The first step in helping your snake is having the problem diagnosed.

Even though tetracycline is a broad spectrum antibiotic, I would not use it right away unless you plan on continuing to dose it until the snake gets better, for fear of having the bacteria develop a resistance to it. That is why a culture and sensitivity test is important when dealing with bacterial infections, so you know what antibiotic to use.

RI infections can be caused by fungal infections as well, so treating with an antibiotic right away could be unwise. Granted this is less common than a bacterial infection but it's still a possibility.

No ones gonna get mad at you for not having cash for vet bills, but I will suggest getting a credit card for situations like this. Emergencies only type thing where you can pay it off next month, you know?
 
ALSO


Vicks vapor rub irritates MY sinuses... I hate the stuff. I can't imagine what it would do to a snakes sensitive nose and sensory organs. I would not use the stuff unless you knew FOR SURE it would not irritate/hurt them.
 
I haven't used the method yet, and might not necessarily. But if he starts spazzing out again flailing about his viv, and making noise, and opening his mouth like that, I might just try it. It's not easy for me to just sit back and let my snake seize around his viv and seemingly gasp for air while I watch helplessly. Afterall, there's no snake ambulance, you know? If he puts on this behavior again it may be worth a shot because in that situation the risks sometimes don't outweigh the possible benefits in a desperate situation. For now I'm not using the vapor rub method, I'm just letting him rest, and sitting nearby to monitor him, and checking on him every 15-30 mins. When my bf gets home anytime now I'm going to get him out for another overall checkup. We're going to check his mouth for mucus, and make sure he's still breathing as normally as he seems to be whenever I check on him. I'll keep you all updated. Please wish me luck, and wish Lars a safe and speedy recovery from whatever ails him.
 
And, so everyone knows, I didn't make this vapor rub idea up off the top of my head. It's a legitimate treatment used pretty widely in the snake world. I've read about it being used on more than one forum now, in more than one instance, and have read about vaporization being used in general for snakes. I would never use something if I had not researched it, and felt it was safe enough to use and risk my snakes wellbeing.
 
visceralrepulsion said:
I haven't used the method yet, and might not necessarily. But if he starts spazzing out again flailing about his viv, and making noise, and opening his mouth like that, I might just try it. It's not easy for me to just sit back and let my snake seize around his viv and seemingly gasp for air while I watch helplessly. Afterall, there's no snake ambulance, you know? If he puts on this behavior again it may be worth a shot because in that situation the risks sometimes don't outweigh the possible benefits in a desperate situation. For now I'm not using the vapor rub method, I'm just letting him rest, and sitting nearby to monitor him, and checking on him every 15-30 mins. When my bf gets home anytime now I'm going to get him out for another overall checkup. We're going to check his mouth for mucus, and make sure he's still breathing as normally as he seems to be whenever I check on him. I'll keep you all updated. Please wish me luck, and wish Lars a safe and speedy recovery from whatever ails him.
Click to expand...

visceralrepulsion said:
And, so everyone knows, I didn't make this vapor rub idea up off the top of my head. It's a legitimate treatment used pretty widely in the snake world. I've read about it being used on more than one forum now, in more than one instance, and have read about vaporization being used in general for snakes. I would never use something if I had not researched it, and felt it was safe enough to use and risk my snakes wellbeing.
Click to expand...

But what if it's not an RI, what if it's a neurological problem, or something?
We're saying, that until you know for sure that it is an RI, it's better to wait until you have seen the vet, & get a better idea of what is going on.

You're still potentially putting your snake at risk if you're doing at home treatments, without knowing what the root cause is.
 
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